Politics

(WASHINGTON) — As Americans head to the polls this Election Day, trust that their vote will be counted accurately and that the democratic process is safe from interference is vital, experts said.

But with early voting well underway and just days before the remainder of the 2024 presidential election ballots are cast, unfounded conspiracy theories about the safety of voting machines loom over the fight for the White House.

The 2020 election saw former President Donald Trump sparking some distrust in the voting system that was purported by some fellow Republicans, supporters and media outlets.

Despite voting machine conspiracy theories, such as internet hacking and widespread physical tampering, being debunked, misinformation about the democratic process is ubiquitous on social media and fodder for some of the recent lawsuits filed by RNC-aligned groups in key swing states.

Elon Musk — a major Trump backer and the owner of X — recently continued to stoke voting machines falsehoods, telling the crowd at a town hall in Pennsylvania, “The last thing I would do is trust a computer program, because it’s just too easy to hack,” Musk said.

However, multiple reviews into 2020 voter fraud claims and a landmark defamation lawsuit between Dominion Voting Systems and Fox News found the vote-rigging conspiracy theories, and Trump’s assertion he won the election over President Joe Biden, to be unfounded.

In April 2023, Dominion reached a nearly $800 million settlement with Fox for spreading the false theories across the conservative news stations’ platforms.

Additionally, state and federal courts dismissed more than 60 lawsuits across six states from Trump and his allies aiming to overturn the 2020 election results.

“There was no credibility to those claims,” Lauren Cristella, the president of Committee of Seventy, a nonpartisan government watchdog organization in Philadelphia, told ABC News.

“I am confident that our elections are free, fair, safe and secure, and that the systems we have in place, the checks and balances that we have in place, are working,” Cristella added.

So, how do voting machines work? And what security measures are in place from the federal level to the community level to ensure that every vote is counted and free from interference?

Before Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris vie for America’s vote on Nov. 5, experts said understanding the security measures that follow ballots from the polls to the count can bring clarity and comfort to the process.

What voting machines are used in the election?

While election officials use technology for voter registration, tallying, and, in some cases, vote-casting, the system is largely centered around paper ballots.

“In nearly all places across the country, about 98% of voters, when they cast their ballot, there is going to be a paper record of their vote,” Derek Tisler, who serves as counsel in the Brennan Center for Justice’s elections and government program, told ABC News.

Historically, there have been five types of voting machines used in the U.S.: hand-counted paper, mechanical lever machines, punch-card machines, scanned paper ballots and direct-recording electronic devices, according to the MIT Election Lab.

Going into the 2024 election, optical scan paper ballot systems are widely used to tally physical ballot votes, which can be likened to the technology used to score a standardized test, according to MIT.

Voters mark their ballots in a private voting booth and then it is scanned as it’s being deposited in the ballot box, with the votes being tallied at the end of the day.

Direct recording electronic systems utilize buttons or a touch screen to record votes, often with a paper ballot record for audits or a recount.

And ballot-marking devices and systems, which are entirely electronic, are primarily used to accommodate voters with disabilities.

There are 10 different voting system manufacturers that have been tested and approved by the federal Election Assistance Commission (EAC), including Clear Ballot, Dominion Voting Systems and Election Systems & Software (ES&S), to name a few.

The road to approval includes stress tests on the equipment and checks for software flaws, making sure the machines have the basic functionality, accessibility and security capabilities required of these systems, according to the EAC.

“So every voting system, including ours, goes through a certification process in accredited test labs,” Chip Trowbridge, the chief technology officer of Clear Ballot, told ABC News.

“Every change, no matter how big or how small, if it’s a source code or software change, has to be reviewed,” Trowbridge said.

Individual states and local jurisdictions also have certification processes for voting machine manufacturers that vary based on location, according to Trowbridge.

What safety measures are taken to protect voting machines?

One of the first lines of defense against tampering is the physical security of voting machines, according to Ted Allen, an integrated systems engineer professor at Ohio State University and member of the MIT Election Lab.

Leading up to Election Day and after votes are cast, the machines are stored in secure locations with access limited to election officials, Allen told ABC News.

At polling locations, voting machines are constantly under surveillance, with election officials and security personnel trained to ensure that no unauthorized access is possible, according to Allen.

“The paper, the chain of custody of the equipment and the chain of custody of the ballots are all generally, very carefully studied and controlled,” Allen said.

The 2020 election, however, did see a few individuals being charged for with tampering with voting machines.

Tina Peters, a Republican election official in Colorado, was sentenced to nine years in prison for leading a security breach of the county’s election system after being inspired by false and baseless claims of voting fraud.

She was convicted for giving an individual access to the election software she used for her county. Screenshots of the software appeared on right-wing websites.

In Georgia, bail bondsman Scott Hall was charged in relation to the alleged breach of voting machine equipment in the wake of the 2020 election in Coffee County.

Hall and several of his co-defendants allegedly “entered into a conspiracy to intentionally interfere” with the 2020 election results and “unlawfully” access voting machines in order to obtain data, including images of ballots.

Hall pleaded guilty to five misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to commit intentional interference with performance of election duties. He will get probation and has agreed to testify moving forward, including at the trial of other co-defendants.

While no system is ever completely impervious to threats, voting machines are protected by a range of technical and procedural measures that make them extremely difficult to hack.

A spokesperson for Election Systems & Software, Inc., told ABC News, that outside of physical controls, the company’s voting equipment adheres to secure practices for the creation, transfer and storage of important election files and data.

Using encryption and digital signing for data, cryptographic modules that meet the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) and creating encrypted USB flash drives programmed for that specific election all prevent tampering by unauthorized agents, according to ES&S.

Do voting machines connect to the internet?

A key safeguard in making voting machines difficult to hack is the lack of internet access during the voting process.

The machines used to scan ballots at a voting precinct are incapable of having any Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, radio or network connection at all, according to Trowbridge.

“Those systems absolutely cannot have any network,” Trowbridge said. “In fact, if you look at the machines from Clear Ballot, the only wire that comes out of them is a power cord.”

Central scanning equipment is networked, according to Trowbridge, but the technology is on an air-gapped network that is completely separate from the public internet.

This significantly reduces the risk of remote hacking or unauthorized access from external sources, he said.

Even if a hacker attempts to access a voting machine, they would need to physically tamper with the machine itself, which may be more challenging due to the physical security measures.

Looking to Nov. 5, Derek Tisler emphasized there are always checks and balances available in the process to make sure that there is no one individual who could disrupt anything.

“Public trust is so essential to the democratic process, and that is why elections are transparent,” Tisler said.

 

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — House Speaker Mike Johnson’s suggestion that Republicans would implement “massive reform” to the Affordable Care Act — known as Obamacare — is causing a bit of a headache for the Trump campaign.

At a campaign event Monday in Pennsylvania, a battleground state in the presidential race, Johnson made that assertion.

“No Obamacare?” an attendee of the event asked Johnson.

“No Obamacare,” Johnson replied. “The ACA is so deeply ingrained, we need massive reform to make this work, and we got a lot of ideas on how to do that.”

Johnson did not elaborate on specifics but said Republican doctors in the House, known as the GOP Doctors Caucus, have been working on possible legislative ideas. The speaker said Republicans want to “take a blowtorch to the regulatory state” and “fix things” in the health care sector.

Health care is a key issue in the 2024 election and both parties have different views on the ACA, which set minimum benefit standards, allowed more people to be eligible for Medicaid and ensured consumers with preexisting conditions could have health care coverage.

“Health care reform is going to be a big part of the agenda. When I say we’re going to have a very aggressive first 100 days agenda, we got a lot of things still on the table,” he said.

The speaker said “if you take government bureaucrats out of the health care equation and you have a doctor patient relationship it is better for everybody, more efficient more effective. That’s the free market. Trump is going to be for the free market.”

The Harris campaign sharply criticized Johnson’s comment. Spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said in a statement, “Speaker Mike Johnson is making it clear – if Donald Trump wins, he and his Project 2025 allies in Congress will make sure there is ‘no Obamacare.’ That means higher health care costs for millions of families and ripping away protections from Americans with preexisting conditions like diabetes, asthma, or cancer. Voters see Trump’s ‘concepts of a plan’ for what they are: Ending the Affordable Care Act, jacking up prices, and leaving millions of Americans without the care they need.”

Former President Donald Trump’s campaign quickly tried to separate itself from the speaker’s comments. A spokeswoman told the New York Times that they were “not President Trump’s policy position.”

The ACA has become increasingly popular since it was enacted in 2010. A KFF poll in February found that two-thirds of the public said it was very important to maintain the law’s ban on charging people with health problems more for health insurance or rejecting their coverage.

Former President Donald Trump tried and failed to repeal the ACA while he was in office.

“Obamacare was lousy health care. Always was,” Trump said at ABC’s presidential debate. “It’s not very good today and, what I said, that if we come up with something, we are working on things, we’re going to do it and we’re going to replace it.”

Pressed for details on what he would replace it with, Trump said he did not have a specific plan in place, but rather “concepts of a plan.”

NBC News first reported the speaker’s remarks.

 

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — The White House and Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign on Wednesday continued to do clean up from President Joe Biden’s “garbage” comment, even as former President Donald Trump seized on it and the controversy dominated the news cycle, distracting from Harris’ “closing argument.”

On Tuesday night, Biden seemed to call Trump supporters as “garbage” during a campaign call hosted by the nonprofit Voto Latino.

“And just the other day, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico a ‘floating island of garbage,'” Biden said, according to a video clip from the fundraiser that aired on CNN.

“I don’t — I — I don’t know the Puerto Rican that — that I know — or a Puerto Rico, where I’m fr- — in my home state of Delaware, they’re good, decent, honorable people. The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American. It’s totally contrary to everything we’ve done, everything we’ve been,” Biden said.

His comments quickly drew fire from Republicans and came just as Harris was delivering her closing argument speech nearby on the Ellipse, calling for Americans to turn the page on hateful rhetoric and division in American politics.

At a campaign rally in Mount Rock, North Carolina, on Wednesday, Trump tied Harris to Biden’s comments.

“Now speaking on a call for her campaign last night, Joe Biden finally said what he and Kamala really think of our supporters. He called them garbage. And they mean it,” Trump said.

“Even though without question my supporters are far higher quality than Crooked Joe or Lyin’ Kamala,” Trump said. “My response to Joe and Kamala is very simple: you can’t lead America if you don’t love Americans.”

Biden himself posted a clarification on Tuesday night, saying that his comment was about the comedian who made the joke and “referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump’s supporter at his Madison Square Garden rally as garbage — which is the only word I can think of to describe it.”

“His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That’s all I meant to say. The comments at that rally don’t reflect who we are as a nation,” Biden said in the post on X.

At her daily briefing, reporters pressed White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about Biden’s comments.

“No, he does not view Trump supporters or anybody who supports Trump as garbage,” Jean-Pierre insisted.

“The president has said this for more than three years now, he has said multiple times that he is a president for all. It doesn’t matter if you live in a red state, it doesn’t matter if you live in a blue state.”

When asked whether Biden misspoke or regrets his remarks, Jean-Pierre answered the president “clarified what he said” to ensure it was not “taken out of context.”

“He took the extra step to clarify. And, you know, you don’t see that from many elected officials, you certainly didn’t see that from the former president. And this president wanted to make sure it was not taken out of context,” Jean-Pierre said.

Jean-Pierre said the president spoke to Harris Tuesday night after her speech to congratulate her. She wouldn’t say, though, if Biden had apologized or made any reference to his comment when they spoke.

For her part, Harris tried to distance herself from the comments. In an interview with ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce, Harris was asked how she felt when she heard his “garbage” remark.

“Well, first of all, I think that the president has explained what he meant,” Harris told Bruce. “But I said it earlier, I strongly disagree with any criticism of the people based on who they vote for and I’ve made that clear throughout my career, including my speech last night before I think this all happened, which is I intend to be president for all Americans, and including those who may not vote for me in this election.”

But this incident isn’t the first time the White House and Harris’ campaign has had to play clean up after a Biden gaffe raised eyebrows. Just last week Biden was talking about Trump and said, “We gotta lock him up. Politically lock him up.”

The comments also come as Biden is planning to travel to battleground Pennsylvania twice later this week – for campaign and official events. Jean-Pierre said that for now there are now plans to adjust his schedule.

ABC News’ Kelsey Walsh, Will McDuffie and Alexandra Hurtzler contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Six days until Election Day, much of the political debate is about “garbage” — first the backlash over those racist comments about Puerto Rico that former President Donald Trump has not apologized for — and now President Joe Biden appearing to call Trump’s supporters “garbage” — stepping on Vice President Kamala Harris’ message of unity — aimed at attracting disaffected Republicans.

More than 53 million Americans have voted early

As of 5:45 a.m. ET on Wednesday, more than 53 million Americans have voted early, according to the Election Lab at the University of Florida.

Of the total number of early votes, 27,765,237 were cast in person and 25,686,627 were returned by mail.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, former GOP governor, endorses Harris

Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Wednesday that he was going to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.

“The Terminator” actor and longtime Republican said in lengthy X post that he didn’t like either party now given the divisions and lack of progress from leaders in Washington, D.C.

However, Schwarzenegger said he was “furious” over Trump’s refusal to accept the 2020 election, anti-immigrant rhetoric, economic policies and actions on Jan. 6.

“We need to close the door on this chapter of American history, and I know that former President Trump won’t do that. He will divide, he will insult, he will find new ways to be more un-American than he already has been, and we, the people, will get nothing but more anger,” he said.

“That’s enough reason for me to share my vote with all of you. I want to move forward as a country, and even though I have plenty of disagreements with their platform, I think the only way to do that is with Harris and Walz,” he said.

Will Nikki Haley campaign for Trump?

Nikki Haley recently said she is ready to campaign for Trump, despite not talking to him since June.

Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, when asked about whether Haley will make an appearance, said Tuesday he would “love” to see her on the trail, but said it was up to her schedule.

Haley was Trump’s last major challenger in the Republican primary. Despite hitting him hard in the final weeks of her campaign, she later endorsed him at the Republican National Convention.

And she’s continued some criticism of his campaign strategy. During an appearance on Fox News, she said the racist remark about Puerto Rico by a comedian at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally was “harmful” and that the campaign “need[s] to go and tell Puerto Ricans how much, you know, they do value them.”

She also said the Trump team had to improve its messaging to women.

“I mean, that this bromance and this masculinity stuff,” she said. “I mean, it borders on edgy to the point that it’s going to make women uncomfortable. You know, you’ve got affiliated PACs that are doing commercials about calling Kamala the ‘C-word,’ or you had speakers at Madison Square Garden, you know, referring to her and her pimps.”

“That is not the way to win women. That is not the way to win people who are concerned about Trump style,” Haley added.

Trump escalates baseless rhetoric on Pennsylvania’s election system

It’s a state that could tip the result of the 2024 election.

And Trump is ramping up rhetoric sowing doubt on the state’s voting process.

In a post on his social media site on Wednesday morning, Trump claimed there’s “cheating” happening at “large scale levels.” He did not elaborate or provide evidence for his claims.

Some isolated incidents have emerged, including approximately 2,500 potentially fraudulent voter registration applications being investigated in Lancaster County, though officials stressed the system worked and that voters can be confident in the election.

-ABC News’ Soorin Kim and Olivia Rubin

Harris hits the road with her closing pitch

Harris will take her closing argument to voters on the road after a big speech at the Ellipse in Washington on Tuesday night. She holds a 12:30 p.m. ET rally in North Carolina, a 4:35 ET event in Pennsylvania and a 9:30 p.m. ET rally in Wisconsin.

Trump will also be in North Carolina for a 1 p.m. ET rally before a 7 p.m. ET rally in Wisconsin.

Looming large over the campaign trail are President Joe Biden’s comments from a Vote Latino campaign call Tuesday night. His wording angered Republicans, who saw him as referring to the supporters of Trump as “garbage.” The White House and Biden himself, seeking to clarify the remark, argued he was referring to the racist rhetoric made by a speaker at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday.

 

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Six days until Election Day, much of the political debate is about “garbage” — first the backlash over those racist comments about Puerto Rico that former President Donald Trump has not apologized for — and now President Joe Biden appearing to call Trump’s supporters “garbage” — stepping on Vice President Kamala Harris’ message of unity — aimed at attracting disaffected Republicans.

More than 53 million Americans have voted early

As of 5:45 a.m. ET on Wednesday, more than 53 million Americans have voted early, according to the Election Lab at the University of Florida.

Of the total number of early votes, 27,765,237 were cast in person and 25,686,627 were returned by mail.

Harris hits the road with her closing pitch

Harris will take her closing argument to voters on the road after a big speech at the Ellipse in Washington on Tuesday night. She holds a 12:30 p.m. ET rally in North Carolina, a 4:35 ET event in Pennsylvania and a 9:30 p.m. ET rally in Wisconsin.

Trump will also be in North Carolina for a 1 p.m. ET rally before a 7 p.m. ET rally in Wisconsin.

Looming large over the campaign trail are President Joe Biden’s comments from a Vote Latino campaign call Tuesday night. His wording angered Republicans, who saw him as referring to the supporters of Trump as “garbage.” The White House and Biden himself, seeking to clarify the remark, argued he was referring to the racist rhetoric made by a speaker at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday.

 

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Democratic vice presidential nominee and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz told “Good Morning America” Wednesday that presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris will deliver what “Americans are hungry for — a unifying president, one that wants to find solutions.”

Walz also sought on Wednesday to downplay comments made by President Joe Biden, who a day earlier had seemingly referred to supporters of the Republican ticket as “garbage” in response to former President Donald Trump‘s controversial Madison Square Garden rally.

When asked about Biden’s comments on Wednesday, Walz said, “The president’s clarified his remarks.”

“Let’s be very clear,” Walz added. “The vice president and I have made it absolutely clear that we want everyone part of this.”

Speaking during a Voto Latino campaign call, Biden had referenced a joke by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe at Trump’s Sunday event at MSG.

“Just the other day, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico a ‘floating island of garbage,'” Biden said, according to a video clip on CNN.

“The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters,” the president had added. Biden later said the comment was only referring to the comedian in question, not Trump’s supporters more broadly.

But Republicans seized upon the comments to energize supporters. Trump’s running mate JD Vance, for example, described Biden’s remarks as “disgusting,” adding, “Kamala Harris and her boss Joe Biden are attacking half of the country. There’s no excuse for this. I hope Americans reject it.”

With less than a week of campaigning left, Walz said Harris’ Tuesday night address at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C. featured “the rhetoric that a president of the United States gives.”

The Democratic ticket, he added, is “one that understands we’re all in this together, one that welcomes robust debate about the issues.”

Walz said “dissenting voices” would “have a seat at the table because that’s how we find real solutions.”

The Minnesota governor contrasted Harris’ remarks to former President Donald Trump’s “divisive rhetoric,” which he said “needs to end.”

Harris’ closing argument at the Ellipse swiped at Trump while calling for unity.

“Unlike Donald Trump, I don’t believe people who disagree with me are the enemy,” Harris said. “He wants to put them in jail; I’ll give them a seat at the table,” she added, in reference to her campaign platform to include a Republican in her cabinet if elected.

“I pledge to you to approach my work with the joy and optimism that comes from making a difference in peoples’ lives,” Harris said.

“And I pledge to be a president for all Americans — and to always put country above party and self,” Harris added.

Walz told “Good Morning America” the campaign is confident.

“We’re winning this thing,” he said. “There’s energy out there. I have done this long enough to know these things are won at the end. We’re not taking anything for granted.”

“We know it’s going to be close,” Walz added. “We’ve got the better ground game. We’ve got the momentum on our side.”

“There will be a clear result,” Walz replied when asked about his concerns for the final week of the campaign.

“My biggest concern is Donald Trump has brought pessimism to folks. People believe their votes don’t matter. Your vote does matter. Get out there. Participate in this democracy.”

“I think you’re going to see Donald Trump continue to spiral downward in this really difficult and hateful rhetoric,” he added.

“We saw our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico have to endure this. We’ve seen it in Ohio with folks. That’s what’s going to end.”

Trump meanwhile, defended the MSG event as a “love fest” and said it was an “honor to be involved.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday evening returned to a Hispanic-majority town in eastern Pennsylvania after a comedian at Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden over the weekend sparked controversy by making racist jokes about Latinos, including calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”

Trump did not address the comedian’s controversial remarks — but did seize on comments President Joe Biden made on Tuesday when, criticizing the remarks about Puerto Rico, Biden used wording that seemed to refer to Trump supporters as “garbage.”

Toward the end of the rally, Trump invited Sen. Marco Rubio to the stage, who broke the news of Biden’s comments to Trump and the crowd.

Trump recalled Hillary Clinton’s controversial “basket of deplorables” line in 2016.

“She said ‘deplorable.’ That didn’t work out,” Trump said. “‘Garbage,’ I think is worse.”

Trump’s rally took place in Allentown, Pennsylvania, a city of more than 125,000 people where the Hispanic population makes up 55% of the total, according to the U.S. Census data, with much of that number being Puerto Ricans.

His second campaign stop of the day in Pennsylvania — after a roundtable in Drexel Hill, where the population is overwhelmingly white — the Allentown visit was an opportunity for the former president to court Hispanics, and more specifically Puerto Ricans, after Hispanic groups on both sides of the aisle called the racist jokes made at the New York rally “derogatory,” “offensive,” and “disrespectful.”

Early on in his remarks, Trump made no mention of the controversy but did refer to his Madison Square Garden rally, calling it “the greatest evening anyone has seen politically,” adding, “The love was unbelievable.”

During his Pennsylvania event, Trump touted his support from Latinos, including an endorsement from Puerto Rico’s “Shadow Senator” Zoraida Buxo, who holds a position that advocates for statehood for the territory.

“Nobody loves our Latino community and our Puerto Rican community more than I do,” Trump said.

Cheers for mass deportation plan

Trump’s rally in Allentown came at the same time Vice President Kamala Harris was giving a speech from the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., making what her campaign has characterized as her “closing argument” in the race.

Trump received his largest applause of the evening when he said, if elected, he would carry out mass deportations of people in the U.S. illegally beginning on the first day of his administration.

“On day one, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history,” he said. “We’re going to get them out. I will rescue every city and town that has been invaded and conquered, and we will put these vicious and bloodthirsty criminals in jail or kick them the hell out of our country.”

As the crowd gave an overwhelming ovation, Trump said “I am hereby calling for the death penalty for any migrant that kills an American citizen or a law enforcement officer.”

The crowd then chanted, “USA!”

Controversial ‘garbage’ remarks

The comments at the Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday were made by controversial comedian Tony Hinchcliffe during pre-programming earlier Sunday afternoon, including explicit comments about how Latinos “love making babies.”

“I don’t know if you guys know this, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” Hinchcliffe said on stage to a crowd of nearly 20,000 Sunday night, after the former president himself the previous day called the United States a “garbage can for the world.”

Hinchcliffe, instead of apologizing for his comments, attacked his critics as lacking a sense of humor and accused them of taking the joke out of context to “make it seem racist.”

The former president denied knowing the comedian on Tuesday, telling ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott: “I don’t know him, someone put him up there. I don’t know who he is.”

Trump also insisted he didn’t hear any of the comments, even as they’ve been played on television and written about extensively. When asked what he made of them, he did not take the opportunity to denounce them, repeating that he didn’t hear the comments.

Trump’s campaign has also tried to distance itself from comedian Hinchcliffe’s comments, saying they don’t reflect their views.

Several Republicans have come out against the jokes, including the chair Republican Party of Puerto Rico, Angel Cintrón, who called Hinchcliffe’s comments “unfortunate, ignorant, and entirely reprehensible,” as well as “racist.”

Residents of Puerto Rico, as a U.S. territory, do not vote for president in the general election, but the Republican Party of Puerto Rico held a primary in April as part of the Republican presidential nominating process. Donald Trump won the primary and netted the territory’s delegates.

Puerto Ricans living in the United States, however, make up the largest Hispanic group in seven states across the country, including in the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania, according to the U.S. Census data.

In Pennsylvania, where President Joe Biden won in 2020 by just over 81,000 votes, 3.7% of the state’s total population, or roughly 486,000 people, were of Puerto Rican origin. Pennsylvania is again expected to be an extremely tight race between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, with Trump ahead of Harris by just 0.2% according to 538’s polling average as of Oct. 29.

Overall, Pennsylvania’s eligible Latino voter population has more than doubled since 2000, from 206,000 to 620,000 in 2023, according to WNTM’s analysis of U.S. Census Bureau figures.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Luis Miranda is a political strategist, community organizer, founding president of the Hispanic Federation and chairperson of the Latino Victory Fund, an organization dedicated to building political power in the Latino community.

Originally from Puerto Rico, he’s also the father of musician, writer and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda.

ABC News’ Linsey Davis sat down with Luis Miranda on Monday to talk about the comments made about Latinos and Puerto Rico at former President Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden campaign rally on Sunday, Trump’s criticism of former first lady Michelle Obama and his prediction for Puerto Rican voters’ reaction to this rhetoric.

ABC NEWS: Luis, thank you so much for joining us. First, I just want to get your reaction from, from those comments about Puerto Rico, from the comedian at last night’s rally.

MIRANDA: It’s not the first time that Puerto Ricans are insulted by Trump or his people. We remember when Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, how he withheld aid that Congress had appropriated to help Puerto Rico and used as an excuse that we were lazy and they wanted everything done for us.

So I think we’re going to mobilize some more and we’re going to go to those battleground states and make sure that we prove him wrong. We are not garbage and we are not lazy and we’re all American citizens ready to vote in this election.

ABC NEWS: The Trump campaign says the comedian’s words do not reflect its views. Do you believe that this has no bearing on the former president’s campaign platform?

MIRANDA: Listen, I listened to 5 minutes, while I was waiting for you, of the rally that it’s taking place, place in Georgia right now. And in those 5 minutes, he criticized Michelle Obama. I wondered if she’s now included in the list of enemies that he’s going to prosecute afterwards.

He then talked about transgender and how that it’s horrible. He talked about people coming from the border, being criminals. He’s talking about Latinos. He helped the crowd chant “Lock her up.” She, he criticized the fake news.

This is in 5 minutes, which means when you, that’s what is coming out of his mouth. When you organized a rally, when you organized a political event for yourself, for your party, every word that is said at that event represents who you are and the aspirations of your party and what you want to put in place if you were to be elected. This is exactly who Donald Trump is.

ABC NEWS: Do you think that this moment will galvanize Puerto Rican voters who were maybe going to sit this one out, or change the mind of those who were planning on voting for Trump?

MIRANDA: Listen, most people are going to vote for policies. We’re no different, Latinos. But what Trump did in this rally, it’s that he, the insult appeal to our heart, hurt our heart.

And those insults then mobilized people, people who were probably supporting the Democrats and Vice President Harris now said to themselves, “You know what? I was going to sit it out because I didn’t think it was important. But I don’t want this guy in the White House.”

I think the vice president said it best — we are exhausted, exhausted of this rhetoric, exhausted of this man constantly pitting one group against each other. And, and I think we are ready to move forward and close this page forever.

ABC NEWS: Mr. Luis Miranda, we thank you so much for your time and insight. Appreciate it.

MIRANDA: Thank you.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(PALM BEACH, Fla.) — Former President Donald Trump called his rally at Madison Square Garden a “lovefest” on Tuesday as backlash continues over racist and crude comments made by some speakers at the iconic New York City venue.

Trump spoke about the rally near the end of remarks at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday that were largely focused on swiping at Vice President Kamala Harris’ record ahead of her speech at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., where she’ll make a closing argument to voters.

“It was like a lovefest, an absolute lovefest,” Trump said. “It was my honor to be involved.”

“Many people have used [Madison Square Garden] but nobody’s ever had a crowd like that,” Trump later said. “And I tell you what, right now, nobody’s ever had love like that. That was love in the room and it was love for our country.”

Trump did not address specific comments made on Sunday that prompted criticism, most notably comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s joke that Puerto Rico was an “island of floating garbage.”

Trump told ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott earlier Tuesday that he didn’t know the comedian and hadn’t seen his comments despite them dominating the airwaves the past two days.

“I don’t know him, someone put him up there. I don’t know who he is,” Trump told ABC’s Scott.

When asked what he made of the comments, Trump didn’t take an opportunity to denounce them and repeated his claim that he hadn’t heard them.

His campaign has said the comedian’s comments don’t reflect the views of Trump or the campaign.

Trump did not take any questions from reporters during the event at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday.

The former president touched on a variety of familiar campaign themes as he hit Harris over her record on immigration and the economy.

He also began his remarks by repeating falsehoods about the election, claiming Democrats “stole” it when President Joe Biden stepped aside and Harris was nominated as the party’s nominee. He also suggested there were “bad spots” in Pennsylvania, a battleground state considered crucial to the election outcome.

“There are some bad spots in Pennsylvania where some serious things have been caught, or are in the process of being caught, but the election itself is going very well,” Trump said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — After making a surprise appearance at her husband’s Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday, Melania Trump spoke out on “Fox and Friends” on Tuesday, fiercely defending him against reported comments that he had expressed admiration for Hitler.

“He is not Hitler and his supporters stand behind him because they want to see the country successful. We see what kind of support he has,” she said of the former president.

Donald Trump has falsely claimed that Vice President Kamala Harris called him Hitler (she cited reports that Trump’s former chief of staff John Kelly said he had praised Hitler for doing some “good things” and wanted generals like Hitler’s).

Melania Trump called the criticism “terrible.”

The former first lady also said her husband was well aware of her position supporting abortion rights before her views were published in her new book.

Earlier this month, Melania Trump broke from the Republican Party by declaring those views in what some suggested was an eleventh hour move to court women before the election. She said on Tuesday that her husband knew about her stance long before the book came out.

“My husband knew my position, my belief, since the day we met. It was not a big surprise for him. I guess other people, the world did not know where my stances are,” she said. “He was not surprised, he knew about it.”

Discussing her Election Day plans, she indicated that she would vote on Tuesday. Donald Trump had floated voting early in a sign of unity with his party’s newer message of support on that subject — but he has continued to criticize the idea.

“We will be in Palm Beach and in the morning, we will go to vote, me and my husband, and then it will be a waiting time, period of waiting and we’ll see and I hope it is a success and a party in the evening,” Melania said, indicating that she hopes to know the results that same evening.

“I hope the election will be fair and everything will be selected as we say on Tuesday night,” she said.

“I feel good. We are feeling good. We are working hard. My husband, he’s all over the country, traveling, and as we saw, Sunday evening,” she said.

“I’m not anxious, this time is different. I have more experience and knowledge,” she said, discussing a potential Trump victory next week. “I was in the White House before. When you go in, you know what to expect. You know what kind of people you need to get, people on your team that have the same vision as me.”

Melania Trump again spoke in tandem with her husband, pointing to the economy and immigration as issues she hopes can be improved if he wins.

“Well, I would like to see country to be safe and prosperous, better economy and peace in the world. That is very important,” she said.

Commenting on her husband’s indictments, she said “it is part of it, part of the politics.”

“When he came to the White House for the first time when he was elected, I knew it would not be easy and I knew they would go after him. They did,” she said.

In her new book, Melania discussed feeling betrayed. Referring to what she called “misinformation” and “mistruths,” Melania highlighted tapes recorded by Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a former friend and senior adviser who wrote in “Melania and Me” that the former first lady showed frustration over criticism on the administration’s family separation policy.

“It is betrayal. They show the world who they are and they know what they did,” Melania Trump said. “To tape the first lady of the United States on phone calls and release to the public and edit phone calls, it is disgrace and should never happen to anybody.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.