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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump meets with Latino representatives in Florida on October 22, 2024. © IMAGO// ZUMA Press Wire/Matias J. Ocner
A tasteless joke about Puerto Rico puts Trump in trouble shortly before the 2024 US election. His lack of apology could cost him dearly.
New York City – Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a “floating island of trash in the ocean” at a Republican campaign rally in New York City on Sunday (October 27). Not a good move shortly before the 2024 US election, because hundreds of thousands of people from Puerto Rico who are eligible to vote live in the USA – including around 500,000 in the important swing state of Pennsylvania. Observers believe that Trump’s handling of the incident could determine whether he wins or loses in the US state.
“Nobody loves Puerto Rico more than me”: Trump is trying to defuse the scandal with praise before the 2024 US election
There was great outrage over the comedian’s tasteless comment shortly before the 2024 US election. Trump tried to limit the damage at a rally in Pennsylvania by claiming, “No one loves the Puerto Rican community more than me.” Danielle Alvarez, his senior campaign adviser, also tried to defuse the situation. “This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” said the Trump aide.
In an interview with ABC News Trump tried to excuse himself, saying, “I don’t know him, someone brought him up there,” referring to the stage at Madison Square Garden in New York City where Hinchcliffe had performed at Trump’s campaign rally. This is apparently not enough for the Latino community ahead of the 2024 US election. Gustavo Torres, the executive director of the Latino advocacy group CASA in the US, told the US medium Newsweek: “He needs to apologize to the Puerto Rican community, to the Latino community, and he’s not doing that.”
“October surprise” for the Latino community: Will the incident affect the 2024 US election?
Torres believes “this was the October surprise for the Latino community.” In American politics, “October Surprise” is the name given to a surprising turn of events shortly before the US election that can influence the outcome. Whether the bad joke at Trump’s campaign event actually represents a turning point before the 2024 US election depends on how the incident is handled in the coming weeks, political analyst Craig Agranoff estimates in an interview Newsweek.
In any case, Ángel Cintrón, the chairman of the Republican Party of Puerto Rico, has already announced that he will not vote for Trump in the 2024 US election if he does not apologize. Catholic Archbishop Roberto González Nieves of Puerto Rico is also demanding a personal apology from Trump. The Latino electorate in the US according to the US think tank Pew Research Center bigger than ever with over 36 million votes. In the embattled US state of Pennsylvania there are loud Data According to Latino Data Hub, more than 50 percent of eligible Latino voters are Puerto Ricans.
There were already controversies over Puerto Rico during Trump’s first term in office
Many Puerto Ricans are likely to be critical of Trump’s second term in office anyway. At least he had republican caused numerous controversies surrounding US foreign territory during his presidency. The real estate mogul called his government’s response to Hurricane Maria, in which almost 3,000 people lost their lives in Puerto Rico, an “incredible success.”
Miles Taylor, the former Department of Homeland Security chief of staff, said NBC Newsthat behind the scenes during his time in office, Trump “expressed his deep hostility toward the Puerto Rican people.” Trump said, for example, that Puerto Rico was “dirty and the people are poor.” Taylor added that the Republican was quite serious about the idea of selling the island nation in return for Greenland.
US election 2024: Now Biden also has to justify his comment on the “garbage” joke
Of all people, US President Joe Biden may have inadvertently come to the Trump camp’s aid before the 2024 US election. The Democrat had referenced the comedian’s “garbage” quote in a phone call with the Latino community, saying: “The only trash I see out there is the demonization of Latinos by [Trumps] Supporters – his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable and un-American.” Republicans saw this as an attack. “Biden just called half of America ‘garbage,’” wrote multi-billionaire and Trump supporter Elon Musk on his platform X.
However, Biden made it clear that he was not referring to Republican voters, but rather “the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico that Trump’s supporters spread at his rally in Madison Square Garden as garbage.” Trump promptly seized the opportunity and drew a parallel his former opponent Hillary Clinton, who described his supporters as “deplorable” during the 2016 election campaign. The outcome is known: the Democrat lost the election and Donald Trump moved into the White House. In less than a week it will be seen whether the Republican can do this a second time.
