It looked like an election devoid of an “October surprise” – the kind of last-minute turnaround that could shift the White House race from knife-edge to slam-dunk outcome.

That surprise may now have come via a campaign-trail blooper now roiling the Donald Trump bandwagon which, on many indicators, was consolidating its chance of victory.

But there is, it turns out, such a thing as overkill, even in this no-holds-barred election race. A bare-knuckle Trump acclamation event at the Madison Square Garden in New York, home of boxing matches and wrestling tournaments, turned a hefty blow on the candidate himself.

A warm-up act by the comedian and podcaster Tony Hinchcliffe mocked Latinos for alleged sexual irresponsibility, called Jews mean and Palestinians “rock-throwers”. But most damagingly, he dubbed Puerto Rico – a US territory – an “island of garbage”.

Besides the sheer unpleasantness, that jibe was an unforced error: Puerto Rican voters make up over 3 per cent of voters in........

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