'You blew yourself up': Ex-GOP operative taunts Trump for error that may cost him election

Former Republican strategist Mike Madrid tells The New Republic's Greg Sargent that former President Donald Trump's decision to have a Puerto Rico-bashing comedian open for him at his Madison Square Garden rally may really cost him the 2024 presidential election.

In an interview with Sargent, Madrid outlines why even a tiny shift among Pennsylvania's population of Puerto Rican voters could make all the difference in a state where polls suggest a dead heat between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

"There are 450,000 Puerto Ricans, not all of them are registered to vote," explained Madrid. "That’s just the population. About 6 percent of the Pennsylvania electorate is Latino; about 3.7 percent is of Puerto Rican–descent. A city like Allentown has 33,500 Puerto Ricans alone. So in Allentown, you could actually make a significant impact by coalescing... just Allentown alone could really make a big difference in the statewide outcome of the contest."

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Madrid then said it was a major deal that Puerto Rican musical icons such as Bad Bunny and Ricky Martin were calling attention to the MAGA comedian's insults to Puerto Ricans, as it could reach voters who otherwise were not paying attention to the election.

"If you shift just 10 or 15,000 votes of Puerto Ricans away from Donald Trump and back to Kamala Harris, you put her in a very strong position to win," he said. "Can Bad Bunny and Jennifer Lopez and Geraldo Rivera and Ricky Martin do that? I think they probably can."

Madrid then ended the conversation by taunting Trump for making a potentially catastrophic error.

"That is the October surprise," he said. "Surprise, Donald Trump, you blew yourself up. Yes, it could absolutely bring Pennsylvania into the win column for Kamala Harris. I believe that. Regardless, this is not a good development for Donald Trump."