Puerto Ricans Speak Up Following Comedian’s Remarks at Trump Rally
Boricua celebrities weighed in on the insensitive comments made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe
Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons
The island of Puerto Rico is no stranger to controversy related to former President Donald Trump following his infamous paper towel moment in 2017 following the devastation of Hurricane Maria. Now the Latinx community has voiced outrage across social media following the crude remarks made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe at a Trump rally in New York on Sunday, October 27. Hinchcliffe, one of the speakers at the political event held at Madison Square Garden, delivered a series of jokes laden with racial stereotypes and called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage”.
“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 said in his speech.
After Hinchcliffe’s comments, Boricua icon Bad Bunny signaled support for Vice President Kamala Harris, sharing a clip with his 45 million Instagram followers on Stories of Harris condemning Trump’s handling of Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria and pledging support for the island.
“I will never forget what Donald Trump did and what he did not do when Puerto Rico needed a caring and a competent leader. He abandoned the island, tried to block aid after back-to-back devastating hurricanes and offered nothing more than paper towels and insults,” Harris said in the video posted to Instagram. “Puerto Ricans deserve better.”
Puerto Rican singer-actor Ricky Martin reposted the same video of Harris’ speech on his Instagram Stories, adding the comment “I remember,” and posted a clip of Hinchcliffe’s remark with the comment “This is what they think of us. Vote for @kamalaharris.”
The View co-host Sunny Hostin, who is of Puerto Rican descent, slammed Hinchcliffe’s comment and Trump: “This Puerto Rican has something to say about the island that I love, where my family is from, Puerto Rico is trash? We are Americans, Donald Trump,” Hostin said. “We don’t like what was said about Puerto Rico, and we know how to take the trash out. Trash that has been collecting since 2016 and that’s you Donald Trump. My fellow Puerto Ricans, trash collection day is November 5.”
Nuyorican singer and actress Jennifer Lopez also joined in reposting Harris’s video as well as the clip of Hostin’s response on The View. Lopez additionally endorsed Harris and delivered an emotional speech at a rally in support of the Democratic vice president in Las Vegas, Nevada on Thursday.
“At Madison Square Garden, he [Trump] reminded us who he really is and how he really feels,” Lopez said in her speech. “It wasn’t just Puerto Ricans that were offended that day. It was every Latino in this country. It was humanity and anyone of decent character … I am the daughter of Guadalupe Rodríguez and David Lopez, a proud daughter and son of Puerto Rico.”
“I promised myself I wouldn’t get emotional. But you know what? You know what? We should be emotional. We should be upset. We should be scared and outraged. We should,” she added. “Our pain matters. We matter. You matter. Your voice and your vote matters.”
Despite the fact that Puerto Ricans on the U.S. island territory are unable to vote in presidential elections, the diaspora present throughout the U.S. can on November 5.
