Puerto Rican music stars including Bad Bunny and Ricky Martin backed Kamala Harris hours after a comedian who performed at a Donald Trump rally made a number of racist jokes.
On Sunday evening (27 October) at New York’s Madison Square Garden, Tony Hinchcliffe made several racist remarks about Latinos and Puerto Rico, sparking a backlash from both Republicans and Democrats.
At one point, the controversial comedian labelled Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage”, later saying: “These Latinos, they love making babies.”
His remarks were immediately condemned by the Harris-Walz campaign.
Moments later, Bad Bunny – one of the biggest global pop stars who has an Instagram following of 46 million – signalled his support for Harris by sharing a clip of her speaking about how Trump “abandoned” Puerto Rico after it was devastated by Hurricane Maria in 2017.
A report in 2021 found that the Trump administration delayed more than $20bn in relief aid after the hurricane, which killed thousands of people and left thousands more without electricity or water for months.
Trump was also widely criticised for his actions and policies towards the island at the time, as he repeatedly questioned the number of casualties and was filmed tossing paper towels during his visit to the stricken island.
Bad Bunny, a three-time Grammy winner, was the most-streamed artist on Spotify for three consecutive years between 2020 to 2022, and only surpassed by Taylor Swift last year.
Ricky Martin, another Puerto Rican pop star who has been called “the King of Latin Pop”, wrote to his 18 million followers on Instagram: “This is what they think of us. Vote for @kamalaharris.”
Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi, known for his chart-dominating hit “Despacito”, shared a statement to his 16 million followers, writing: “I understand comedy, I’m a big fan of it. I love roasts, trust me I get it, BUT… this is far from comedy. Not now, not against my island, my people, hell nah!”
He continued: “It’s OK to have different views, and I respect those who think different than me… but going down this RACIST path ain’t it. I’m so proud to be Puertorriqueño, to be Latino!
“We are not OK with this constant hate. It’s been abundantly clear that these people have no respect for us and yet they want our vote.”
He concluded: “Oh yeah, and I purposely wrote this in English cause yes, we’re American too.”
Other Latino singers who had previously expressed their support for Harris, including Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, also shared the video of Harris addressing Puerto Ricans.
Danielle Alvarez, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign, said Hinchcliffe’s jokes “did not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign”.
Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is of Puerto Rican descent and was born in New York, addressed the comments during a livestream with Harris’s running mate, Tim Walz.
“When you have some a**hole calling Puerto Rico ‘floating garbage’, know that that’s what they think about you,” she said.
Hinchcliffe defended himself on X/Twitter and accused Ocasio-Cortez of having “no sense of humour”.
The comedian has attracted plenty of controversy in the past. In 2021, he was reportedly dropped by his agents at the time after footage of him using racist slurs onstage went viral.
Earlier this year, he faced a backlash after making what was branded a “gross” and “incredibly misogynistic” joke about Kim Kardashian during a roast of Tom Brady for Netflix.
Both Harris and Trump have been working to bolster support for their respective campaigns among Latino voters. The Puerto Rican vote is significant in Pennsylvania, arguably the hardest-fought of the swing states in this year’s presidential election.
