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    • Trump faces backlash from Bad Bunny and Puerto Ricans amid fight for Latino votes
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    Trump faces backlash from Bad Bunny and Puerto Ricans amid fight for Latino votes

    Harry Posted on

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    Puerto Ricans, including Grammy-winning artists Bad Bunny and Ricky Martin, widely condemned the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump after a comedian’s performance closing campaign rally at Madison Square Garden mocked the candidate as a “floating island of garbage”.

    The reaction came as Trump and the Democrats’ presidential candidate Kamala Harris they are locked somewhere very thin race — and they’re counting on Latino voters to help them get to the White House.

    Puerto Rican voters living in the United States make up the second-largest Latino group in the country, including in key battleground states like Pennsylvania.

    Seeing a surge in support among Latino men, Trump praised the ostentatious endorsements of Puerto Rican artists such as Anuel AA and Nicky Jam, who have garnered large followings from young Latino voters. But comments by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who uses the stage name Kill Tony, sparked widespread, bipartisan backlash against Trump’s presidential campaign.

    “I couldn’t believe what I heard from the Trump rally. Seeing this kind of hatred on full display not only angered me, but deepened my resolve to do everything in my power to ensure he never sits in the Oval Office again,” said Matt Tuerk, Mayor of Allentown, Pennsylvania. More than half Allentown’s residents are Latinomost are of Puerto Rican descent. Tuerk, a Democrat of Cuban descent, is the city’s first Latino mayor.

    GOP Rep. María Elvira Salazar of Florida, who was born in Puerto Rico, also quickly condemned Hinchcliffe’s remarks.

    “Disgusted by @TonyHinchcliffe’s racist comment calling Puerto Rico a ‘floating island of garbage,'” he wrote. “This rhetoric does not reflect GOP values.”

    Hinchcliffe had spoken just hours before the former president at Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden, where he called Puerto Rico “an island of garbage floating in the ocean right now” and joked about Latinos.

    In the face of growing turmoil, Trump senior adviser Danielle Alvarez issued a statement Sunday night addressing Hinchcliffe’s part. “This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” he said.

    More than two-thirds of Puerto Ricans live in the United States; approximately 5.8 million. According to Pew Research Center. Another 3.3 million Puerto Ricans live on the island, which is US territory, but those living on the island cannot vote for president.

    Shortly after Hinchcliffe’s comments went viral, Puerto Rican global superstar Bad Bunny shared a video of Harris criticizing Trump’s actions against Puerto Rico while he was president. Bad Bunny shared a post on his Instagram story from Harris’ Instagram account outlining his agenda for the candidate.

    The reggaetonero later shared a clip of his post several times with the words: “I will never forget what Donald Trump did and did not do when Puerto Rico needed a compassionate and competent leader. “He abandoned the island, tried to block aid after a succession of devastating hurricanes, and offered nothing but paper towels and insults.”

    Along with the clip, her final post on her Instagram story was cut to read: “I will never forget what Donald Trump did.” Bad Bunny has 45.6 million followers on Instagram.

    A representative for Bad Bunny said the artist supports Harris. However, the representative emphasized that Bad Bunny’s focus is Puerto Rico. Bad Bunny frequently speaks out about local politics in Puerto Rico, most recently urging residents to vote against the leading New Progressive Party in November’s gubernatorial election.

    Both Harris and Trump Competing for Latino votersWho will play a critical role in determining the winner of the presidential election.

    With less than 10 days until the Nov. 5 election, Harris unveiled an “opportunity economy” agenda for Puerto Rico early Sunday that would create a task force that would focus on creating economic opportunities on the island and improving the electric grid. There is a gap among Latino voters.

    “I truly believe that we are all part of a new generation of leadership that is optimistic and ambitious for our country, and if I may say so myself, we are eager to know that we can get things done,” Freddy and Freddy said. Tony’s Restaurant in Philadelphia’s Puerto Rican neighborhood.

    During Trump’s presidency, Puerto Rico was devastated by two back-to-back hurricanes in 2017 that killed more than 3,000 people and displaced thousands.

    At the time, Trump was criticized for his response to the storms, as he downplayed the damage caused by the storms and an image of him throwing rolls of paper towels at island residents went viral.

    Some people of Puerto Rican descent criticized Trump for giving Hinchcliffe a platform at his rally.

    Lexie Robinson, 49, who is Puerto Rican and has lived in Brooklyn for 16 years, said she believes the former president is a “racist, dangerous, self-righteous pervert.”

    “It’s disgusting that Puerto Rico has been called the floating island of garbage,” he said. “They are literally in New York, a city that is part of our great migration, to which we have brought so much culture, so much love, music, food, community, so much of ourselves.”

    Robinson is voting for Harris in this election despite disagreeing with the Democratic vice president’s support for aiding Israel for the war in Gaza.

    After widespread backlash, including from Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, Hinchcliffe said he loved Puerto Rico and had vacationed there. And the comedian “made fun of everyone” throughout the set.

    “These people have no sense of humor,” he wrote.

    Harry
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