Former President Donald Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, responded Monday to a controversial joke made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe—in which he referred to Puerto Rico as “a floating island of garbage”—that has been widely blasted as racist saying “we have to stop getting so offended at every little thing in the United States of America,” adding: “I’m so over it.”
Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, speaks at a campaign event Monday, Oct. ... [+]
Vance—speaking at a rally in Wausau, Wisconsin—said he hadn’t seen the joke and wouldn’t comment on the specifics, but said: “maybe it’s a stupid racist joke … maybe it’s not.”
Hinchcliffe, a roast comic who hosts the podcast “Kill Tony,” made the joke about Puerto Rico while speaking at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally Sunday, and it immediately drew criticism from Democrats, a number of Republicans and led the Trump campaign to distance itself from the comedian.
“We are not going to restore the greatness of American civilization if we get offended at every little thing, let's have a sense of humor,” Vance said before ending the rally.
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“Can we all just take a chill pill and take a joke from time to time? This is ridiculous,” Vance said.
Though Vance suggested the joke shouldn’t be taken seriously, the Trump campaign released a statement shortly after the MSG rally ended attempting to distance itself and the former president from Hinchcliffe’s remark. Danielle Alvarez, senior adviser for the Trump campaign, told Forbes in a statement: “This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.”
Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally made headlines for the raunchy jokes and extreme comments made by some of the nearly 30 speakers who took the stage before Trump—though Hinchcliffe’s comment about Puerto Rico, and another joke about Latinos, received the most criticism. As part of his opening for the rally, Hinchcliffe said, “I don’t know if you know this, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico.” Almost immediately, lawmakers of Puerto Rican descent began responding to the joke on X, formerly known as Twitter: Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., said, “I am tempted to call Hinchcliffe racist garbage but doing so would be an insult to garbage” and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., slammed Hinchcliffe, saying, “This isn’t the comedy store. You’re using your set to boost neo-Nazis … your ‘sense of humor’ doesn’t change that.” At least three Republican lawmakers from Florida, Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar and Carlos Gimenez, along with Sen. Rick Scott, denounced the joke, as well.
As a result of Hinchcliffe’s joke Sunday, Vice President Kamala Harris received new support from Puerto Rican celebrities. Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny and Ricky Martin—who have 250 million, 45.6 million and 18.6 million followers, respectively—all posted content supporting Harris to their Instagrams after Hinchcliffe’s joke. Puerto Rican singer-songwriter Marc Anthony also reiterated his support for Harris, saying in a post on X: “I remember what it was like when Trump was president … I remember after Hurricane Maria devastated our island… Trump blocked billions in relief … while thousands died.”