With nine days until Election Day, Puerto Rico has been thrust into the spotlight by both campaigns. Vice President Kamala Harris unveiled a plan to assist the island — leading to an endorsement from Bad Bunny — while Puerto Rico was referred to as “a floating island of garbage” by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who spoke at a rally for former President Donald Trump in New York City.
In an effort to court Puerto Rican voters in the U.S. mainland, Harris on Sunday posted a video on her social media platforms pledging to create a Puerto Rican task force to create jobs, cut red tape to ensure disaster recovery funds are used quickly and efficiently and work with leaders across the island to ensure Puerto Ricans have access to reliable and affordable electricity.
“I will never forget what Donald Trump did and what he did not do when Puerto Rico needed a caring and a competent leader,” Harris said in the video. “He abandoned the island, tried to block aid after back-to-back devastating hurricanes, and offered nothing more than paper towels and insults.”
In 2017, Trump visited the island to survey damage after Hurricane Maria struck as a major Category 4 storm. While visiting with survivors, the former president at one point threw paper towels into the crowd when distributing supplies, a move that was criticized as callous amid widespread frustration over the federal response to the hurricane that left much of the island without power and food.
Moments before Bad Bunny’s endorsement, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe targeted Puerto Rico during a set of disparaging jokes while speaking at a Trump rally in Madison Square Garden.
“I don’t know if you guys know this, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now,” Hinchcliffe said. “I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”
Trump senior advisor Danielle Alvarez told CBS News, “this joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign” adding that the jokes were not reviewed or pre-approved.
Several Democratic and Republican politicians were also among those to denounce Hinchcliffe’s swing at Puerto Ricans, who make up a crucial voting group.
Harris’ running mate Gov. Tim Walz said during a livestream with Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, “There are hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans across battleground states. They need to vote.”
Ocasio-Cortez agreed with Walz and directed her comments toward Puerto Ricans in the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania. “If you’re in Reading, if you’re in Philly, look at that trash,” Ocasio-Cortez said, referring to Hinchcliffe’s joke. “What is trash is people actually just thinking of other human beings that way.”
Pennsylvania is home to over 579,000 eligible Latino voters with roughly 50% residing within the “222 Corridor” — a stretch of small cities west and north of Philadelphia including Reading, Allentown and Bethlehem.
With Trump winning the Keystone State in 2016 by 44,000 votes and Biden taking it by 81,000 in 2020, slim margins are again expected to determine the outcome of the presidential election.
Harris on Sunday spoke directly to Latino voters while visiting a local Puerto Rican restaurant in Philadelphia. “When I was in the Senate, knowing Puerto Rico doesn’t have a senator, I always felt a need and an obligation to do what I could as a senator to make sure that Puerto Rico’s needs were met,” Harris said.
Harris campaign spokesperson Kevin Muñoz said Sunday in a statement, “A reminder: Pennsylvania is home to more than 1 million Latinos who are primarily of Puerto Rican backgrounds, and today, Vice President Harris campaigned in the heart of Philadelphia’s Puerto Rican community talking not just about her vision for the island, but how she will lower costs and create opportunity in their communities on the mainland.”
On Tuesday, Trump is expected to campaign in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where Latinos make up 54% of the population, the majority being of Puerto Rican descent.
Republican Florida Senator Rick Scott, an ally of Trump’s, also denounced Hinchcliffe’s comments.
“This joke bombed for a reason. It’s not funny and it’s not true,” Scott said. “Puerto Ricans are amazing people and amazing Americans! I’ve been to the island many times. It’s a beautiful place. Everyone should visit! I will always do whatever I can to help any Puerto Rican in Florida or on the island.”
Republican Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar called the comments “racist.”
The island’s Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón, a Republican running for governor of the island, said the comments were “despicable, inappropriate and disgusting.”
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