Comedian Tony Hinchliffe’s racist, derogatory comments about Puerto Rico at the Madison Square Garden rally for Donald Trump sent shockwaves through both Democratic and Republican circles – even for the notoriously culturally insensitive Trump. However, Joe Biden’s recent comments on the matter have sparked their own fury.
Hinchcliffe referred to Puerto Rico – an island of U.S. territory – at the October 27th rally as a “floating island of garbage,” sparking criticism from countless politicians and public figures of Puerto Rican descent, such as acclaimed rapper Bad Bunny.
The backlash didn’t stop at common opposers to Republican Party rhetoric – even Donald Trump’s official campaign spokesperson put out a statement condemning the joke, commenting that the remark “does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.”
A Trump condemnation is rare, of course – but there is much anxiety for Republicans over the reaction to comments made on the Republican Party platform. While 3.2 million Puerto Ricans living on the island cannot vote in the upcoming election – over 5.8 million Puerto Ricans living in the United States can.
Much of the U.S. Puerto Rican population live in Pennsylvania, the key battleground state for Trump and Kamala Harris this November. In 2020, Joe Biden won the state by just 80,000 votes – a number dwarfed by the 620,000 Puerto Ricans living in Pennsylvania, meaning the demographic alone can shape the election’s outcome completely.
Early into this election campaign, Trump scored fairly well with Latin Americans – especially on the topic of immigration, outpolling Biden in some areas before he exited the race in July. Democrats should not take the GOP’s scramble to save Puerto Rican votes as a guaranteed win, however – especially if Biden’s recent comments over the joke continue to spark their own outrage.
What did Joe Biden say about the Tony Hinchliffe ‘garbage’ joke?
Reacting to the comments by Hinchliffe, Biden responded “[Puerto Ricans] are good, decent, honorable people. The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters… his… his demonisation of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American. It’s totally contrary to everything we’ve done, everything we’ve been.”
Similarly to Hillary Clinton’s now-infamous “deplorables” comment during the 2016 election, Biden’s comments could quickly alienate swing voters who have similarities with both Trump and Harris – an alienation Republicans will be very keen to capitalize on.
“You know what’s worse than anything? Garbage. We’re garbage,” Trump said in response at his North Carolina rally, praising his supporters as the “heart and soul of America”.
Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance took to Twitter/X to condemn the comments, writing “A mother mourning her son who died of a fentanyl overdose is not garbage. A truck driver who can’t afford rising diesel prices is not garbage. A father who wants to afford groceries is not garbage.”
In an act of damage control, The White House lreleased a transcript which included an apostrophe that reframes the Biden’s words significantly.
“The only garbage I see floating out there is [Trump’s] supporter’s… his demonisation of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American,” the transcript reads.
Biden’s stutter has caused the President a few gaffes in speeches before, and the disruption in his comments about Hinchliffe’s joke – with the apostrophe in mind – is directed at Hinchliffe in particular, not at Republicans as a whole.
Biden attempted to clarify this point on Twitter/X. “Earlier today I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump’s supporter at his Madison Square Garden rally as garbage, which is the only word I can think of to describe it,” the President shared.
“His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That’s all I meant to say. The comments at that rally don’t reflect who we are as a nation.”
Published: Oct 31, 2024 04:18 am