The comedian who let loose a series of racist jokes, some about Puerto Rico, at former President Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday night workshopped the material the night before at a local comedy club.
The comedian, Tony Hinchcliffe, called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” to warm up the New York City crowd — drawing immediate criticism from across the political spectrum and derailing what was supposed to be a night highlighting Trump in the final stretch of the campaign.
It was not the first time Hinchcliffe had used the Puerto Rico line — he practiced it at The Stand comedy club in New York City, where he made a surprise appearance Saturday night, according to an NBC News producer and three other people who happened to be in the audience.
The joke did not draw laughs, just a handful of awkward chuckles. Hinchcliffe told the audience that he would be performing at the Madison Square Garden rally the next day and said multiple times during his routine that he would get a better reaction “tomorrow at the rally.”
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The Trump campaign was asked Monday on Noticias Telemundo whether it was aware of Hinchcliffe’s jokes in advance. Vianca Rodríguez, the deputy director of Hispanic communications for the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign, said in Spanish that “they don’t have absolute control” over what speakers say, though she was asked about the fact that Hinchcliffe was reading from a teleprompter.
On Monday, Trump’s campaign referred NBC News to senior adviser Danielle Alvarez’s statement on Sunday, which stated, “This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.”
Hinchcliffe, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, posted Sunday after the controversy that the joke was "taken out of context to make it seem racist. I love Puerto Rico and vacation there."
'Taken it to another level'
Many in the Puerto Rican community said they feel the sting of the remarks, saying they especially put the focus back on the criticism Trump got for his handling of Hurricane Maria while he was president.
The criticism and the controversy over Hinchcliffe’s joke — which Trump himself did not disavow when he addressed the rally or later — are now at the forefront as the two presidential candidates vie for the support of Puerto Rican voters, especially those who remain undecided. Puerto Ricans living in the U.S. mainland are the nation’s second-largest group of Latino eligible voters after Mexican Americans.
In Pennsylvania, Rafael Collazo, executive director of the Latino advocacy organization UnidosUS Action Fund, told NBC News on Monday morning he has been getting calls from indignant Puerto Ricans volunteering to knock on doors in Philadelphia and Reading in support of Vice President Kamala Harris. There, Puerto Rican voters stand to be a deciding electorate.
The group, which endorsed Harris in July, has been knocking on the doors of more than 20,000 Puerto Rican and other Latino voters in the state and has reached many others through phone banking. But the controversy over the racist remarks "has taken it to another level," Collazo said.
“This is just a great reminder of what a potential Trump presidency would mean for the Puerto Rican community, and it would mean great harm,” he said.
The controversy ended up bringing more attention to Harris, because the racist remarks came hours after her plan "to help build a brighter future for Puerto Rico" was released and she visited a Puerto Rican restaurant in Philadelphia.
Shortly after Harris unveiled her Puerto Rico proposals Sunday, global reggaeton star Bad Bunny reposted her videos, including her criticism of Trump's handling of the hurricane, to his 45 million followers — giving her his long-sought endorsement.
Apart from Bad Bunny, the Puerto Rican singer Marc Anthony slammed Trump for his actions during Hurricane Maria as he endorsed Harris, posting on Instagram: “I remember after Hurricane Maria devastated our island… Trump blocked billions in relief … while thousands died. I remember that when our families lacked clean water and electricity, Trump threw paper towels and called Puerto Rico ‘dirty’ and ‘poor.’” He added he was not “surprised,” because Trump “launched his campaign by calling Latinos criminals and rapists.”
After the 2017 hurricane, Trump repeatedly opposed disaster funding for Puerto Rico as he disputed and failed to acknowledge Maria's death toll — almost 3,000 people in the U.S. territory, making it the deadliest hurricane in the U.S. in 100 years. Trump also drew attention for disparaging statements about Puerto Rico after Maria, including “they want everything to be done for them,” and for tossing paper towels in a visit to the island after the deadly hurricane.
During his presidency, Congress approved a total of $20 billion in federal housing funds for Puerto Rico's post-hurricane reconstruction, a historic amount. But the Trump administration blocked Puerto Rico from receiving such funds and obstructed a government probe looking into officials who withheld the aid, according to a Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General report.
On Monday, as Harris left for Michigan after she campaigned in Pennsylvania, she told reporters her Puerto Rico plan would focus on the “opportunity economy” and creating a task force that would focus on the island's specific needs, including addressing the deteriorated electrical grid and improving public-private partnerships.
Harris also touted the support she has received from Puerto Rican celebrities who say they echo the voices of those who “want a president that’s about uplifting the people and not berating and calling America a garbage can.”
Apart from Bad Bunny and Marc Anthony, Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, Lin-Manuel Miranda and “Despacito” singer Luis Fonsi shared Harris’ plan for Puerto Rico on their Instagram stories.
The controversy also elicited numerous TikTok videos from Puerto Ricans posting beautiful scenes of the tropical island juxtaposed with the "floating island of garbage remarks."
Puerto Ricans have become a highly sought-after electorate for both the Harris and the Trump campaigns.
Battleground Pennsylvania, where polling margins show a razor-thin race, is home to the third-largest Puerto Rican diaspora in the country.
More than half of the nearly 580,000 eligible Latino voters in Pennsylvania are of Puerto Rican descent. Considering that the last presidential election in the state was decided by less than 81,000 votes, Puerto Rican voters “could be decisive” this year if they turn out, according to the Latino Policy & Politics Institute at UCLA, whereas turnout has been low in the past, according to data from the institute.
The Republican Party of Pennsylvania is leading efforts to engage Latino and Puerto Rican voters in the state. The organization did not respond to an email asking whether Hinchcliffe's comments were having an effect on its efforts to mobilize the electorate.
Several members of the Republican Party who have vocally supported Trump, such as Rep. María Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón, Puerto Rico’s nonvoting member of Congress and the candidate for governor for the island’s pro-statehood party, criticized the racist expressions while also trying to argue the remarks did “not represent the values of the GOP.”
Alec Hernández and Sandra Lilley contributed.
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