Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign moved quickly on Sunday to elevate and denounce racist and inflammatory remarks made by speakers at a rally for former President Donald J. Trump at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Before Mr. Trump had even taken the stage, warm-up speakers had called Puerto Rico an “island of garbage,” referred to Ms. Harris as “the devil” and “the Antichrist,” and made racist or derogatory remarks about Latinos generally, African Americans, Palestinians and Jews.
The remarks at the rally came as Ms. Harris wrapped up a day in Philadelphia, where she spent time courting Pennsylvania’s significant Puerto Rican population by visiting a local Puerto Rican restaurant. While there, she talked about a new plan she announced on Sunday to bring economic opportunities to Puerto Rico, discussed her visit there after Hurricane Maria, and said that even as a senator she had “felt a need and an obligation” to “make sure Puerto Rico’s needs were met.”
“This is not a new area of focus for me,” she said. She received a warm reception from the crowd, with chants of “Sí, se puede.”
Before the Trump rally on Sunday, Ms. Harris had already taken aim at her Republican rival in a video message to Puerto Rican voters. She noted that, as president, Mr. Trump had resisted sending aid to the island after back-to-back hurricanes, adding that he had offered nothing but “paper towels and insults.”
“I will never forget what Donald Trump did and what he did not do when Puerto Rico needed a caring and a competent leader,” she said.