(NewsNation) — Megyn Kelly tells “Elizabeth Vargas Reports” she found former President Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally speakers alienated female and Hispanic voters rather than uplifting them.
Kelly, a noted Trump supporter who told NewsNation she finds Vice President Kamala Harris “empty-headed,” thinks that “there is zero point in offering man after man after man to call her the devil.”
She said she doesn’t think the rally or its explosive backlash will have an impact on Trump’s chances of winning, but there was “no point” in insulting two major voter pools.
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“Trump has not won this thing, not by a long shot. You’ve got to get as many votes as humanly possible.” Kelly said Tuesday. “And there is absolutely no point in doing or saying anything that would alienate these key voting blocks, including Hispanics and Blacks and women.”
NewsNation’s election partner, Decision Desk HQ, shows Trump with a 54% chance of winning and Harris with a 46% chance as of Oct. 29.
Kelly expressed disappointment in the speakers chosen for the rally, saying that the Republican men in her life were “not motivated by, like, racist jokes about Hispanics and Blacks and sexist comments about women.”
“They are capable of so much more than this, and the No. 1 goal was to serve Trump, which they didn’t. So whoever actually did screen these remarks, if indeed that’s true, ought to be removed from the campaign for the next seven days and just let a grown-up handle this,” she said.
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Kelly clarified that while she believes the GOP nominee will still win the presidential election, the event did him no favors.
“At something like this, you want to be inspired, you might want to laugh, but you don’t want to hit below the belt,” she said. “And above all, do nothing to make your stupid joke, whether you’re the comic or one of the supporting acts, the story. Trump needs to be the story.”
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The event was a surreal spectacle that included former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, billionaire Elon Musk, TV psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, politicians including House Speaker Mike Johnson and Reps. Byron Donalds and Elise Stefanik and an artist who painted a picture of Trump hugging the Empire State Building.
In Kelly’s podcast, “The Megyn Kelly Show,” the journalist called the rally’s lineup “too bro-tastic.”
Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, one of the featured guests at Trump’s New York City event, sparked a furor after referring to Puerto Rico as “a floating island of garbage,” prompting some members of the GOP, like Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, R-N.Y., who is Puerto Rican, to come out against the remarks.
In addition to his remark about Puerto Rico, Hinchcliffe also made a crude joke about Latinos in which he said, “They love making babies too. Just know that. They do. They do. There’s no pulling out. They don’t do that. They c– inside. Just like they did to our country.”
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Hinchcliffe wasn’t the only one who made controversial remarks about different racial and ethnic groups during the rally. Carlson referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as a “Samoan, Malaysian, low-IQ former California prosecutor” even though Harris is neither Samoan nor Malaysian but rather Black and Indian American.
Sid Rosenberg, a New York City radio host whose show Trump calls into periodically, blasted Democrats in derogatory and explicit terms.
“She is some sick b——, that Hillary Clinton. What a sick son of a b—-,” he said of the former secretary of State and 2016 Democratic nominee. “The whole fucking party. A bunch of degenerates.”
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Trump ally Rudy Giuliani used racist stereotypes about Palestinians in his address at the rally, claiming, “They may have good people. I’m sorry, I don’t take a risk with people that are taught to kill Americans at 2.”
Trump’s childhood friend David Rem referred to Harris as “the Antichrist” and “the devil.” Businessman Grant Cardone told the crowd that Harris ”and her pimp handlers will destroy our country.
Trump campaign senior adviser Danielle Alvarez said in a statement that Hinchcliffe’s “joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.”
Trump later defended the rally, calling it a “lovefest.”
NewsNation partner The Hill and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
