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Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi has slammed vulgar remarks made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe and urged Americans of Puerto Rican origin to "show the strength of our people at the polls and every day".

Pierluisi, a Democrat who has endorsed Kamala Harris, reposted Hinchcliffe's comments on X and wrote: "Garbage is what came out of the mouth of @TonyHinchcliffe, and everyone who cheered him on should be ashamed of themselves for disrespecting Puerto Rico like this.

"These remarks highlight the prejudice and racism still alive in our Nation, and how important it is to elect leaders that reject and combat this bigotry," he added. "America is better than this and deserves better."

His predecessor, Ricardo Rossello, also condemned the remarks as "egregious" and "insulting".

Speaking to NewsNation, the former governor noted that New York is home to more than a million Puerto Ricans. Rossello said Hinchcliffe's comments "will cost President Trump if he does not address this".

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has described Donald Trump's rally in New York City on Sunday night as a "hate rally" during an appearance on MSNBC's Morning Joe this morning.

The New York congresswoman, who is Puerto Rican, was asked about offensive jokes made at the Madison Square Garden rally by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe - including one where he described the US territory as a "floating island of garbage".

The Trump campaign has since said that comment does "not reflect" the Republican candidate's views.

"This was not just a presidential rally, this was not just a campaign rally," she says. "I think it's important for people to understand these are mini January 6 rallies, these are mini Stop the Steal rallies," she adds, referencing a slogan that became popular with Trump supporters after the 2020 election.

The congresswoman goes on to accuse Trump and his allies of wanting to take this election "by force" if the former president doesn't win the US election.

"That's what they mean and that's what they're doing when they are inciting violence and hatred against Latinos, black Americans, against Americans who don't have children," she says.

Image source, Reuters

As we've been reporting, there has been bipartisan criticism after a comedian addressing a Trump rally called Puerto Rico a "floating island of garbage".

Tony Hinchcliffe, speaking from the stage as a warm-up act, said "there is literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now", before adding the punchline, saying: "I think it's called Puerto Rico".

Among the Republicans criticising the remark is Florida senator Rick Scott, who posted on social media: "This joke bombed for a reason. It's not funny and it's not true.

He added: "Puerto Ricans are amazing people and amazing Americans!"

Other Republican members of Congress have called the comedian's remark "racist" and "in poor taste" – you can read that reaction from earlier in our coverage here.

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Melania Trump introduced her husband at last night's campaign stop at Madison Square Garden.

It marked a rare appearance for the former first lady, who has been largely absent from the campaign trail during this election. That has prompted some speculation about divisions between her and the former president.

"Our town has produced America's most fearless leaders", she told the crowd at the famous New York City venue.

"Let us charge together with a shared vision that builds on American greatness."

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There's just eight days to go until the election. After a busy weekend both candidates will be on the road again today. Here's what to expect:

• Kamala Harris andher running mate Minnesota governor Tim Walz will hold a joint campaign rally in Ann Arbor, Michigan later, featuring singer Maggie Rogers
• Donald Trump will hold a rally of his own in Atlanta, Georgia
• His son Donald Trump Jr will be at Lehigh Valley Sporting Clays in Coplay, Pennsylvania
• Bruce Springsteen and former President Barack Obama will headline a rally in support of Harris at Temple University in Philadelphia
• Trump's vice-presidential nominee, senator JD Vance, will speak at Racine Memorial Hall in Wisconsin

All of these events are taking place in key swing states that look set to decide the election, which you can read more about here.

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Offensive comments made by a comedian about Puerto Rico at last night's Trump rally have received a lot of attention. And while Trump's campaign has sought to distance itself from those remarks, his own fiery speech contained a substantial amount of anti-migrant rhetoric.

Referring to a plan to end illegal immigration to the US and deport migrants, Trump said parts of the country had been "conquered" by them and referred to a "migrant invasion".

"On day one, I will launch the largest deportation programme in American history," he said. "I will rescue every city and town that has been invaded and conquered."

Trump added: "Once I take office, the migrant invasion of our country ends and the restoration of our country begins."

He also referred to the "enemy from within" - a controversial characterisation he has previously used to describe his political opponents.

Image source, X/Kamala HQ

Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz told a Twitch stream that a comedian's offensive remarks about Puerto Rico at a Trump rally in New York is a reflection of "what they think about you".

Comedian and podcast host Tony Hinchcliffe, a warm-up act for Trump on Sunday night, described Puerto Rico as a "floating island of garbage".

"Who is that jackwad?" Walz said in a reaction video posted on X by the Kamala Harris campaign.

"That's what they think about anyone who makes less money than them," Ocasio-Cortez, who is often referred to by her initials AOC and is herself of Puerto Rican descent, added.

Twitch has increasingly factored into the Democrats attempts to reach youth voters. Ocasio-Cortez has a channel on the popular streaming service, where she occasionally posts videos of herself playing popular video games and discussing US political issues.

Walz's appearance with her appears to be part of a broader effort from the Democratic camp to appeal to younger audiences. Earlier this month, a Harris-Walz rally in Arizona was broadcast on Twitch, external as a creator played World of Warcraft and provided commentary on the event, Wired reported at the time.

The Democrats launched a Twitch channel for Harris in August.

Polling shows that as of today, Kamala Harris is leading Donald Trump nationally by just one percentage point - well within the margin of error.

That means the candidates are effectively tied.

Pollsters need to make educated guesses about factors that could influence how people vote, including whether they will turn up on election day.

Harris has maintained her lead over Trump steadily since mid-September, but as election day approaches the gap has slightly narrowed.

In the seven swing states - regions that flip between the Democrats and the Republicans and could decide the election - Trump is leading in most areas, albeit also within the margin of error.

Trump leads Harris by roughly 1% in Nevada, Pennsylvania and North Carolina as of Monday, and by 2% in Georgia and Arizona.

Harris leads by about 1% in Wisconsin and Michigan.

For a deeper dive into the latest data, our poll tracker has you covered here.

Natalie Sherman
New York business reporter

Trump has promised to place a 10% to 20% tariff on all goods entering the US - but that hasn't deterred some small business owners, who would face higher costs from the measure, from throwing their support behind the Republican.

The measure would target Chinese products specifically, applying a 60% charge on goods entering the US from the country.

Alan Chadwick, an entrepreneur from Wyoming who imports clothing from China, would be hard-hit by a new tax on imported goods. He still plans to vote for Trump, he tells the BBC.

"I will vote for Trump even though he's going to hurt our company if he does what he says he's going to do," he says.

The Republican says his plan will prompt job creation and US-based manufacturing. Analysts say the new tariff could raise importing costs to their highest level in five decades - and critics of the plan argue that it will reduce the US's competitiveness globally.

• Tariffs hurt his business. He's voting for Trump anyway

Puerto Rico has come up a lot in the last few hours after a comedian at Donald Trump's rally made an insulting and derogatory comment about the US territory - describing it as a "floating island of garbage".

Separately, Puerto-Rican star Bad Bunny publicly endorsed Kamala Harris, sharing one of her campaign videos on his social media.

It comes as both Republicans and Democrats have renewed their efforts to appeal to Latino voters in the closing days of this campaign.

There are around 36 million Hispanic voters eligible to vote this year, according to the Pew Research centre., external They have generally formed a key plank of the Democratic Party's coalition, with 59% of Latinos casting their vote for Joe Biden in 2020, according to Pew.

But Republicans have been making inroads into that support, especially among members of the Cuban-American community - a majority of whom identified as Republicans in 2020. In that election, Donald Trump increased his share of the poll among Hispanic voters to 38% - up from the 25% Republicans received in the 2018 congressional elections.

Hispanic voters are a large minority in several key swing states. In Pennsylvania, they amount to around 615,000 people, according to Pew. In Arizona, where Donald Trump holds a slim lead according to polls, 855,000 Latinos are expected to vote.

That's why the comments made at Sunday's rally have taken on such significance. Democratic Party Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has urged Hispanic voters in Pennsylvania to view the clips. Meanwhile, Donald Trump's campaign have been quick to disavow them.

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Kamala Harris spent Sunday campaigning in Pennsylvania, a battleground state that could swing towards either candidate this election.

At a rally in Philadelphia, Harris told supporters that "we must not wake up the day after the election and have any regrets". Though it is a swing state, Pennsylvania has been taken by the Democrats in most recent elections, but went Republican in 2016.

Harris's campaign focused on shoring up the vote amongst Latino voters, and on Sunday, Puerto Rican recording artist Bad Bunny threw his support behind the Democrats.

While she already leads in the demographic against Donald Trump - whose campaign on Sunday came under fire for offensive comments about Puerto Ricans made at his Madison Square Garden rally - some in Harris's camp have suggested that she needs to do more to drum up support amongst Latino voters.

Image source, Reuters

Here's a recap of what happened on the campaign trail last night:

• Donald Trump held a large rally at the iconic Madison Square Garden in his hometown of New York, sticking to a largely familiar script to "bring back the American dream" and showcasing high-profile backers including the world's richest person, Elon Musk
• Speeches made by Trump-backers at the event have drawn strong criticism – the former president's childhood friend, David Rem, called Kamala Harris "the devil" and "the antichrist"
• One of the warm-up acts, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, referred to Puerto Rico as a "floating island of garbage", said Latinos "love making babies", and made a comment about "carving watermelons" at a Halloween party hosted by a black man
• Kamala Harris's campaign, which on the same day laid out its plans to support Puerto Rico, said the rally was "mirroring the same dangerously divisive and demeaning message" as her opponent
• Republicans were also among those criticising the joke about Puerto Rico, with some members of Congress describing it as "racist" and "in poor taste"
• One of Trump's senior advisors distanced the campaign from the joke, saying it did not reflect the views of Trump or his campaign

We'll continue to bring you more reaction and analysis, and all the key updates from the campaign trail today.

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During his rally at New York's Madison Square Garden last night, Trump said he was announcing a new policy – that he would support "a tax credit for family caregivers who take care of a parent or a loved one".

No further details were provided, but Trump said "it's about time that they were recognised" and "they add so much to our country and are never spoken of".

The idea is mentioned in the Republican Party's official election policy platform – released in July – under the heading of protecting care at home for the elderly. It says the party would "support unpaid family caregivers through tax credits and reduced red tape".

Tax credits - reductions to income tax - can take different forms in the US, and it's not clear what exactly Trump or his party have in mind.

The proposal makes up part of a wider set of tax reductions and cuts his campaign has proposed, including no tax on tips, overtime or social security benefits for seniors.

In recent weeks, Trump's opponent, Kamala Harris, has been laying out her own plans to help the "sandwich generation" – adults caring for aging parents while raising children – and the "care economy", including a proposal to expand healthcare benefits to cover at-home senior care.

The race for the White House is entering its final stretch and over the last few days both candidates have taken the stage with celebrities to win the support of voters across the country:

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Gary O'Donoghue
Senior North America correspondent

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Donald Trump walked off stage to Frank Sinatra's classic New York, New York - but during his speech at Maddison Square Garden, he played all the old familiar tunes on the economy, inflation and immigration.

He promised once again to deport millions of migrants on day one of his administration and said that any migrant who killed an American should get the death penalty.

As Trump enters the final week of campaigning, there is little between him and Kamala Harris in those key swing states that will decide this election.

On Sunday night, Trump achieved a lifelong ambition to appear before a packed Madison Square Garden - but no one knows how this race will end.

Whether this huge hometown rally will move the needle in terms of who wins the election, we will have to wait and see.

Image source, Getty Images

Both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump want to appeal to the roughly 36 million Latino voters in the US - and they have had a weekend of differing fortunes on that front.

On Saturday, Grammy award-winning reggaeton artist Bad Bunny endorsed Harris in a video shared with his 45 million Instagram followers.

The Puerto Rican star referenced a controversial 2017 moment when the then-President Donald Trump threw packets of paper towels into a crowd during a visit to the island after it had been it by a hurricane.

A day later, Trump's campaign was forced to issue a statement distancing the Republican candidate from a derogatory joke about Puerto Rico made by a comedian at his New York rally.

That description of Puerto Rico as a "floating island of garbage" has been picked up by Latinos on social media. Among them is Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin, who told his fans: "This is what they think of us."

While people who live in Puerto Rico can't vote, there are an estimate 5.8 million people of Puerto Rican descent living in the US who can.

Image source, Getty Images

There has been a backlash from some Latino Republican lawmakers over comments made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe at Donald Trump's New York rally on Sunday, including describing Puerto Rico as a "floating island of garbage".

Florida congresswoman María Elvira Salazar wrote on X that she was "disgusted" by his "racist comment". Her state has one of the largest populations of Puerto Ricans in the US.

Fellow Florida Republican Carlos A. Gimenez described Hinchcliffe's speech as "completely classless and in poor taste", while New York congressman Anthony D'Esposito said he was "proud to be Puerto Rican".

"The only thing that’s ‘garbage’ was a bad comedy set," he wrote on X.

As a reminder, Trump's campaign has distanced the former president from the remark, saying it does not reflect his views about the island.

Remarks by comedian and podcast host Tony Hinchcliffe, who was invited as a warm-up speaker ahead of Donald Trump's speech at Madison Square Garden, have been condemned by Democrats and Republicans.

It was one of several contentious comments made during the New York rally which have drawn focus away from the former president's speech.

Puerto Rico is a US island territory in the Caribbean. While its inhabitants are unable to vote in US presidential elections, there is a large diaspora across the US who can.

Phil McCausland
Reporting from New York

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Trump didn’t explicitly offer Robert F Kennedy Jr a cabinet position if the former president returns to the White House - but he practically did.

While speaking at Madison Square Garden, Trump praised Kennedy - who has been criticised for spreading disinformation on health topics like Covid-19 and vaccines.

The former president promised he would let RFK Jr "go wild on health" if he wins. He added: "I'm going to let him go wild on the food. I'm going to let him go wild on medicines."

Kennedy, whose family has produced several significant Democratic figures over the decades, ran for president as an independent. He abandoned his bid in August and endorsed Trump.

Image source, Reuters

Donald Trump held a huge rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night. This hometown appearance was billed as Trump's opportunity to set up the final weeks of his presidential campaign by setting out his message to voters.

Instead, much of the focus in the hours since has been on the rhetoric used by his supporters from the stage prior to him speaking.

Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe was among those invited to warm up the crowd ahead of Trump speaking. He referred to the US territory of Puerto Rico as a "floating island of garbage".

Shortly after that remark, the Trump campaign issued a statement distancing the former president from it.

Hinchcliffe also said Latinos "love making babies" and made a comment about "carving watermelons" at a Halloween party hosted by a black man - both of which draw on offensive stereotypes about those groups.

David Rem, a childhood friend of Trump, used his speech to call Kamala Harris "the devil" and "the antichrist", while Trump's former attorney Rudy Giuliani falsely claimed the Democratic candidates is "on the side of the terrorists" in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Harris campaign has condemned the language heard at the event as "divisive and demeaning".