SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A cartoon calling Puerto Rico trash before a packed Donald Trump rally in New York was the latest humiliation for an island territory that has suffered years of abuse, residents said Monday. said in an angry expression that could affect Puerto Rico. Presidential election.
Even though Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, they cannot vote in presidential elections, but they can exercise strong influence over their relatives on the mainland. Minutes after a speaker mocked the U.S. territory Sunday night, phones across the island of 3.2 million people rang and continued to ring on Monday.
Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris is competing with President Trump to win over Puerto Rican communities in Pennsylvania and other battleground states. Shortly after, stand-up comic Tony Hinchcliffe said: I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” Puerto Rican reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny announced his support for Harris.
Read more: Trump rally draws widespread condemnation as comedian calls Puerto Rico a ‘floating island of trash’
Mr Hinchcliffe’s set also included lewd and racist comments about key electoral constituencies: Latinos, Jews and blacks.
Non-voters with great influence
Milagros Serrano, 81, has a son who lives in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, and said his entire family was outraged by the comedian’s comments.
“There’s no way he talks about Puerto Rico like that,” she said on the way to the doctor’s appointment. “He’s trash.”
Puerto Rico became a U.S. territory in 1917, and the first wave of large-scale migration occurred after World War II to alleviate labor shortages. There are now more Puerto Ricans in the United States than there are on the island.
Remainers say they often feel like second-class citizens because they can’t vote in presidential elections and receive limited federal funding compared to U.S. states.
That aggravated anger exploded when President Trump visited Puerto Rico in 2017 after Hurricane Maria hit the island as a powerful Category 4 storm. President Trump threw paper towels into the crowd and denied the official death toll from the storm, but experts estimate that nearly 3,000 people died in Puerto Rico. The sweltering aftermath.
“What humiliation, what discrimination!”
After Sunday’s rally, Trump campaign senior adviser Daniel Alvarez said in a statement that Hinchcliffe’s jokes “do not reflect the views of President Trump or his campaign.”
Jose Acevedo, 48, a health worker from San Juan, shook his head as he recalled the emotions that ran through his chest as he watched the rally.
“What humiliation, what discrimination!” he said early Monday morning, waiting to board a public bus to work.
Acevedo said she immediately texted her relatives in New York, including her uncle, a Republican who planned to vote for Trump.
“He told me he needed to analyze his decision,” Acevedo said, adding that his relatives were in shock. “They couldn’t believe it.”
angry reactions at home
The comments dominated local news sites late into the night, with Jennifer González, a pro-state New Progressive Party representative in Puerto Rico’s Congress and a Trump supporter, calling them “vile, misguided, and disgusting.” did.
“They don’t represent Republican values,” she said.
Puerto Rican politics is defined by the island’s political standing, so it is common for Democrats and Republicans to be members of the same local political party.
Meanwhile, Democratic Gov. Pedro Pierluisi posted on Facebook: “What came out of Tony Hinchcliffe’s mouth was trash and everyone who praised him should be ashamed of themselves for disrespecting Puerto Rico.”
Mr. González, who defeated Mr. Pierluigi in the party’s primary, is leading in opinion polls as the Nov. 5 election approaches.
Sonia Perez, 58, a parking attendant, said she hasn’t voted for governor in years, but was so upset by the comedian’s comments and González’s support for Trump that she spoke on behalf of González and the two men. He said he plans to reject the other candidate who does. The main political party that has long dominated Puerto Rico.
“It is outrageous that in the 21st century, there is so much racism against Latinos when we are not being recognized for all the contributions we have made to our country,” she said. said.
distrust and resentment
Hinchcliffe’s comments also prompted reactions from Puerto Rican stars, including Ricky Martin, who previously supported Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. He posted a video of a vulgar joke and wrote, “This is what they think of us.”
Read more: Why some 2020 Democratic candidates are making Puerto Rico an early stop in their campaigns
This enraged Puerto Ricans, who posted photos of their island and its bright turquoise waters on social media, saying things like, “I live where you vacation,” and “I’m from a trash island.” I’m so proud of that,” she captioned it.
Michael Melendez Ortiz, a 33-year-old unemployed janitor, said he and a friend were so surprised by the comedian’s comments that they initially thought the video was fake.
“We have to be respected,” he said. “We are good and honorable people.”
