Fact Check: Doug Emhoff Claims ‘Racist and Antisemitic Speeches’ at Trump MSG Rally

CLAIM: There were “antisemitic and racist speeches at Trump’s rally in Madison Square Garden” in New York.

VERDICT: FALSE. There were no such speeches in the six-hour event. A warmup comedian told a few ethnic jokes.

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff — the admitted philanderer and accused woman-beater hoping to be the country’s first First Gentleman if his wife, Vice President Kamala Harris, wins the presidency — delivered an address that was billed as the “closing argument” on Trump and antisemitism in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Monday.

The address was thin, but repeated false claims about a “Nazi” rally for former President Trump at Madison Square Garden.

In particular, Emhoff claimed that there were “antisemitic and racist speeches” at the rally. Democrats, and their friendly media outlets, following the campaign’s lead, repeated that claim. But what was the basis for the charge?

Several media outlets — notably Axios and New York put their stories about alleged racism at the rally behind a paywall, suggesting that perhaps the claims were not exactly of pressing public interest. But CNN.com did not.

Its article, titled “Trump loyalists spew racist, vulgar attacks at Harris and Democrats at New York City rally,” listed jokes by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who delivered the first televised portion of what was a six-hour-long event.

One joke referred to Puerto Rico as “a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean,” and the crowd groaned.

CNN’s Gregory Krieg lied, however, claiming: “The line was well-received by Trump supporters.” (Judge for yourself.)

There were no more examples of “racist” or “vulgar” attacks in the CNN article, save for a reference to Harris as the “antichrist” and the use of the term “illegals,” which left-wing activists often consider a slur against illegal migrants.

The New York Times dinged Hinchcliffe for a Jewish joke: “He mocked Palestinians as rock-throwers and Jews as cheapskates,” the Times complained. (The joke: in rock, paper, scissors, Palestinians would win because they would always throw the rock and the Jews would be reluctant to throw the paper, a reference to money.)

Other than those mildly offensive comments — standard fare for comedy — that was it. There were no “antisemitic and racist speeches.”

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.