Presidential campaign: The Trump camp entangled in controversial remarks about Puerto Rico

Donald Trump’s campaign team strove Monday to contain the heated controversy triggered by insulting remarks made by a comedian about the American territory of Puerto Rico, eight days before a presidential election for which the vote Latino will be decisive.

“I don’t know if you know, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” Tony Hinchcliffe said on Sunday at Madison Square Garden in New York. Also a podcast host, he and others were responsible for warming up the room before the Republican candidate arrived on stage.

“Consequences”

Residents of Puerto Rico, a U.S. island territory in the Caribbean, are not allowed to vote in the presidential election. But the diaspora living in the United States includes nearly six million people who can go to the polls, according to the Pew Research Center.

After hearing the comedian’s words, Javier Torres Martinez, a Puerto Rican living near Miami, Florida, decided to change his mind.

“I was going to vote Republican and that made me take a closer look at Harris’ project,” the 45-year-old, who works for an insurance company, told AFP. “Before I was 100% convinced to vote for Trump and now I am 100% motivated to vote for Kamala Harris.”

These comments “will have consequences for President Trump,” added Javier Díaz, a 48-year-old Puerto Rican paralegal in New York. “I’m going to vote for Harris.”

“It’s not funny and it’s not true”

This population could particularly have decisive influence in the key state of Pennsylvania, where the candidates are neck and neck, and which is home to the fourth largest Puerto Rican population in the country, after Florida, New York and New Jersey.

“This joke does not reflect the opinion of the president” Trump, assured one of his spokespersons, seeking to limit possible losses in this electorate. Many Republican elected officials have distanced themselves from comments denounced as racist. “This joke was a bombshell for good reason. It’s not funny and it’s not true,” wrote outgoing Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who faces a rival of Hispanic origin in a tight race.

Nanette Barragan, president of the Hispanic Congressional Caucus, called the rhetoric at the rally — where other insulting remarks about Hispanic and African-American populations were made — “shameful” and “dangerous.” .

“Embarrassing”

“Who wants to tell them that there are half a million Puerto Ricans living in the disputed state of Pennsylvania whose votes are up for grabs?” Alyssa Farah Griffin, former director of the communication from Donald Trump to the White House.

These remarks marked the contrast between Donald Trump and his rival Kamala Harris all the more as the Democrat went the same day to a Puerto Rican restaurant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she detailed measures aimed at helping economic development of the island.

Several Puerto Rican-born stars, such as reggaeton prince Bad Bunny and singer Ricky Martin, have shown their support for Kamala Harris on Instagram. Asked Monday, Democratic President Joe Biden called the scandal “embarrassing,” unbecoming of a president.

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