Trump Says ‘I Don’t Know’ Comedian Who Made Puerto Rico Joke—And Calls MSG Rally A ‘Love Fest’

29 Oct 2024 by Sara Dorn · Forbes

Topline

Former President Donald Trump said he didn’t know who comedian Tony Hinchcliffe was before he made a disparaging remark about Puerto Rico during a rally for Trump Sunday at Madison Square Garden, which Trump described as a “love fest” later Tuesday—as the fallout from the comment continues to draw headlines just a week before the election.

Former President Donald Trump delivers remarks at a campaign rally at McCamish Pavilion on October ... [+] 28, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)Getty Images

Key Facts

Trump told ABC News “I don’t know him, someone put him up there,” marking his first comments on Hinchcliffe’s description of Puerto Rico as a “floating pile of garbage.”

Trump also told ABC he didn’t hear the remark, but stopped short of denouncing it.

Trump on Tuesday described the rally as a “love fest” in a press conference from Mar-A-Lago, where he did not address the Hinchcliffe backlash, but dismissed critics who compared his rally to a 1939 Nazi event at the arena, while also touting the attendance.

Trump’s campaign has sought to distance itself from Hinchcliffe’s remarks: Spokesperson Daniella Alvarez has said the “joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.”

Trump responded to Hinchcliffe as the bipartisan backlash continues to swell—on Monday the island’s Catholic Archbishop Roberto Gonzalez and head of the Puerto Rico Republican Party, Ángel Cintrón, called on Trump to apologize, with Gonzalez writing in a letter to Trump that “it is important that you, personally, apologize for these comments.”

Former President Barack Obama also joined politicians on both sides of the aisle in condemning Hinchcliffe’s comments while stumping for Harris Tuesday in Philadelphia—where the population is 15% Hispanic—telling the crowd “these are fellow citizens he’s talking about, here in Philadelphia they are your neighbors, they are your friends, they are your coworkers.”

Chief Critic

Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, also said he hadn’t seen the joke during a rally Monday in Wisconsin, where he suggested it was being dramatized. “We have to stop getting so offended at every little thing in the United States of America,” he said, adding “I’m so over it.” Hinchcliffe dismissed the remark as a joke and said “I made fun of everyone” in a social media post responding to the backlash.

Contra

Puerto Rico Shadow Senator Zoraida Buxo is expected to speak at Trump’s rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania, later Tuesday, NBC News reported.

Tangent

The number of eligible voters who are Latino in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania have more than doubled between 2000 and 2022, and more than half are of Puerto Rican descent, according to the Latino Politics & Policy Institute.

Key Background

Hinchcliffe, one of more than two dozen speakers who opened for Trump at his rally Sunday, said “there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now, I think it’s called Puerto Rico.” The comment came as Harris was courting Black and Latino voters in Philadelphia on Sunday and hours after she launched a proposal to create a “Puerto Rico Economy Task Force” to promote economic growth and new jobs on the island if elected.