Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden “the opposite of Nazism.”
The scheduled campaign event had drawn comparisons, even before Sunday, to a 1939 pro-Hitler rally hosted at the same iconic New York City venue by the American Nazi organization the Bund.
But the parallels were only starker, in the eyes of some commentators, after several of the rally’s speakers made racist remarks—including a stand-up set by the comedian Tony Hinchcliffe in which he called Puerto Rico “a floating island of garbage,” made a vulgar sex joke about Latinos, and referenced a watermelon in an exchange with a Black audience member.
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The rally also came days after a bombshell Atlantic report said that Trump, during his stint in the White House, would openly praise Hitler to his staff.
RFK Jr., though, who spoke in support of Trump’s campaign at the rally, told Fox News that, from his first-person standpoint, the comparisons to 1939 were dead-wrong.
“There was a joke made during the speech by one comedian. I was in the crowd at that time and they groaned,” Kennedy said, referencing Hinchcliffe’s set. “Nobody was laughing. And there was so much joy in the room, and optimism, and patriotism, and idealism about our country. And it was the opposite of Nazism.”
Hinchcliffe’s remarks at the rally, including the Puerto Rico comment, did occasionally earn groans from the audience—but also clearly audible laughter.
After the rally, during which no other speaker called out Hinchcliffe’s racism, Trump’s campaign distanced itself from the inflammatory stand-up set, especially the “floating island of garbage” crack. “This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” a spokesperson for the GOP nominee told a CNN reporter.
But critics of Trump have suggested that the rally’s rhetoric, including Hinchcliffe’s comedy, is in line with the worldview endorsed by the former president’s platform.
“If somebody does not respect you, if somebody does not see you as fellow citizens with equal claims to opportunity, to the pursuit of happiness, to the American dream—you should not vote for them,” former President Barack Obama told a crowd while campaigning for Kamala Harris on Monday.
While even some Republicans have forcefully disavowed the racist comments at the rally, Mother Jones reported that RFK Jr. failed to outright condemn the remarks when reached by phone on Monday.
“I was unaware of Tony Hinchcliffe’s statement when I spoke or I would have addressed it,” he told the reporter.
“I think it was unfortunate,” he added. “And that’s all I’ve got to say.”
