‘Puerto Ricans ARE Americans!’ CNN’s Jim Acosta Goes Off On GOP Commentator Defending ‘Vile, Hateful’ Trump Rally Jokes

CNN’s Jim Acosta pushed back after a Republican guest tried to pass off the widely denounced rhetoric from former President Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally as nothing but bad comedy .

While speaking on Monday to Lance Trover , a former spokesperson for North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum’s presidential campaign, Acosta asked if it was “a good idea” to feature a slate of speakers who let loose a rash and vulgar speeches — some of which included racist tropes — during the New York City MAGA gathering. While there were several speakers who targeted migrants and immigration, it was comedian Tony Hinchcliffe who delivered some of the worst of it with bigoted remarks about Puerto Ricans, Jews, and Black people . Trover first tried to turn the conversation to the rhetoric of Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign:

Acosta: What did you think of this this rally last night at Madison Square Garden? Was it was that a good idea to have people like that comedian up there spewing that kind of hatred?

Trover: Well, Jim, I’ve said it many times on this show, I think it’s best when Republicans stick to the issues, because I think they’re going to do very well next week if they stick to the issues. And look, I don’t think voters do the whole “guilt by association” thing, usually with politicians, unless you’re Kamala Harris, who’s been VP to [President] Joe Biden the last four years, I think that’s the guilt by association that’s been going on.

But I would just point to the Kamala Harris super PAC over the weekend put out a memo saying to the campaign, you need to stop the attacks on Donald Trump’s character because they’re not working. And that got me thinking that Democrats don’t have much of a leg to stand on when it comes to the heated rhetoric. [Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz ] himself, before this event even happened over the weekend, was comparing it to a Nazi rally that happened in the 1930s. The last several weeks of the Harris campaign have been spent talking about Donald Trump as a fascist , saying he’s a threat to democracy, comparing him to Hitler. So, I’m not sure they have much of a leg to stand on when it comes to this stuff. And I would just point out–

Acosta: Yeah, but Lance, I mean, you have a comedian, you know, telling jokes that, you know, you would hear at David Duke’s birthday party. I mean, this was vile, hateful stuff. And by the way, Puerto Ricans are Americans. I’ve said it once, I’ve said it again, I’m going to say it a bunch of times on this program: Puerto Ricans are Americans who can vote.

Trover: Yeah, absolutely. Do I think they could have got a better comedian last night? Heck, yes, I do. I mean, where’s Shane Gillis when you need him? He does a great Trump impression. Absolutely. But that’s why I started this segment by saying, look, yes, I think that we’re obviously needed to be focused more clearly on the issues, but I don’t think voters go into guilt by association. And Democrats for weeks on end have been doing this same type of dark rhetoric on the Trump campaign and on Donald Trump that doesn’t get nearly as much coverage.

Acosta then turned to Democratic strategist Paul Begala :

Acosta: Paul, is this a both-sidesy kind of thing going on here?

Begala: Well, no, Democrats are quoting Republicans and what they say about Mr. Trump .

Watch the video above via CNN.