“You may not know this, but there is actually an island of trash in the middle of the ocean right now,” says comedian Tony Hinchcliffe in front of a huge audience at Madison Square Garden in New York. It is the largest Trump event so close to the elections. Elon Musk and other Trump supporters are in attendance. Hinchcliffe’s punch line is causing the media scandal of the week: Puerto Rico is called this “garbage island”.
“Latinos and Latinas love making babies,” said another xenophobic statement from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe.
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A short time later, Trump said he didn’t know what the comedian, who was unknown to him, would say. After the appearance, there are legitimate concerns in the Trump camp that the joke could backfire and anger the important segment of the Latino electorate.
Can people from Puerto Rico vote in US elections?
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A Puerto Rican flag on the beach in the capital city of San Juan.
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Puerto Rico is a special case: in 1898, the Spanish colony of Puerto Rico was conquered by the USA. For a long time the island was administered from Washington. Since 1952 it has had the status of a “freely associated state of the USA”.
The country has some autonomy and citizens of Puerto Rico do not have full U.S. civil rights. For example, you cannot vote in the US presidential election unless you live on the US mainland. And that’s what the majority do: an estimated two thirds of people with Puerto Rican roots live in the USA today.
But the trash joke wasn’t a slip-up: Trump himself has been shooting at foreigners or US citizens with a migration background for years. Back in 2016, Trump called Mexicans rapists and promised to build a wall. One of his main promises in this year’s election campaign is a “mass deportation” of illegal immigrants.
There are also many conservative voters in Latin American circles in the USA. But the trash joke went too far, especially for people from Puerto Rico who live in the USA.
“You feel humiliated by such sayings,” says USA correspondent Barbara Colpi. The Latino community is very diverse, but they usually show solidarity when making such statements. Even if Trump, for example, attacks Haitians and claims without basis that they eat dogs and cats.
Did 11 million people really come to the US illegally?
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Donald Trump always claims that 11 million illegal immigrants have come to the USA since he is no longer president. According to the organization USAFacts, this is true. The non-profit organization founded by former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has calculated that there were around 11 million so-called “border encounters” between 2019 and 2024. This refers to incidents in which people are found by authorities during or after crossing the border illegally. Depending on their country of origin and case, these people can then apply for asylum or be deported. And many also go into hiding.
Trump and his camp tried to do damage control shortly after the event at Madison Square Garden. “Nobody has done as much for Puerto Ricans as I have,” said the presidential candidate. And he doesn’t even know the comedian who appeared there. But many Latinos and Latinas probably won’t believe him.
Trump insulted all Latinos and Latinas.
Shortly after the event in New York, actress and singer Jennifer Lopez appeared at a campaign rally with Kamala Harris. Lopez has Puerto Rican roots. “Trump has reminded us of who he really is and how he really thinks. “He offended all Latinos and Latinas, all people of character, with his event,” said the star. Puerto Rican reggaeton singer Nicky Jam officially withdrew his support for Donald Trump in response.
Risky statements in the final stretch of the election campaign
Could this mistake in the final spurt cost Donald Trump the election? That is already possible, says USA correspondent Colpi. In the crucial state of Pennsylvania there are around 600,000 registered Latinos and Latinas. And they might now be mobilized significantly more than they were four years ago. At that time they were rather underrepresented at the ballot box. If things are different this time, that could make the difference in a close race.
But we won’t really know until after the US election on November 5th. And the Harris camp didn’t have a flawless last week before the elections either. When asked about the failed trash joke, President Joe Biden said the only trash was Trump supporters. This statement is also not well received.
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