Racist rhetoric is nothing new for Donald Trump; this is, after all, the man who called Mexican immigrants “rapists” when he launched his first presidential campaign, and referred to Haiti, El Salvador, and several African nations as “shithole countries” in 2018. But the former president’s 2024 bid for the White House reached new heights of xenophobia on Sunday, when comedian Tony Hinchcliffe appeared at a Trump rally in New York City’s Madison Square Garden and called Puerto Rico as “a floating island of garbage.”
While the Trump campaign has tried to distance itself from Hinchcliffe’s controversial remarks, Trump himself has a long history of alienating the Puerto Rican community: In 2017, he was captured tossing rolls of paper towel at survivors of Hurricane Maria, a natural disaster that has continued to affect the island’s infrastructure. However, the world hasn’t taken Hinchcliffe’s comments lying down, with famous figures including Bad Bunny, Jennifer Lopez, and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responding publicly to his smears.
Below, everything else you need to know about why Puerto Rico is dominating the political news cycle this week.
What, exactly, did Hinchcliffe say at the Trump rally?
“There’s a lot going on. 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,” Hinchcliffe told the audience at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, going on to suggest that Latinos “love making babies.” The set that also included crude jokes about Black Americans, Palestinians, and Jews.
What has the Trump campaign said about Hinchcliffe’s remarks?
“These jokes do not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” Trump’s senior campaign advisor told Time in a statement on Monday, with Trump’s national press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, asking the publication in an email: “You do know he’s a COMEDIAN, and these are JOKES, right????” (Oh, okay. Never mind, then!)
Who has spoken out against Hinchcliffe’s comments?
Bad Bunny, who has long been outspoken about matters related to his native Puerto Rico, endorsed Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris after Hinchcliffe’s comments went public on Sunday, posting a clip to Instagram of Harris condemning Trump’s response (or lack thereof) to Hurricane Maria. Jennifer Lopez, who is the daughter of Puerto Rican immigrants, also shared the Harris video to her own Instagram account, adding the clapping emoji and the Puerto Rican flag.
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez—whose parents are Puerto Rican and Puerto Rican-American—expressed her disgust with Hinchcliffe’s comments in a conversation with Democratic vice-presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz on Sunday, saying: “I need people to understand that when you have some a-hole calling Puerto Rico ‘floating garbage,’ know that’s what they think about you. It’s what they think of anyone who makes less money than them. It’s what they think about people who serve them food in a restaurant. It’s what they think about the people who fold their clothes in a store. Dude, are you serious?”
