Puerto Rico Just Emerged as a Key Campaign Topic

Racist rhetoric is nothing new for Donald Trump; after all, this is the man who called Mexican immigrants ‘rapists’ when he launched his first presidential campaign, and referenced Haiti, El Salvador and several African countries “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 at Madison Square Garden in New York City and called Puerto Rico “a floating island of trash ‘ mentioned.

While the Trump campaign has tried to do that distance itself Hinchcliffe’s controversial comments reveal that Trump himself has a long history of alienating the Puerto Rican community: he was imprisoned in 2017 throw away paper towel rolls among survivors of Hurricane Maria, a natural disaster that did continued to affect the island’s infrastructure. The world hasn’t dismissed Hinchcliffe’s comments, however; famous figures such as Bad Bunny, Jennifer Lopez and US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez publicly responded to his comments.

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?

“A lot is happening. I don’t know if you know this, but there is literally a floating trash island in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” Hinchcliffe told the crowd at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, then suggested that Latinos “like to make babies.” The set too including crude jokes about black Americans, Palestinians and Jews.

What has the Trump campaign said about Hinchcliffe’s comments?

“These jokes do not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” Trump’s senior campaign adviser said Time in a statement on Monday, in which Trump’s national press secretary Karoline Leavitt asked the publication in an email: “You do know he’s a COMEDIAN, and these are JOKES, right???” (Oh, okay. Doesn’t matter then!)

Who spoke out against Hinchcliffe’s comments?

Bad Bunny, who has long been outspoken on matters related to his native Puerto Rico, endorsed Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris after Hinchcliffe’s comments were made public Sunday, posted a clip to Instagram in which Harris condemned Trump’s response (or lack thereof) to Hurricane Maria. Jennifer Lopez, 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.

Representative Ocasio-Cortez – whose parents are Puerto Rican and Puerto Rican-American – expressed her disgust at Hinchcliffe’s comments in a conversation with the Democratic vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz on Sunday, saying, “I want people to understand that if you have some asshole calling Puerto Rico ‘floating trash,’ just know that’s how they feel about you. That’s what they think of everyone who makes less money than them. It’s what they think about people who serve them food in a restaurant. That’s how they think about the people who fold their clothes in a store. Dude, are you serious?”