A comedian’s remarks are making some within the party do something rare: Condemn a Trump rally.
Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City appears to have backfired. While Sunday’s event was designed to be the former president’s closing argument to voters, it was overshadowed by racist and sexist rhetoric from his allies who also took the stage.
One guest speaker in particular, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, is facing heat for his incendiary comments. During his set, he likened Puerto Rico to “a floating island of garbage.” Hinchcliffe also targeted other groups: He pushed racist and antisemitic tropes about Black and Jewish people and suggested that Latinos “loved making babies.” But his disparaging remarks about Puerto Ricans have generated the most backlash, which he has continued to defend amid the ongoing controversy.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign immediately criticized the hate-fueled rally, saying the former president is “fanning the fuel” of division. Puerto Rican music superstar Bad Bunny also notably endorsed Harris shortly after Hinchcliffe’s appearance, saying, “There’s so much at stake in this election.”
Now, even Trump’s campaign is distancing itself from the comedian, so we took a closer look at what his fellow Republicans have said in response to the offensive “joke.”
For a firsthand account of the rally, watch Katie’s conversation with Puck News’ senior political correspondent Tara Palmeri.
Republicans who’ve condemned the comments at Trump’s MSG rally
Florida Sen. Rick Scott
Senator Rick Scott was among the first to disavow the comedian’s remarks, writing in a post on the social platform X that the comedian’s “joke bombed for a reason.”
“It’s not funny, and it’s not true,” he said. “Puerto Ricans are amazing people and amazing Americans! I’ve been to the island many times. It’s a beautiful place. Everyone should visit! I will always do whatever I can to help any Puerto Rican in Florida or on the island.”
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio joined other Republicans in criticizing Hinchcliffe’s comments about Puerto Rico, but he also defended Trump.
“Puerto Rico isn’t garbage; it’s home to fellow American citizens who have made tremendous contributions to our country,” he began his lengthy post on X. He then acknowledged why people were offended by Hinchcliffe’s comments, emphasizing that “those weren’t Trump’s words.”
The Trump devotee then abruptly pivoted to attacking Harris and the media.
Florida Rep. María Elvira Salazar
Florida Rep. María Elvira Salazar, who’s Cuban American, said she was “disgusted” by Hinchcliffe’s “racist comment,” adding that it “does not reflect GOP values.”
Florida Rep. Carlos Gimenez
Another Cuban American, Florida Rep. Carlos Gimenez, emphasized that the remark was “completely classless & in poor taste.”
“Puerto Rico is the crown jewel of the Caribbean & home to many of the most patriotic Americans I know,” he wrote in part on X.
New York Rep. Anthony D’Esposito
It wasn’t just Floridians who spoke out, though. New York Rep. Anthony D’Esposito said he was “proud to be Puerto Rican,” adding that the country is “a beautiful island with a rich culture and an integral part of the USA.”
D’Esposito also called on the party to “stay on message” as he faces one of the most brutal re-election battles in the country. The freshman Republican is nearly deadlocked with rival Democrat Rep. Laura Gillen, with each candidate within a single point of one another.
How’s Trump responding to the fallout?
In an unusual move, the Trump campaign issued a statement stating that the former president doesn’t condone Hinchcliffe’s comments. “This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” his campaign senior adviser Danielle Alvarez wrote in a statement.
The next day, Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt acknowledged during an appearance on Fox News that Hinchcliffe’s jokes about Puerto Rico and other minorities were “in poor taste.”
Similarly, his advisers have echoed a similar sentiment. “I understand that his K*ll Tony podcast is wildly popular, but I thought he was unfunny and unfortunately offended many of our friends from Puerto Rico,” David Urban, who has advised Trump on strategy in Pennsylvania, posted on the social platform X.
Some have also pointed out that hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans live in Pennsylvania, which is shaping up to be one of the states that could determine the outcome of the election.
“Who wants to tell these guys there are ~ HALF A MILLION Puerto Ricans living in Battleground PA, whose votes are up for grabs?” former Trump official Alyssa Farah Griffin, who has become an outspoken critic of the former president, said in a post on X.
