Will "joke" cost US election?

Automatically saved draft

Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe insulted Puerto Rico as a floating garbage island.

(Bild: AP ( via APA) Austria Presse Agentur/Evan Vucci)

Will this "joke" cost him the US election? Following the racist gaffe by a comedian at Donald Trump's campaign launch, the Republican's campaign sought to limit the damage on Monday. 

A spokeswoman said the "joke" about Puerto Rico did not reflect the candidate's opinion. Democratic candidate Kamala Harris accused Trump of being fixated on "dividing our country". Puerto Rico in the Caribbean is the USA's largest foreign territory.

At Trump's rally in New York's Madison Square Garden on Sunday evening, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe said that Puerto Rico was an "island of garbage". At the same time, he said of Latinos that they loved to "make babies". At the event in front of thousands of fanatical Trump supporters, other speakers made racist remarks about Latinos and African-Americans.

Hinchcliffe expressed surprise at the fierce criticism of his remarks: His critics apparently have no sense of humor, he wrote on Platform X. He loves Puerto Rico and is on vacation on the island.

Democratic candidate Harris said on Monday that Trump had once again proven with the rally in New York that he was fixated on his grudges and himself - and on dividing the USA.

"And that is not something that will strengthen the American family, the American workers," Harris explained. The people of Puerto Rico, he said, "deserve a president who sees and promotes their strengths."

Broad criticism of Hinchcliffe and his "joke"
Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin shared Hinchcliffe's comments and Harris' reaction on Instagram with his 18.6 million followers. "This is what they think of us", he wrote and: "Vote for Kamala Harris".

Residents of Puerto Rico are not allowed to vote in the presidential election on November 5, but according to the Pew Research Center, there are around six million native Puerto Ricans in the USA who have the right to vote.

Population group has an important voice
The Democratic senator from Pennsylvania, John Fetterman, pointed out that almost half a million people with Puerto Rican roots live in his state, three quarters of whom have the right to vote. These people are important, he wrote in the online service X, and "not the punch line of a desperate joke".

Pennsylvania in the north-east of the USA is one of the most contested US states. Harris and Trump are neck and neck in the polls. It is the closest race for the White House in the recent history of the United States. Outgoing US President Joe Biden called the rally in Madison Square Garden "embarrassing" and not worthy of an ex-president.