Puerto Rican residents moving to mainland U.S. can exercise voting rights
500,000 people live in Pennsylvania, the largest battleground
(Seoul = News 1) Reporter Kim Ye-seul = In a speech supporting former U.S. President Donald Trump, a comedian is causing controversy by describing Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.”
According to Reuters and the Washington Post on the 28th (local time), at former President Trump’s large-scale rally held at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, New York, USA on the 27th, famous comedian Tony Hinchcliffe said, “Latinos are discouraged from having children. After saying, “I like it,” he continued to make racist remarks, saying, “There is a floating island made of trash in the middle of the ocean. (People seem to call that island) Puerto Rico.”
Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory in the Caribbean, and residents living in Puerto Rico are classified as U.S. citizens but do not have the right to vote. However, Puerto Rican residents who have moved to the U.S. mainland can exercise their right to vote.
In particular, about 500,000 Puerto Ricans who came to the U.S. mainland live in Pennsylvania, the biggest battleground in this election. This corresponds to 8% of the state’s population.
U.S. President Joe Biden won Pennsylvania by a margin of 81,000 votes in the 2020 presidential election, and former President Trump secured Pennsylvania’s electoral college by a margin of 44,000 votes in 2016.
Accordingly, foreign media outlets are assessing that Hinchcliffe’s remarks may also have an impact on Pennsylvania voters.
In addition, it is reported that about 100,000 Puerto Ricans live in Georgia and North Carolina, which are other battleground states, and about 60,000 Puerto Ricans live in Arizona and Wisconsin.
The Trump camp and the Republican Party drew a line, saying Hinchcliffe’s remarks were not former President Trump’s position. Trump campaign senior adviser Daniel Alvarez dismissed the joke, saying, “This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.”
Republican Senator Rick Scott (Florida) wrote on social media
Coincidentally, on this day, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris visited a Puerto Rican restaurant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Vice President Harris mentioned that he would create a Puerto Rico Opportunity Task Force (FT) and that the U.S. federal government would work with the private sector and Puerto Rican leaders to find ways to create more jobs.
Vice President Harris said, “Former President Trump refused to send aid to Puerto Rico when hurricane after hurricane hit the island while he was in office,” and added, “At a time when Puerto Rico needs a caring and capable leader, (Puerto Ricans) want Trump.” “I will never forget what I did or didn’t do,” he said, raising his voice.
Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (New York) also said, “I’m very angry,” and pointed out, “Any idiot who calls Puerto Rico floating trash should think about how other people view him.”
However, Hinchcliffe responds ‘with a hostile tone’, saying that people who criticize his jokes have no sense of humor. He wrote to
yeseul@news1.kr
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