The confusion and disconnection muted Trump’s final campaign message.

Former President Donald Trump’s final weeks in his race against Vice President Kamala Harris have been marked by a series of controversial comments and unforced errors that threaten to quash his final pitch to voters amid a barrage of attacks and legal backlash from Democrats. was disturbed by .

Throughout the week, Trump’s campaign has aired thousands of ads focused on his policy platform, including universal tariffs, deeper tax cuts and sweeping immigration deportations. But what drew the most attention were the comedian’s insults to Puerto Rico, his violent rhetoric against Trump’s political opponents, and his comments about women.

On Sunday, the Republican presidential candidate kicked off his final week of campaigning with a raucous rally at New York’s Madison Square Garden. The event was advertised as an economic boost to New Yorkers, but its message was drowned out by the wild circus and sometimes outright racist remarks of some of the introductory speakers.

Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s opening set drew the most backlash after he called Puerto Rico “an island of trash floating in the middle of the ocean.”

Hinchcliffe’s comments sparked a wave of criticism from elected officials and voters, as well as Puerto Rican celebrities such as musician Bad Bunny.

“It’s not a good hit. I think people are pretty annoyed,” Allentown, Pennsylvania Mayor Matt Tourk told NBC News on Tuesday. “Angry is a word I’ve heard some people say.”

Pennsylvania, an important battleground with 19 electoral votes, has a significant Puerto Rican population, which is adding to the political damage caused by Hinchcliffe’s offensive remarks.

Trump campaign officials spent the next few hours and days cleaning up the MSG rally and distancing the candidate from the controversy.

“This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” Daniel Alvarez, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, said Sunday night.

The Democratic Party and the Harris campaign have dominated the controversy.

“We saw what happened at Madison Square Garden in New York as another attempt to divide us,” Harris’s running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, said Thursday at a local rally in Pennsylvania. “This disrespect toward the citizens of Puerto Rico is not only unnecessary but incredibly hurtful.”

Trump’s closing message was also overshadowed by his verbal attacks on former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, one of the Republican officials who became Harris’ primary campaign surrogate.

“She’s a radical warmonger. Let’s put up nine rifles shooting at her,” Trump said Thursday at an event in Arizona with conservative journalist Tucker Carlson. “Okay, let’s see how she feels about it. You can tell when the gun is trained on her face.”

On Friday, Arizona’s attorney general announced that he was investigating whether President Trump’s violent comments constituted death threats and a violation of state law.

The Harris campaign contrasted Trump’s comments to support its bipartisan argument for the Democratic presidential nominee.

“Donald Trump is talking about sending a prominent Republican to the firing squad, and Vice President Harris is talking about sending him to the Cabinet,” Ian Sams, a senior adviser to the Harris campaign, said on MSNBC on Friday.

Trump’s irresponsible comments about Cheney forced him and his campaign to focus on damage control for the remainder of the presidential election.

“What I’m saying is she was a stupid warmonger,” Trump said Saturday on “Fox & Friends.” He added, “He said, ‘Go out with a gun in your hand and face the enemy with a gun in your hand.'”

Trump has branded his rambling rhetorical style a “weave,” which typically derails his core policy messages.

“I weave,” he said at a Saturday rally in Virginia. “No one can weave like Trump.”

With polls showing last weekend’s close presidential race in swing states, Republican pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson warned of a disconnect.

“His broadcast message is, ‘If you want the economy to get back to normal, if you want the world to stop burning, vote for me.’” It’s a good message,” Anderson said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“Unfortunately for him, sometimes that’s not what he says about the stump,” she said. “And if he loses, I think that disconnect will be part of the reason.”

At a rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday, Trump said he would “protect” American women “whether they like it or not.” The comments gave the Harris campaign another opportunity to argue that Trump and the Republican Party are trying to impose their beliefs on women’s lives over the women’s own opposition.

This argument is at the core of Democratic opposition to abortion restrictions imposed after the 2022 Dobbs decision. Polls show the issue is generating huge support for Harris among women.

Former Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod told CNN on Sunday that he is closely watching how the race is shaping up and that Harris is “doing well.”

“She’s getting the message. She’s very disciplined. Trump is not. I think that makes sense.”