Outrage grows over Puerto Rico ‘island of garbage’ racist gibes during Trump MSG rally

Outrage was spreading Monday over racist gibes aimed at Puerto Ricans, Blacks and others by speakers at former President Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden.
A parade of Democratic leaders and A-list celebrities denounced the Trump campaign and comic Tony Hinchcliffe for calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” at the packed Sunday rally, which included crude attacks on Latinos and Vice President Kamala Harris.
“There was nothing that’s an accident about what was said. … It was an authentic depiction of what Donald Trump thinks about Puerto Rico,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Bronx, Queens) said Monday. “This is what these people believe, and it’s not a joke.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn) trashed Republicans for “[inviting] this filth into our community.” Gov. Hochul said the hatefest amounted to an “ugly, divisive, and racist” closing message by the Trump campaign.
Superstar Jennifer Lopez and reggaeton sensation Bad Bunny jumped off the political sidelines to support Harris  in the hours after the shocking remarks, which could drive Latino voters away from Trump in the crucial final days before the Nov. 5 election.
Republicans were scrambling to play defense. Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, during an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday, said that “no one agrees” with the ugly jokes about Puerto Ricans and attacked the Daily News for its “RACIST RALLY” front-page headline.
“To the Daily News, is it a racist rally if a Black man from Florida who’s originally from New York speaks at that rally?” Donalds said. “I don’t think so.”
Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, an endangered first-term Long Island Republican, said his mother is Puerto Rican and urged GOP voters to “stay on message.”
“The only thing that’s ‘garbage’ was a bad comedy set,” tweeted D’Esposito, who is locked in a tough reelection battle in his Democratic-leaning district.
Even the Trump campaign, which rarely gives any ground to criticism, took the highly unusual step of walking back the “island of garbage” remarks, though critics noted that the gibes appeared on a teleprompter and were approved by the Trump campaign.
“This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.” said Danielle Alvarez, a Trump campaign spokeswoman.
New city Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos, who is Puerto Rican, said in a statement that “the hateful language we heard this weekend has no place in our city or our schools. Every community targeted this weekend has worked too hard for too long to create their place in the American Dream to be disrespected and degraded with such language. … Our tiny but mighty island has produced scholars, scientists and artists who have made great contributions to both the American and global communities. When you live in New York City, your neighbors are the entire world. We are a great city because of our diversity.”
TV host Geraldo Rivera, a former friend and political ally of Trump, urged Latino men to vote against the former president.
“A vote for Trump is a vote against self-respect,” Rivera tweeted.
It remains to be seen whether the remarks will cost Trump at the ballot box. But with polls showing a dead-heat race, Democrats hope they could persuade some undecided Latino voters not to vote for him.
Latinos are a key constituency in several battleground states and make up 4% of registered voters in Pennsylvania, perhaps the most critical of the seven battleground states
About half of those Latinos are of Puerto Rican descent. They normally vote strongly Democratic, but some polls have shown Trump winning a greater share of support this year compared with the 2020 and 2016 races.
Georgia, which Trump lost by just 11,000 votes in 2020, also has a large Puerto Rican community.
Even before the ugly MSG rally, Trump had made controversial moves that alienated Puerto Ricans, especially his paper towel-tossing stunt in 2017 as the island battled devastation from Hurricane Maria.
As president, he also mused about selling Puerto Rico, whose residents are U.S. citizens, or trading it for mineral-rich Greenland.
Ironically, the speech at the Garden took place hours after Harris campaigned at a Puerto Rican restaurant in Philadelphia and outlined her program for the island, which does not get a vote in presidential elections.
“Trump is the same old, tired playbook: Divide and demean,” Ian Sams, a Harris campaign aide, said Monday. “It’s a stark reminder of who he is.”