Unhealthy Bunny, Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin had been amongst these exhibiting assist for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris on Sunday evening after a comic made a racist joke about Puerto Rico at Donald Trump’s rally on Sunday.
On the rally, which was held at New York’s Madison Sq. Backyard, humorist Tony Hinchcliffe made lewd and racist feedback about Latinos, Jews and Black folks, all of whom are key constituencies within the election, which is simply 9 days away.
“I don’t know when you guys know this, however there’s actually a floating island of rubbish in the midst of the ocean proper now. I believe it’s referred to as Puerto Rico,” Hinchcliffe stated in the course of the rally.
Hinchcliffe’s joke was instantly criticized by Harris’ marketing campaign because it competes with Trump to win over Puerto Rican communities in Pennsylvania and different swing states.
Unhealthy Bunny, who hails from Puerto Rico and has 45.6 million followers on Instagram, responded by posting a Story to his account that includes a video of Harris criticizing Trump for his actions within the wake of Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, which each hit the island in a span of two weeks, leaving devastation in its wake. Hundreds of individuals had been killed. A 2021 report by the housing division’s workplace of the inspector common discovered that the Trump administration delayed greater than $20 billion in hurricane aid assist for Puerto Rico after the catastrophe.
On his IG Story, Unhealthy Bunny featured a video that Harris had posted to X (previously Twitter) earlier within the day, during which she says: “There may be a lot at stake on this election for Puerto Rican voters and for Puerto Rico,” she says within the video. “And this election isn’t just a alternative between Donald Trump and me. It’s a alternative between two very completely different visions for our nation.”
He added a second clip of her video, a portion of which performs thrice in his Story: “I’ll always remember what Donald Trump did, and what he didn’t do, when Puerto Rico wanted a caring and a reliable chief. He deserted the island, tried to dam assist after back-to-back devastating hurricanes and provided nothing greater than paper towels and insults.”
The View co-host Ana Navarro applauded Unhealthy Bunny, whose actual identify is Benito Martínez Ocasio, on X.
“Fuck round and discover out,” she posted. “After Trump rally speaker calls Puerto Rico a “floating island of rubbish”, #BadBunny weighs-in, sharing @KamalaHarris proposal for 🇵🇷 together with his 45 MM followers.”
She ended with a message in Spanish that translated to: “Thanks, Benito. A thousand, a thousand thanks for defending your island and the dignity of your folks.”
Lopez, who’s Puerto Rican and boasts 250 million Instagram followers, additionally posted a portion of Harris’ video to her IG Story together with a screenshot of Harris’ plan for serving to Puerto Rico.
Fellow Puerto Rican Martin, who has 18.6 million followers on Instagram, did the identical, including a clip of Hinchcliffe making his joke.
New York Congressman Ritchie Torres additionally weighed in on X: “As a Puerto Rican, I’m tempted to name Hinchcliffe racist rubbish however doing so can be an insult to rubbish. When casting their ballots on the voting sales space, Latinos ought to always remember the racism that Donald Trump appears all too keen to platform.”
Additionally in the course of the rally, Hinchcliffe made a racist joke a couple of Black particular person within the viewers, saying he had “carved watermelons” with the viewers member.
In the meantime, Democratic group Battleground New York launched an announcement Sunday evening in regards to the rally, calling the speeches “a torrent of unhinged loopy, racism and xenophobia.”
“Whether or not it was focusing on Puerto Rico with obscene hate, persevering with to say the 2020 election was stolen, or making an attempt to put the groundwork to say the identical in 2024, this rally was an obscene show of unvarnished bigotry for hundreds of thousands to see,” the group stated. “It’s time to show the web page on this period of politics that’s seen abortion bans, kooky conspiracy theories mainstreamed, and an countless stream of nonsense that does nothing to resolve issues for working folks.”
