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republican Officials panicked After a comedian made a racist joke about Latinos and the territory of Puerto Rico during a rally for former President Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night, fearing it could make them vote in the swing state.
Since making gains among Latino voters in 2020, the Trump campaign has invested heavily in outreach to the Latino community and voters of color more broadly. Polling suggests That seems to be helping him especially with Latino men, who are evenly split between supporting him and Vice President Kamala Harris. It’s not yet clear how much the comments at the rally could undo those efforts, but in swing states where margins of victory are expected to narrow, even small shifts in support could have big consequences.
At the rally, Texas-based comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” and said Latinos “love to make babies,” adding, “There’s no pull. They don’t. They come in, just like They did it in our country.”
The response was quick. The Trump campaign released a statement addressing Hinchcliffe’s comments Trump’s thinking does not reflect that. Republicans from Puerto Rican districts condemned the comments: Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL) said that they “bothered” him and “did not reflect GOP values.” Shortly after the comments, Puerto Rican musician Bad Bunny posted a video of Vice President Kamala Harris on his Instagram, a post that was A Harris endorsement.
Trump has been making racist comments about Latino immigrants throughout his campaign; For example, claiming that they “Blood poisoning“of the country. But Hinchcliffe’s comments went a step further in attacking Latino American citizens, some of whom will not feel personally insulted when Trump refers to the immigrant population.
“This man was speaking broadly about the whole island [of Puerto Rico]”, Mike Madrid, a Latino GOP strategist who is backing Harris, said. “Comparing this to Trump’s immigration comments in the past is missing the broader point. This man attacked Latino Americans by birth.
How the fallout from the assembly can affect the swing state
Puerto Rican voters made up a large swath of voters in swing states, particularly Pennsylvania, where their population was about 456,600, according to the 2020 US Census. According to Five Thirty Eight Vote averageThe polls in the state are almost tied.
Puerto Ricans also number approx 115,000 In North Carolina, 65,000 Wisconsin, and 50,000 In Michigan overall, Latino voters represent more votes than the potential margin of victory in seven battleground states.
Most of Trump’s gains in 2020 came among Latino voters Puerto Ricans and Mexican Americans, once a solidly blue voting bloc. This may come as a surprise given Trump’s record in Puerto Rico while in office. he Blocked help in Puerto Rico after the devastating Hurricane Maria in 2017, and he reportedly joked about The United States is trading Puerto Rico for Greenland.
He has since been able to appeal to Puerto Rican voters over him Economic messaging Many are suffering from higher price pressures, although peak inflation is expected to drop significantly in 2022. But there Trump is more ambivalent among these voters than other GOP figuresLike Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, suggesting the former president’s newfound support may be softening.
The question is how much the comments in the rally move the needle. With only a few days left for the election, voters are paying attention. Whether Trump regrets it or not, it’s part of him Closing argument.
“I think what happened here is that the Trump campaign ended up doing what the Harris campaign didn’t, which reduced Trump’s support among Latino voters, particularly in Pennsylvania,” Madrid said. “I guess the question is, by how much?”
