SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A comic who called Puerto Rico trash before a crowded Donald Trump rally in New York was the latest humiliation for an island territory that has long suffered abuse, residents said Monday in expression of their anger that could impact the presidential election.
Although Puerto Ricans cannot vote in general elections despite being U.S. citizens, they can exert forceful influence among relatives on the mainland. Minutes after the speaker mocked the U.S. territory Sunday night, phones were ringing across the island of 3.2 million people, and they were still ringing Monday.
Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris is competing with Trump to win over Puerto Rican communities in Pennsylvania and other swing states. Shortly afterwards, stand-up comedian Tony Hinchcliffe said: “I don’t know if you know this, but right now there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean. “I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” the Puerto Rican reggaeton singer said. Superstar Bad Bunny announced that he is supporting Harris.
Hinchcliffe’s post also included lewd and racist comments about Latinos, Jews and blacks, all key constituencies in the election.
Non-voters with great influence
Milagros Serrano, 81, has a son who lives in swing state Pennsylvania and said the entire family was outraged by the comedian’s comments.
“He can’t talk about Puerto Rico like that,” she said as she headed to a doctor’s appointment. “He’s the one who’s a piece of trash.”
Puerto Rico became a U.S. territory in 1917 and the first major wave of migration occurred after World War II to alleviate labor shortages. There are now more Puerto Ricans in the USA than on the island.
Those who stayed behind say they often feel like second-class citizens because they cannot vote in presidential elections and receive constrained federal funding compared to U.S. states.
That simmering resentment erupted when Trump visited Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria hit the island as a powerful Category 4 storm in 2017. He threw paper towels into a crowd and disputed the storm’s official death toll. Experts estimate that nearly 3,000 people died in the sweltering aftermath.
After Sunday’s rally, Danielle Alvarez, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, said in a statement that Hinchcliffe’s joke “does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.”
José Acevedo, a 48-year-old health worker from San Juan, shook his head as he recalled the emotions that coursed through him as he watched the rally.
“What humiliation, what discrimination!” he said early Monday as he waited to take a public bus to work.
Acevedo said he immediately texted relatives in New York, including an uncle who is a Republican and had planned to vote for Trump.
“He told me he had to reconsider his decision,” Acevedo said, adding that his relatives were in shock. “They couldn’t believe it.”
Angry reaction at home
The comments dominated local news sites behind schedule into the night, prompting Jenniffer González, Puerto Rican congresswoman for the New Progressive Party and a Trump supporter, to call them “despicable, misguided and disgusting.”
“They do not represent the values of the GOP,” she said.
Politics in Puerto Rico is determined by the island’s political status, so it is common for Democrats and Republicans to be members of the same local party.
Meanwhile, Gov. Pedro Pierluisi, a Democrat, wrote on Facebook: “Trash came out of Tony Hinchcliffe’s mouth and anyone who applauded him should be ashamed for disrespecting Puerto Rico.”
González, who defeated Pierluisi in his party’s primary, is leading in the polls ahead of the upcoming Nov. 5 election.
Sonia Pérez, a 58-year-old park ranger, said she hasn’t voted for a governor in years but was so enraged about the comedian’s comments and González’s support for Trump that she planned to vote for González and the other candidate represent both, rejecting the main parties that have long dominated Puerto Rico.
“It is outrageous that there is so much racism against Latinos in the 21st century, even though we have contributed so much to the country, and it goes unacknowledged,” she said.
Disbelief and outrage
Hinchcliffe’s comments also sparked reactions from Puerto Rican stars, including Ricky Martin, who previously supported Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. He posted a video of the crude joke and wrote: “This is what they think about us.”
Outraged Puerto Ricans posted images of their island and its radiant turquoise waters on social media with captions like “I live where you vacation” and “Proud to be from Trash Island.”
Michael Meléndez Ortiz, a 33-year-old unemployed janitor, said he and a friend initially thought the video was fraudulent because they were so taken aback by the comedian’s statement.
“We need to be respected,” he said. “We are good and upstanding people.”
