While former President Donald Trump and various conservative celebrities and Republican politicians spoke at a Sunday campaign rally in New York at Madison Square Garden, a comedian’s remarks about Puerto Rico have perhaps received the most attention from the rally. The insult by Tony Hinchcliffe quickly made the rounds on social media and spurred several stars to action.
Comedian calls Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”
During his speech, Hinchcliffe, the host of the Kill Tony podcast, joked, “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 also made other offensive comments about Black, Latinx, Palestinian and Jewish people throughout his set, but his quip about Puerto Rico got the most attention, going viral and being condemned by many people; Democratic New York Congressman Ritchie Torrie tweeted, “As a Puerto Rican, I’m tempted to call Tony Hinchcliffe racist garbage, but doing so would be an insult to garbage.”
As a Puerto Rican, I’m tempted to call Tony Hinchcliffe racist garbage, but doing so would be an insult to garbage.
When casting their ballots at the voting booth, Latinos should never forget the racism that Donald Trump seems all too willing to platform.pic.twitter.com/Wlrulb5ygq
— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorresNY) October 28, 2024
Puerto Rican celebrities call out Republicans, throw support to Harris
The outrage quickly grew to action from many celebs with Puerto Rican roots. Jennifer Lopez shared several posts in an Instagram Story from the Harris-Walz campaign to her 250 million followers. These include a video by Harris aimed at Puerto Rican voters, in which she lays out her plans for boosting the island’s economy. It also consists of Harris mentioning, “Throughout my career, I’ve always fought for the people of Puerto Rico. Every chance he got, Donald Trump abandoned and insulted them.” Lopez also shared several pages of text detailing the Harris-Walz plan for Puerto Rico.
Bad Bunny shared the video with his over 45 million Instagram followers.
“Despacito” artist Luis Fonsi shared several posts on his Stories, as well, including a text page addressing Hinchcliffe, saying, “It’s ok to have different views, and I respect those who think different than me….but going down this RACIST path ain’t it.”
Ricky Martin reposted Hinchcliffe’s joke about Puerto Rico to his 18 million Instagram followers, along with the caption “Vote for @KamalaHarris,” and several other posts favoring Harris. Martin also noted in one of his posts that he had attempted to share this content on X, formerly Twitter, but “they are shadow banning this post. Its not coming out in my feed.”
Elon Musk, who purchased Twitter and renamed it X, is a staunch Trump supporter who also spoke at Sunday’s rally.
The fallout from Hinchcliffe’s comments continues to grow. The 2021 census estimated more than 9 million Puerto Ricans, and the consequences of these statements could influence turnout at the ballot box and impact the upcoming presidential election.
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