Donald Trump wanted his Nazi-style rally at Madison Square Garden, in New York City, the media capital of the world. And then he let out his MAGA movement’s ugly all-out bigotry.
It is his campaign’s biggest blunder, and it’s a big one. Even Republicans are freakin’ the f’ out.
On Sunday, I immediately wrote up the “jokes” by MAGA “comedian” Tony Hinchcliffe about Puerto Rico being “literally a floating island of garbage, or the one about “Latinos, they love making babies too. Just know that. They do. They do. There’s no pulling out. They don’t do that. They come inside. Just like they did to our country." Nothing like mixing lewd ejaculation jokes with racism.
I knew it would send shockwaves through the Boricua community in key battleground states. And boy, did it ever.
The holy trinity of Puerto Rican stardom—Bad Bunny, J-Lo, and Ricky Martin, with over 315 million combined followers on Instagram alone—have been on a tear, sharing Vice President Kamala Harris’ plan for Puerto Rico side-by-side with the comedian’s racist tirade against the island.
Other Puerto Rican celebrities like Luis Fonsi (16 million Instagram followers) followed suit. This was Bad Bunny’s first time engaging during this election.
In fact, Bad Bunny shared Harris’ video four times. He’s pissed.
You know Republicans know they’re in deep shit, and not just because “rally is racist” headlines are now dominating the news (more on that below).
“This joke bombed for a reason. It's not funny and it's not true,” tweeted Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott. “Puerto Ricans are amazing people and amazing Americans! I’ve been to the island many times.”
Not only is Scott locked in a tough reelection battle, but he’s already had to deal with Trump and his pals alienating the Haitian community, another large and politically active Florida voting bloc.
”Disgusted by @TonyHinchcliffe’s racist comment calling Puerto Rico a 'floating island of garbage,'” tweeted Florida Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar. “This rhetoric does not reflect GOP values.” Except that of course it does. It was literally featured in Trump’s big rally. And Trump sure hasn’t disavowed it (and no, the campaign doesn’t count; he has to apologize for it).
Other Republicans followed suit, like Puerto Rico’s Republican Party chairman, Florida Rep. Carlos Gimenez, and New York Rep. Anthony D’Esposito. More will likely join the list in the next 24 hours.
And the headlines, oh the headlines! (These are the headlines as I write this. They are often changed.)
CNN’s entire top half of its homepage on Sunday night: “Trump loyalists spew racist, vulgar attacks at NYC rally.” You know how hard it is for media outlets to say the word “racist.” That’s how racist it was.
The Washington Post: “Trump rally speakers invoke racist tropes in denouncing Harris; Vance defends Trump’s ‘enemies within’ comments.” Glad Jeff Bezos decided to cave to the racists!
The New York Times: “Racist Remarks and Insults Mark Trump’s Madison Square Garden Rally.” OMG, even the Times used the word “racist” to describe racism! Progress!
Univision: “Aliados de Trump insultan a Harris y denigran a los puertorriqueños en evento en el Madison Square Garden.” In English: “Trump allies insult Harries and denigrate Puertoricans.” The story explained that “comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s set was full of vulgar and denigrating supposed jokes, full of racist stereotypes of Latinos, Jews, and Blacks.” (My translation.)
Telemundo: “El comediante Tony Hinchcliffe hace chistes racistas sobre los latinos y Puerto Rico en evento de Trump en el Madison Square Garden.” In English, “Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe makes racist jokes about Latinos and Puerto Ricans.”
Guys, this shit is brutal.
In fact, it’s so bad that people are barely focused on whatever drivel Trump spewed. The entire narrative has been reset.
This is the October surprise: everyone, including the media, finally realizing what the MAGA movement truly is and being unafraid to state it. The “comedian” himself sure as heck sees nothing wrong with his racism and bigotry. And Gimenez, despite criticizing Hinchcliffe, sure went out of his way to praise Trump, the guy whose operation hired Hinchcliffe for the act.
This is who they are.
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