Republican front-runner Donald Trump decided a visit to New York would be a good time to try out his comedy routine by delivering a stunningly tasteless joke at the expense of a man who had been recently killed nearby by New York police.In a performance that recalled the time he mocked a physically disabled reporter, Trump cast his arch-nemesis Mitt Romney in the role of police brutality victim Eric Garner because, as Trump tells it, both were known for  choking. Unbelievable. The last election should have been won, except Romney choked like a dog. He choked,  Trump said, before mocking Romney with his hands in a choke position.Trump shouted  I can t breathe, I can t breathe,  mocking the last words of Garner, who died in police custody on July 17, 2014, when officers tried to arrest him for allegedly selling loose, untaxed cigarettes across from Tompkinsville Park.The moment stunned reporters on scene, but what was perhaps even more surprising was the response Trump got from his fans. Rather than find the idea of aping the words of a man who recently died just a few miles away repulsive, the crowd of Trump-heads roared with laughter. The mockery was the funniest thing they had ever seen.'Like a dog': Donald Trump impersonates Mitt Romney 'choking' in the 2012 election https://t.co/dX9r9HADCA pic.twitter.com/Ny7ULsOIhW  Business Insider (@businessinsider) April 12, 2016Like every offensive thing Trump does, this may have been a finely-tuned tactical maneuver. For many in New York, the story of Eric Garner s senseless death is still raw and infuriating, but the small but vocal Fox News crowd has always taken a different opinion on it. In the aftermath of Garner s death, Fox repeatedly booked guests who pushed the idea that Garner deserved it.Neil Cavuto and guest Bishop E.W. Jackson concluded as much: It s the result of a young man having made the decision to resist arrest. And when you do that, things are not going to end well. It s tragic, it s terrible. But how about teaching the young people when the police make a request, cooperate with them rather than resisting them? Rudy Guliani   also on Fox News   agreed, claiming Garner killed himself by struggling to not be arrested.Many of the people who felt the same, now attend Trump rallies where they count on the candidate to stoke racial fears and push the kind of xenophobic nationalism that s gotten him so far with the Republican base. Mocking Eric Garner   and linking him to Romney, whom Trump views as weak and pathetic   is a way of playing on feelings of white pride that enthralls many of Trump s fans.Featured image via Twitter