By Ana Milena Varón
Washington, Oct 28 (EFE).- Insults directed at Puerto Rico during former United States President Donald Trump’s (2017-2021) rally in New York on Sunday, where a comedian called the territory a “floating island of garbage,” could result in a setback for the Republican candidate, as nearly one million Puerto Rican voters live in swing states.
“There’s a lot going on. I don’t know if you guys 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,” comedian Tony Hinchcliffe stated before Trump’s speech at Madison Square Garden.
“This will cost Trump valuable votes,” Raúl Hinojosa, a professor of Chicano Studies at UCLA, told EFE on Monday.
Politicians from both parties, artists, and the Puerto Rican and Latino communities in the US have condemned the extreme and vulgar racist rhetoric.
“These Latinos, they love making babies, too. Just know that they do,” Hinchcliffe also commented.
Trump’s campaign quickly distanced from Hinchcliffe’s remarks, saying these do not represent the former President:
“This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.”
However, the damage seems done, and the insult could sway the votes of hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans in the seven crucial states toward Vice President and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, who unveiled a plan to assist the island on Sunday.
Miguel Tinker, a political analyst and retired professor of Latin American Studies at Pomona College, pointed out that the comedian’s insults reflect the racist rhetoric that has always characterized Trump and his circle.
“These messages have been repeated time and again during the campaign when expressed that immigrants poison the race. That’s an example of this rhetoric and can’t be overlooked just as a joke,” Tinker said.
Hinojosa and Tinker warned that the most significant impact for Trump could be in Pennsylvania, where there is a very active Puerto Rican community.
Over 470,000 Puerto Ricans live in Pennsylvania, 132,000 in North Carolina, and another 124,000 in Georgia. In addition, tens of thousands more reside in Arizona, Wisconsin, Nevada, and Michigan, according to demographic figures.
Most criticisms focused on Trump for not immediately condemning the comedian’s words.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, said on Monday that the Republican had failed to take that step because he has built a career on attacking others, walking a fine line, trying to be provocative at the expense of others.
For Hinojosa, this represents a definitive blow that could shape the campaign just days before the election, highlighting that it will be hard to erase the media impact, especially given the from Purto Rican artists like Bad Bunny, Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, Luis Fonsi, and René Pérez (Residente) for Harris.
Latino organizations from coast to coast also raised their voices, demanding an apology from the campaign and recalling that during his previous term, Trump had already targeted Puerto Ricans and Latinos of Mexican descent.
The insult could also cost Trump the election in states he thought he had already secured and candidates who ed him.
The Puerto Rican Table of Florida said in a statement that the candidate should “not forget” that some 800,000 Puerto Ricans in Florida are eligible to vote.
The political fallout is such that Florida’s Republican congresspeople Carlos Giménez and María Elvira Salazar, staunch Trump defenders, condemned the comments, saying they did not reflect their party’s values.
“This is not a joke. It’s completely classless and in poor taste. Puerto Rico is the crown jewel of the Caribbean and home to many of the most patriotic Americans I know,” Giménez said.
Meanwhile, Salazar expressed she felt “disgusted” by these inappropriate comments. EFE
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