Insulting jokes made about Puerto Rico by opening speakers at former President Donald Trump's rally in New York City have upset Puerto Rican Republicans to the point where their chairman is now withholding support from the former President until an apology is issued.
Puerto Rico's G.O.P chairman, Angel M. Cintrón, expressed Monday that former President Trump should formally apologize for the racist jokes made by his opening speakers at the expense of the U.S. territory at Madison Square Garden. Chief among them are the jokes made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe.
Hinchcliffe made a plethora of racially motivated remarks at the Sunday evening rally, including ones which indicated Jews as miserly, derided Palestinians and purported racist stereotypes of both Black and Hispanic people, reported the New York Times.
Hinchcliffe went as far as to refer to Puerto Rico as "a floating island of garbage".
At Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally, podcast host and comedian Kill Tony referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage,” during his set.
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) October 27, 2024
Notably, four percent of Pennsylvanians are Puerto Rican.
Around 500,000 people. pic.twitter.com/txE3UD0QVE
Though residents of Puerto Rico may not vote in the upcoming presidential election, Cintrón has still expressed that he will be withholding support from former President Trump until the former President apologizes for the jokes made at Sunday's rally.
While adviser to the Trump campaign Danielle Alvarez has already stated that the Puerto Rico joke "does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign," Puerto Rican Republicans are demanding a better explanation and apology for the jokes.
"It is not sufficient for your campaign to apologize," wrote the archbishop of San Juan, P.R., Roberto O. González Nieves, in an open letter to Donald Trump. "It is important that you, personally, apologize for these comments."
The jokes made at the U.S. territory's expense has prompted widespread outrage, and has even encouraged many notable figures to express their support for the Democratic presidential ticket led by Vice President Kamala Harris. Celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny, Ricky Martin and Luis Fonsi, all of whom are either from Puerto Rico or of Puerto Rican descent, have expressed their support for Vice President Harris following Sunday's Trump rally.
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