Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the progressive Democrat, sparked outrage at MAGA on Monday when she labeled Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally a “January 6 mini-event.”
Trump’s campaign hosted the highly anticipated campaign rally on Sunday at the historic MSG in AOC’s hometown of New York City, which drew 20,000 MAGA supporters as thousands of others turned out for the capacity event.
The MSG rally was billed as a political homecoming for the Republican former president, who is originally from the Queens borough. Congressman AOC ‘Squad’ represents parts of Queens and the Bronx.
But Trump’s return to New York sparked controversy after Tony Hinchcliffe, a comedian, opened the meeting with a set that joked about Puerto Rico as an “island of trash” — along with some disparaging comments about Hispanics and Blacks.
The jokes caused many media outlets and critics, including AOC, to portray the entire event as “racist,” despite the Trump campaign quickly disavowing them.
Representative Ocasio-Cortez, who is Puerto Rican, excoriated the comedian and the Trump campaign for the rally at MSG, stating Monday morning on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”: “This was a hate rally.”
“This wasn’t just a campaign rally,” she claimed. “I think it’s important for people to understand that these are minis January 6 rallies, these are mini stop-the-steal rallies.”
Supporters of former Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump react as Elon Musk takes the stage during a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, Sunday in New York
The Socialist-backed New York Democrat went so far as to say the rally incited violence and hatred against Latinos, blacks and childless Americans.
“We need to understand how unhinged this campaign has become, and the only reason the rhetoric has gotten to this point is precisely because they are trying to stir up the kind of froth that led to the January 6 attack on the Capitol,” Ocasio said. Cortez claimed the left-wing MSNBC hosts.
After the MSG meeting and the subsequent outrage following Hinchcliffe’s jokes, Trump campaign senior adviser Danielle Alvarez issued a statement highlighting the distance between the ex-president and the comedian.
“This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” she wrote.
However, AOC said she doesn’t believe the excuse, and also denied that Hinchcliffe is a comedian.
“They knew exactly who was going to say what before they continued,” the congressman said.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., compared Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally to a hate party that incited violence against Black people, Latinos and childless Americans
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“They’re trying to blame this rhetoric on a so-called comedian. This is not a comedian,” AOC said. “This is Trump’s campaign, they invited this rhetoric onto their stage for a reason.”
Hinchcliffe, for his part, hosts a weekly live stand-up comedy show with millions of followers across platforms. His show regularly receives millions of views on YouTube alone.
In response to AOC’s statement that the MSG rally was a hate fest, MAGA supporters pushed back against the Democrat for choosing to fan the flames of inflammatory rhetoric surrounding the former president.
“AoC is the dumbest person in Congress,” conservative host Cash Loren wrote on X.
“There have been two attempts on Trump’s life, and Morning Joe has the audacity to accuse Trump of ratcheting up the rhetoric when they compare him to [Hitler].’
Former US First Lady Melania Trump cheers on her husband, former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, after he spoke at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden
Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe will speak at the MSG rally on Sunday
Another user on I think you’re concerned about how wonderfully diverse and unified the MAGA movement has become. It’s time to do what’s right for the country and making inaccuracies is not what people are looking for.”
Conservative Joey Mannarino clapped back at the Democrat, writing, “AOC just called the MSG meeting a ‘mini January 6th.’
“The only thing it had in common with January 6 is that AOC wasn’t in the building either.”
Another account reported that MSNBC’s coverage of this meeting has once again shown that the propaganda press is a cancer on America.
‘AOC calls Trump’s rally a ‘hate rally’. These people really don’t get it, do they?’ another pro-Trump account posted on X.
‘They called us deplorables and now they’re going one step further… The best way to deal with this is to VOTE!’