Bad Bunny, Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin were among the notable industry figures who boosted Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris on Sunday after a speaker at Donald Trump‘s political rally at New York’s Madison Square Garden called Puerto Rico “a floating island of garbage.”
The starkly racist comment stirred outrage among prominent Puerto Ricans and many others in media and entertainment.
“There’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” said Tony Hinchcliffe, a comedian and podcaster who was one of many speakers before Trump took the stage at the famed concert arena on Sunday evening.
Hinchcliffe’s comments were a offensive low even for a Trump rally, as evidenced by the muted response from the crowd. Hinchcliffe immediately and defensively responded “OK, OK” as he heard scattered boos and little applause. Hinchcliffe made other grossly derogatory statements about Latino and Black people earlier his remarks.
In response, Bad Bunny, one of the world’s biggest music superstar with more than 45 million Instagram followers, boosted Harris’ campaign video targeting voters in Puerto Rico and noting what a contentious relationship that Trump had with the island during his tenure in the White House. Lopez posted Harris campaign material targeted at Puerto Rico as well as the same video pitch that Bad Bunny boosted.
Singer-actor Ricky Martin, with 18.6 million Instagram followers, did the same thing on his Instagram Stories feed, adding the comment “I remember” on the Harris video. He also included a clip of Hinchcliffe’s “garbage” comment. What’s more, Martin asserted that his X posts with the same content were being suppressed on the platform formerly known as Twitter and now owned by avid Trump supporter Elon Musk.
Trump’s event drew wide live coverage across Fox News and other news networks, social media platforms and digital platforms. It was notable for the appearance of former first lady Melania Trump, who introduced Trump before he took the stage. Melania Trump has kept a low profile on the campaign trail during her husband’s third run for the nation’s highest office.
Luis Fonsi, the Puerto Rican singer who had a worldwide smash in 2017 with “Despacito,” also reposted the Harris video and added a comment.
“We are not OK with this constant hate. It’s been abundantly clear that these people have no respect for us and yet they want our vote,” Fonsi wrote. “I purposely wrote this in English cause yes we’re American too.”
The event ended with Trump and Melania Trump on stage as a crooner delivered an over the top version of the pop standard “New York, New York.”
The Trump campaign tried to separate itself from Hinchcliffe’s comments after the rally in a statement to the New York Times: “This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” senior adviser Danielle Alvarez told the Times.
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