Republican and Democratic leaders alike and Puerto Rican celebrities bashed comments made at a major Donald Trump event in New York by a comedian who called Puerto Rico a ‘floating island of garbage’.
Speaking before the Republican presidential candidate at a rally at Madison Square Garden, comedian and podcast host Tony Hinchcliffe added that Latinos ‘love making babies’ and that they do not ‘pull out’, comments that leaned into a racist trope that Latinos are preoccupied with childbearing and averse to birth control.
“There’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now,” Hinchcliffe said. “I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”
The presidential campaign of Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, Democrats, several prominent Puerto Rican celebrities and some congressional Republicans denounced the comments, which were widely panned as racist.
The Trump campaign itself said the comments did not reflect Trump’s views. Trump himself has not commented on Hinchcliffe’s performance, though he has himself leaned into racist and sexist rhetoric on the campaign trail.
At some recent rallies, he has also warned about a nefarious ‘enemy from within’ that is set on undermining the nation. Harris has criticised that rhetoric on the campaign trail, arguing that Trump’s desire to root out his enemies represents a threat to democracy.
“Look, it was a comedian who made a joke in poor taste,” campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told Fox News yesterday. “Obviously, that joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.”
Puerto Ricans are US citizens, though they do not have voting representation in Congress and the island does not vote for president. The island is an unincorporated territory of the United States.
Americans of Puerto Rican origin or ancestry are an important demographic in some of the competitive swing states that will likely decide the winner of the November 5 election, including Pennsylvania. Both candidates are fighting for the Latino vote, which has trended more Republican in recent years but still leans Democratic.
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