Former President Donald Trump's election rally at Madison Square Gardens, which was labelled as a triumphant homecoming, was marred with controversy after comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a "floating island of garbage".
The joke drew immediate criticism from both Democrats and Republicans, prompting Trump's campaign tor distance itself from the comments.
Trump's rally included scores of speakers, including former pro wrestler Hulk Hogan, Melania Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. But Hinchcliffe's remarks grabbed headlines in one of Trump's biggest election rallies with just a week to go for the November 5 polls.
The event began with comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, host of the 'Kill Tony' podcast, who opened the rally with a set replete with slurs about Latinos, African Americans and other groups.
Hinchcliffe said Latinos "love making babies", a joke that was met with uncertainty from the crowd. The comedian doubled down on his remark, saying, "I don't know if you know this, but there's literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it's called Puerto Rico."
The joke created a ripple online and drew sharp criticism, with Congresswoman Mara Elvira Salazar stating that she was left "disgusted" by Hinchcliffe's remark.
"As a Puerto Rican, I am tempted to call Hinchcliffe racist garbage, but doing so would be an insult to garbage. When casting their ballots at the voting booth, Latinos should never forget the racism that Donald Trump seems all too willing to platform," said Congressman Ritchie Torres while sharing the video of his remark.
"You're opening for Trump by calling Puerto Rico a floating pile of garbage. 4,000+ Puerto Ricans died under him," said Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny and Ricky Martin immediately responded to the comment by sharing a clip of Kamala Harris's video wherein she criticised Donald Trump for withholding hurricane relief to the island.
Ricky Martin, the Puerto Rican singer with 18.6 million followers on Instagram, quickly shared a video of Harris's appeal to Puerto Rican voters, along with a clip of Hinchcliffe's remarks.
"This is what they think of us," Martin wrote in Spanish and urged voters to vote for Kamala Harris.
Bad Bunny, too, shared a portion from Kamala Harris's speech where she said, "I will never forget what Donald Trump did and what he did not do when Puerto Rico needed a caring and a competent leader."
Minnesota Governor Tim Waltz, while reacting to the video of Hinchcliffe's remarks during a stream with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez asked, "Who is this jackwad?"
Responding to criticism from Waltz, Hinchcliffe said that his comment was taken out of "context" to make it sound racist.
"These people have no sense of humour. Wild that a vice presidential candidate would take time out of his "busy schedule" to analyze a joke taken out of context to make it seem racist. I love Puerto Rico and vacation there. I made fun of everyoneâ€æwatch the whole set. I'm a comedian Timâ€æmight be time to change your tampon," he said.
