Backlash after comedian at Trump rally calls Puerto Rico ‘trash island’

A comedian at a Donald Trump rally called Puerto Rico a “floating garbage island”, sparking outrage from Republicans and Democrats and accusations of racism.

Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe was among the speakers at Madison Square Garden in New York on Sunday. He also created a series of comics that relied on racist stereotypes.

Trump’s adviser has distanced himself from the former president and Puerto Rico joke, which was also criticized by Trump’s Democratic rival, Kamala Harris. Harris himself was the target of another Trump warm-up speech that sparked controversy.

The noise came when one of the world’s top Latin celebrities, Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny, endorsed Harris as president.

In his joke, Hinchcliffe, known for his comedy podcast Kill Tony, said: “There’s a lot going on. I don’t know if you know this but there’s a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”

The line appeared to meet with a mixed reception. Two Republicans in the state of Florida, which has a significant Puerto Rican population, were among those who called the joke.

The US congresswoman, Maria Elvira Salazar, said she was “disgusted” with “racist comments”. He said in X “it doesn’t reflect the values ​​of the GOP”, referring to the Republican Party, and he also noted the thousands of Puerto Ricans who worked for the war.

US Senator Rick Scott said: “The joke was blown for a reason. It’s not funny and it’s not true.” He added that “Puerto Ricans are wonderful people and wonderful Americans”.

Puerto Rico is a US island in the Caribbean. Its citizens cannot vote in US presidential elections, but there are many people outside the US who cannot.

Hinchcliffe also suggested that Latinos “liked to make babies”.

He drew racist lines against blacks and watermelons, which drew gasps from the audience – and called Palestinians stone-throwers while in the same sentence suggesting Jews wouldn’t spend money – invoking an antisemitic trope.

According to CBS, a source familiar with the event confirmed late Monday that the Trump campaign tested Hinchcliffe’s comedy lineup, but said comments about Puerto Rico, as well as Latinos and black people, were removed from the ad. The campaign also said it was cutting two offensive jokes.

The comedian later defended his actions. “These people have no sense of humor,” he wrote on X in response to criticism from Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Democratic Vice President Tim Walz.

He added: “I love Puerto Rico and vacation there. I made fun of everyone… watch the whole set.”

Ocasio-Cortez responded, saying: “You don’t like ‘Puerto Rico’. You like drinking piña coladas. There’s a difference.”

He had previously said that Hinchcliffe’s comments were “very offensive”, noting that his family is from Puerto Rico.

Some of the speakers of the evening caused controversy with their speeches. David Rem, Trump’s childhood friend, called Harris “the devil” and “the antichrist”.

And former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani lied that the Democratic candidate was “on the side of terrorists” in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

While much of the focus was on the remarks of his guest speakers, Trump used the occasion to announce a tax credit plan for those caring for a parent or loved one. “It is time for them to be respected,” he said.

He also reiterated plans to deport large numbers of illegal immigrants, speaking of his desire to “redeem” areas “attacked and conquered” by “brutal and bloodthirsty criminals”.

Earlier on Sunday, Harris unveiled policies aimed at helping Puerto Ricans — garnering support from Jennifer Lopez, who has Puerto Rican parents, and Bad Bunny. Many other big name celebrities have come out in support.

Bad Bunny has posted several videos of Harris talking about the island, his ideas for helping residents, and his attack on Trump’s handling of Hurricane Maria as president when the deadly storm killed nearly 3,000 people there in 2017.

A source close to Bad Bunny confirmed to the BBC’s US partner, CBS News, that this represented an endorsement of Harris, breaking his long tradition of not getting involved in national politics.

In the past seven years, there has been an exodus from Puerto Rico, whose residents have moved to the continental US including Florida and swing states such as North Carolina, Georgia and Pennsylvania. Puerto Ricans are now the second largest Latino group in those states.

Bad Bunny’s comments appeared to be staged, and he did not address Hinchcliffe’s comments. But fellow Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin did, telling his fans that “this is what they think of us” and urging them to vote for Harris.

An estimated 36 million Hispanic voters are eligible to vote this year, according to Pew Research. They have often formed an important plank of the Democratic Alliance but the Republicans have been eating away at that support.

Madison Square Garden, near the center of the city, is one of the most famous venues in the world and can accommodate up to 20,000 people.

It is in the city where Trump was born, and the city where he was convicted of a crime earlier this year.

New York – considered by some as a curious choice for the last week of campaigning – is a blue state and will not decide the race for the White House.

Tony Hinchcliffe is a stand-up comedian based in Austin, Texas, known for his podcast, Kill Tony, which gives stand-up comedians the chance to be screened for 60 seconds before Hinchcliffe and his partner, Brian Redban.

The podcast has 1.89 million subscribers on YouTube.

The comedian grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, and described himself as a “class actor”. He got his start in the world of comedy working for Joe Rogan and writing celebrity jokes for the Comedy Central Roast.

This is not the first time some of his speeches have made headlines due to their offensive nature.

In 2021, he used a racial slur when referring to Chinese-American comedian Peng Deng during a comedy set and refused to apologize.

“I knew what I had done was wrong,” Hinchcliffe said when asked by Various about that argument. “I was very surprised because it was a joke, and what I stand for is that comedians should never apologize for making a joke.”

Hinchcliffe was one of the comedians who appeared on former NFL star Tom Brady’s Netflix comedy earlier this year.

Additional reporting by James FitzGerald and Ana Faguy

North American journalist Anthony Zurcher makes sense of the race for the White House in his weekly newsletter US Election Unspun.

US students you can register here. They are from the UK you can register here.