Donald Trump's disastrously racist rally at New York City’s Madison Square Garden on Sunday was epitomized by Tony Hinchcliffe’s hack bigotry. The Joe Rogan-cultivated comedian called Puerto Rico a "floating island of garbage" and labored through a 12-minute set filled with “jokes” about Latinos and Black people.
Because Hinchcliffe’s litany of tasteless insults kicked off a rally for the Republican Party’s presidential nominee, his racist patter received backlash from all corners of the political world and beyond, including Puerto Rican reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny, who endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris shortly after Hinchcliffe’s set was done. (The rapper has 45.6 million followers on Instagram alone, for anyone keeping count).
However, it turns out that the disaster could have been an even bigger calamity. According to The Bulwark’s Marc A. Caputo, the Trump campaign identified one “red flag” in the comedian’s set that was nixed before the event.
“He had a joke calling [Vice President Kamala] Harris a ‘cunt,’” a “campaign insider” told Caputo.
That’s some real comedic genius.
The blowback has been so intense that Trump’s campaign, known for never apologizing about anything, has distanced itself from that one joke about Puerto Rico. Of course they haven’t denounced Hinchcliffe claiming Latinos have more unprotected sex and babies than others, and that Black people carve watermelons instead of pumpkins at Halloween.
“It’s a joke. People need to grow up,” one Trump adviser told The Bulwark, defending the gross racism. “This is what we’re campaigning against: PC culture run amok.”
No harm no foul, said other Trumpies.
“Heading into the rally, we were called Nazis. Do voters really care about a comic telling a joke that offended people who weren’t going to vote for us? No,” said another campaign adviser.
Tony Hinchcliffe speaks at rally for Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 27, 2024.
There’s a possibility that Trump’s team of dunderheads still hopes to persuade enough white women to vote for him. It’s an uphill battle for the twice-impeached former president, who seems to have the vague understanding that women are not his biggest fans.
Trump has already helped claw back federal protections on reproductive freedom and women’s right to choose what they do with their bodies. He has been found liable for sexual assault, was found guilty of falsifying business records while trying to cover up an extramarital affair with an adult film star, and faces assault accusations from dozens of other women.
This latest broadside against Latinos could cost Trump even more. In 2020, President Joe Biden won Pennsylvania by about 80,000 votes, and Arizona by about 10,000. Latinos make up 6% of the electorate in the Keystone State, and recent polling shows Harris making gains across the country with Latino voters.
Last week, Puerto Rican singer-actor Marc Anthony released a campaign ad for Harris titled “I remember.” It detailed the Trump’s administration’s racist immigration policy and his neglect of Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria ravaged the island. While MAGA officials may have thought letting Hinchcliffe expose the vileness of the GOP platform would allow them to call “woke” liberals humorless, all they have accomplished is to remind everyone how much Trump and his faithful despise people of color.
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