Trump campaign distances itself from speaker's Puerto Rico comments at rally
A Trump campaign adviser sought to distance the former president and his operation from a racist joke about Puerto Rico delivered by a speaker at former President Trump's New York City rally Sunday, amid swift backlash from both sides of the aisle.
Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who goes by Kill Tony, delivered a set hours before Trump spoke that included inflammatory attacks on Puerto Ricans.
“There’s a lot going on. Like, 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, eliciting mixed reactions from the crowd.
At another point, Hinchcliffe said Latinos “love making babies.”
“They do. There’s no pulling out. They don’t do that. They come inside. Just like they did to our country,” he said.
"This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign," senior adviser Danielle Alvarez said in a statement.
Other Trump allies also pushed back against Hinchcliffe's comments about Puerto Rico.
"I understand that his K*ll Tony podcast is wildly popular, but I thought he was unfunny and unfortunately offended many of our friends from Puerto Rico," David Urban, who has advised Trump on strategy in Pennsylvania, posted on the social platform X.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), a Trump ally who is up for reelection this year, said the joke was "not funny and it's not true."
Hinchcliffe's set also included jokes targeting Jews and Black men, but it was his comments about Puerto Rico that generated the most attention and backlash.
Harris campaign aides noted Hinchcliffe’s remarks came as Vice President Harris was in Philadelphia speaking at a Puerto Rican restaurant, where she detailed her plans to assist the island and bolster its electrical grid.
A short time later, Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny shared a clip on his Instagram of Harris's plans to support Puerto Rico.
Others pointed out that hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans live in Pennsylvania, which is shaping up to be one of the most critical battlegrounds on Election Day.
“Who wants to tell these guys there are ~ HALF A MILLION Puerto Ricans living in Battleground PA, whose votes are up for grabs?” Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former Trump White House official who is an outspoken critic of the former president, posted on X.