While the campaign of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was quick to distance itself from a sarcastic comment that described Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage,” the campaign of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and the Democrats devoted the final hours of the “2024 campaign” in the largest swing state by linking Trump to this joke.
Harris spent most of her last day campaigning to reach Latino voters in Pennsylvania, which Democrats consider part of the “blue wall” in the Electoral College.
Harris made stops at several places along the 222 Corridor, the highway connecting small cities and towns west and north of Philadelphia.
More than 315,000 people, ages 18 and older, identify as Puerto Rican in Pennsylvania.
In a state where the election may be decided by a narrow margin of 19 electoral college votes, this community could play a crucial role for both Democrats, who seek to maintain the support of voters traditionally supportive of their party, and Republicans, who are trying to make progress.
US Senator Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American, also spoke to Trump supporters in Spanish at a rally in Redding, telling them that “Spanish sounds more passionate,” and asking for understanding when he joked that he spoke with a Cuban dialect.
“But the Boricuas (Puerto Ricans) will understand,” Rubio added, referring to a term used to refer to Puerto Ricans, “and Dominicans as well,” adding in Spanish that “Trump is the only candidate who says clearly that you will be a priority, and the jobs will not be sent abroad, and the jobs will not be transferred.” Factories to other countries, and priority will not be given to the needs of people from other countries.”
