NEW YORK – As former President Donald Trump looked to the community to vote, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe crudely mocked Latinos, a key constituency for any winning campaign in 2024, during a program before the former president’s Madison Square Garden rally.
With nine days to go until the election, Trump has assembled a slew of his most famous surrogates and allies, rallying thousands of people in Midtown Manhattan, a reliably deep blue district.
Hinchcliffe, taking the first slot of about 30 pre-program speakers, launched into a crude and disparaging joke about the conflict in the Middle East, Black voters and Latin Americans.
“These Latinos, they love to make babies too. Just know they’re doing it,” Hinchcliffe said, joking: “There’s no taking it out. They don’t do that. As they did to our country, inside as well.
Moments later, the comedian took a second swing at a key voting bloc in the community: Puerto Ricans.
“There’s a lot going on. I don’t know if you know this, but right now there is literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” he said to cheers and mockery.
He also joked about one of his black “friends” and how they used to “carve watermelons” together.
Battleground Pennsylvania, where poll margins show a razor-thin race between Trump and Harris, is home. the third largest Puerto Rican diaspora in the country. Last month, the former president invited Puerto Rican artist Anuel AA on stage at the rally publicly throwing his support behind the Republican ticket in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Hinchcliffe’s jokes.
Speaking live with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Sunday afternoon, Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, responded to the comedian’s comments.
“Who is that son-in-law?” Who is that man?” Walz, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, asked after a clip of Hinchcliffe’s prank aired.
“In Puerto Rico, people are citizens. They pay taxes and serve in the military at a higher rate than almost anyone else,” Walz added, knocking Trump for his response to Hurricane Maria in 2017 — including the now-famous clip of the former president throwing away paper towels. Puerto Ricans are looking for help.
“Obviously, it upsets me a lot,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “I need people to understand that if you have an ‘a-hole’ calling Puerto Rico floating trash, know that they feel the same way about you.”
Home to more than 3 million American citizens as of the 2020 census, Puerto Rico has experienced significant out-migration to the mainland United States since Hurricane Maria devastated the island territory in 2017.
Despite being US citizens, Puerto Ricans living on the island are not eligible to vote in presidential elections (the commonwealth holds elections and awards delegates to both the Democratic and Republican primary candidates).
But mainland relatives can.
Vice President Kamala Harris, for her part, announced her plan for Puerto Rico while campaigning in Pennsylvania on Sunday, posting details on her social media accounts and adding a section to her campaign website. Puerto Rican rapper and singer Bad Bunny shared Harris’ statement on his personal. Over 45 million Instagram followers.