Trump hits Harris ahead of her 'closing argument' speech at the Ellipse

He is delivering remarks at Mar-a-Lago amid the uproar.

Former President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters at Mar-a-Lago in Florida on Tuesday, swiped at Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of her speech at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., where she will make her closing case to voters.

"She's running on a campaign of demoralization and a campaign of destruction," Trump said. "But really, perhaps, more than anything else it's a campaign of hate, of absolute hate."

He later added, "She is going out and only criticizing talking about Hitler and Nazis because her record's horrible."

Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump delivers "Trump Will Fix It" remarks during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Fla., Oct. 29, 2024.

Brendan Mcdermid/Reuters

The comments come as backlash continues after Trump's rally at Madison Square Garden over the weekend, particularly relating to comedian Tony Hinchcliffe's comment that Puerto Rico was an "island of floating garbage."

Trump told ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott earlier Tuesday that he didn't know the comedian and hadn't seen his comments despite them dominating the airwaves the past two days.

"I don't know him, someone put him up there. I don't know who he is," Trump said.

When asked what he made of the comments, Trump didn't take an opportunity to denounce them and repeated his claim that he hadn't heard them.

His campaign has said the comedian's comments don't reflect the views of Trump or the campaign.

Trump touched on a variety of familiar campaign themes as he spoke at Mar-a-Lago, including immigration and the economy.

He began his remarks by repeating falsehoods about the election, claiming Democrats "stole" it when President Joe Biden stepped aside and Harris was nominated in his place. He also suggested there were "bad spots" in Pennsylvania, a battleground state considered crucial to the election outcome.

"There are some bad spots in Pennsylvania where some serious things have been caught, or are in the process of being caught, but the election itself is going very well," Trump said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.