On the same day that a comedian who appeared at Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden called Puerto Rico a “floating island of trash,” Puerto Rican stars Bad Bunny and Ricky Martin came out in support of Kamala Harrison. expressed.
On Sunday, international reggaeton star Bad Bunny (official name Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio) shared a video of the Democratic presidential candidate to his more than 45 million followers on Instagram. Her support could be a boost for Harris’ campaign as she seeks to shore up support from Latino and Puerto Rican voters.
Shortly after comedian Tony Hinchcliffe made comments about Puerto Rico at a Trump rally in New York, Bad Bunny announced his support for Harris. Mr. Hinchcliffe also made crude comments about Latinos.
The comment was immediately criticized by the Harris-Waltz camp. Fellow Puerto Rican pop star Ricky Martin wrote in a post to his 18 million Instagram followers: Please vote for @KamalaHarris. ”
Trump campaign spokesperson Daniel Alvarez later said in a statement: “This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or his campaign.”
Other Latinx singers who had already expressed support for Harris, including Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, also shared videos of the Democratic candidate.
Bad Bunny, a three-time Grammy Award winner, was the most streamed artist on Spotify in 2020, 2021 and 2022, surpassed only by Taylor Swift in 2023. In 2022, he was named Apple Music Artist of the Year.
The artist has stepped up his political forays, particularly in his native Puerto Rico, where he has bought billboards in protest of the pro-national New Progressive Party and criticized the power system that was destroyed by Hurricane Mario. I am doing it.
A video she shared Sunday shows Harris saying, “There’s so much at stake in this election for Puerto Rican voters and Puerto Rico.”
“I will never forget what Donald Trump did or failed to do when Puerto Rico needed a caring and capable leader,” Harris said. He shared another part of the clip.
Puerto Rican voters are crucial to both Mr. Trump and Ms. Harris, and Mr. Trump has made increasing inroads with this group in recent days. In Pennsylvania, a key battleground state, most of the 580,000 Latino voters are Puerto Rican.
Harris visited a Puerto Rican restaurant in Philadelphia on Sunday and outlined plans to introduce an Economic Opportunity Task Force to Puerto Rico.
The Prime Minister also recognized the urgent need to rebuild Puerto Rico’s energy grid, working with local leaders to ensure that all Puerto Ricans have access to reliable power and ensuring that disaster recovery funds are delivered quickly and effectively. The company promised to eliminate complicated procedures so that it can be used in a variety of ways.
A year after the storm, public health experts estimated that nearly 3,000 people had died as a result of Hurricane Maria.
President Trump’s actions and policies toward the island have repeatedly drawn criticism. He repeatedly doubted that the number of casualties had increased “magically”. His visit to the island after the hurricane was controversial, with people throwing paper towels. Years later, his administration announced $13 billion in aid just weeks before the 2020 presidential election. And a federal watchdog agency found that authorities obstructed an investigation into delays in delivering aid.
Bad Bunny also shared a clip of the footage in which Harris said President Trump “abandoned the island, tried to block aid after a series of devastating hurricanes, and offered nothing but paper towels and insults.” The department was also shared.
The artist’s representative confirmed his support.
