No Joke: Racist Comedian Took Cues From Trump

on Oct 29, 2024

SAN DIEGO -- Gracias, court jester. You may have done the country a huge favor by helping defeat former President Donald Trump.

Who could have known that the October surprise of the 2024 election would be a racist joke about Puerto Rico told by a comic that I would guess few Americans have ever heard of?

As you already know if you saw a clip of his appearance at Trumpalooza -- the recent Trump campaign rally at New York's Madison Square Garden -- Tony Hinchcliffe is not very good at being funny. But he does seem to have a knack for being crude and offensive.

His schtick seems to be all about looking down on people. In his world, Jews are stingy and reluctant to part with money, Palestinians are primitive and reduced to throwing rocks, Latinos -- including migrants -- can't stop procreating, Black Americans prefer watermelons to pumpkins on Halloween.

That kind of humor is cheap and lazy. Most people don't chuckle when they hear it as much as wince.

Who knows? Hinchcliffe may have a second career in politics. In just a few minutes of riffing, he may have managed to do something that the Harris-Walz campaign has failed to do over the last few months: inspire Latinos who on the fence about voting to turn out on Nov. 5.

In their defense, the Democrats were trying to turn out the Latino vote the hard way. They were never going to get those Latinos who are still undecided excited about voting for Harris.

Meanwhile, Hinchcliffe took a shortcut. By being racist and hateful, he has unleashed the power of the anti-MAGA movement. Latinos are now more motivated than ever to turn out and vote against Trump.

Harris remains a hard sell for many Latinos. The Democratic candidate appears to be in over her head. She doesn't answer questions, fails to inspire supporters, can't communicate clearly and hasn't assuaged lingering concerns -- even among anti-Trump voters -- that she has the curiosity and intellectual heft to be the leader of the free world.

A recent New York Times/Sienna College poll found the race tied -- 48% for Harris, 48% for Trump.

Think hard about that. Even with all of Trump's flaws, failings and felony convictions, the best Harris can manage is a tie.

I've often said that I doubt that Harris could beat Trump. But I've also said that I'm 100% sure that Trump can easily beat Trump.

I just didn't realize that it would be with an assist by a crass pro-Trump comedian who said that Latinos "love making babies" because, well, just listen. "There's no pulling out," Hinchcliffe said. "They don't do that. They come inside. Just like they did to our country."

And, in the slander heard around the hemisphere, he described Puerto Rico as a "floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean."

Didn't anyone tell this genius that Puerto Rico is a U.S. commonwealth, and its residents are U.S. citizens who get to vote in U.S. elections (though not for president)?

The Harris campaign pounced on the remark, as did the anti-Trump media. Puerto Rican musical stars Bad Bunny and Ricky Martin quickly registered their disgust over the remark by endorsing Harris. Jennifer Lopez is set to speak at a Harris rally in Las Vegas.

Even the Trump campaign scurried away from the remark about Puerto Rico. "This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign," senior adviser Danielle Alvarez said in a statement.

Who is she kidding? This is the same Donald Trump who went to Puerto Rico in October 2017 after Hurricane Maria devastated the island and callously tossed out rolls of paper towels to residents, as if to say: "Clean this mess up!" It is the same Donald Trump who, according to former acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke, actually suggested that the United States sell Puerto Rico -- after the hurricane struck -- to "divest of that asset."

How will Latino voters respond?

I hope it's with an electoral spanking for Trump. Because there have to be some standards of decency, and enough is enough.

Whether we're talking about Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Cubans, Salvadorans or others, Latinos are single issue voters. That issue is respect. We say the word -- respeto -- with power and purpose. Other than family and hard work, there is nothing more important to us.

Trump and his tribe have never shown respect to Latinos. Now Latinos need to show them the door.

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To find out more about Ruben Navarrette and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.