Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s description of Puerto Rico as a “pile of garbage” during a rally for former President Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden Sunday drew widespread bipartisan rebuke just nine days before the election—as Puerto Rican voters could have significant sway in the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania.
Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe speaks during a campaign rally for former President Donald Trump at ... [+]
While Hinchcliffe’s comments about Puerto Rico grabbed headlines from Trump’s rally, Vice President Kamala Harris was making an appeal to Puerto Rican voters in Pennsylvania, where the number of eligible voters who are Latino has more than doubled between 2000 and 2022—and more than half are of Puerto Rican descent, according to the Latino Politics & Policy Institute.
Latinos account for just 6% of the eligible voter population in Pennsylvania, but in a race this tight, every vote matters in the state: President Joe Biden beat Trump there by less than 82,000 votes in 2020 and Harris and Trump are nearly tied in polls, according to averages that give Trump a slight advantage—and Trump is on track to boost his support among Latino voters nationwide.
Harris, while campaigning Sunday in Philadelphia, where the population is 15% Hispanic, visited a Puerto Rican restaurant and promoted her plan announced earlier Sunday to launch a “Puerto Rico Opportunity Economy Task Force” between the private sector and federal government to create new jobs and economic growth in Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rican stars Bad Bunny, Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin voiced their support for Harris on social media Sunday, with rapper Bad Bunny posting videos to Instagram featuring Harris criticizing Trump’s response to Hurricane Maria in 2017, when he infamously downplayed the death toll and tossed paper towels into the crowd during a visit there, widely seen as a cavalier move.
Democrats have also partnered with Puerto Rican celebrities to rally voters for Harris in Pennsylvania, including Emmy award-winning “The Bear” actress Liza Colón-Zayas, and “Hamilton” actor Anthony Ramos, who participated in a rally with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in Bethlehem on the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico last month.
Trump too has sought to make inroads with Puerto Rican voters in Pennsylvania, appearing at a rally with Puerto Rican rapper Anuel AA (born Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago) in August, while his campaign also opened a “Latino Americans for Trump” office in Reading, Pennsylvania, in June.
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Puerto Ricans are “one of the few voting groups where there’s a chance of either mobilizing them or changing their minds,” University of Pennsylvania political science professor Michael Jones-Correa told NBC News.
44%. That’s the share of Hispanic men who support Trump, compared to 46% who support Harris, according to a recent Reuters/Ipsos polling analysis, representing a steep decline from Biden’s 19-point advantage over Trump among Hispanic men at this point in the 2020 election cycle. Overall, 37% of registered Hispanic voters back Trump, up from 30% at the same time in 2020, while 51% support Harris, compared to 54% who supported Biden.
Hinchcliffe, a roast comic who hosts the podcast “Kill Tony,” said while opening for Trump Sunday, “there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico.” Hinchcliffe dismissed the remark as a joke and said “I made fun of everyone” in a post on social media following widespread backlash and efforts by the Trump campaign to distance itself from the comments. The “joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” spokesperson Daniella Alvarez told Forbes. Harris’ campaign jumped on the remarks, calling Hinchcliffe’s speech a “vile racist tirade.” Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle sharply rebuked the comments, with Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., writing on X that she was “disgusted” by the “racist comment” and Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., calling the comment “not funny” and “not true.”
Pennsylvania 2024 Trump-Harris Polls: Trump Up 1 Point In Latest Survey (Forbes)