His convinced smile in favor of Donald Trump gives way to a serious gesture. His eyes widen behind his glasses, as if something had just hit his face. “I hadn’t heard it. I went to sleep early,” Fernando Garriga tells elDiario.es after hearing the racist comments made during the Republican candidate’s rally at Madison Square Garden in New York last Sunday.
“If someone refers pejoratively to Latinos, I think it is out of place. We Latin Americans are a workforce that produces wealth in this country. We are people who come to work,” argues, somewhat confused, this resident of Allentown, in Pennsylvania, a key state in the presidential elections on November 5.
The comments of comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who said that Puerto Rico is a “garbage island” and that Latin Americans “love to make babies,” have crossed a line that Republicans have always balanced. Despite his xenophobic and racist speech, Trump had managed to create a supposed difference between “good” and “bad” immigrants – people in an irregular situation – that avoided generating an internal conflict for many Latin Americans living in the United States. and they support the former president.
In the case of Puerto Ricans, this was even less conflictive, since they are American citizens, although they only have the right to vote in the federal elections if they register in one of the 50 states or in the District of Columbia. After Mexicans, Puerto Ricans are the second largest group of Latin Americans in the United States. In total, Latinos represent 15% of the country’s total electorate, and many of these voters are deeply offended with just a week left until the elections.
The impact of these words during the rally has caused one of Trump’s greatest supporters among the Puerto Rican community, the musician Nicky Jam, to withdraw his support. In a video published on Instagram, whoever participated in one of his campaign events has assured that he gave him his support because “he thought it would be good for the economy.” However, he shows his anger because “I never in my life thought that a comedian would come to criticize my country.” “Puerto Rico respects itself,” he concluded in his brief video statement with more than 90,000 likes in just three hours on the social network.
The archbishop of Puerto Rico issued a statement Monday criticizing the comments and demanding Trump personally apologize. In Pennsylvania, an independent group of Puerto Ricans has distributed a letter in which they ask not to vote for the Republican in the elections and in Allentown, the third largest city in this state, a group of protesters protested against a rally that the former president gave in the town since Tuesday.
“I don’t approve, I feel like it was a joke in bad taste,” Jackeline Rivera, who is part of the local section of the Republican Party in Allentown, criticizes in a conversation with this medium. But he ends his response with the same formula as the rest of the Puerto Rican Republicans who have already come out to condemn the comments. “I know Democrats are trying to spin it to make it seem like it’s Republican Party values, but it doesn’t reflect Trump or the party at all.”
Asked if he would like Trump to publicly condemn the comments, Rivera responds: “There’s no need.” “Perhaps it would give the Democrats more opportunity to continue attacking him with this story,” says the woman, who also recognizes that perhaps the comedian’s jokes would make the tycoon lose votes. “He won’t lose enough to lose the elections,” she says convinced.
Although the surveys they continue to show a technical tie between Harris and Trump in Pennsylvania, the key state that distributes the most votes this year in the Electoral College – which subsequently elects the president – and which holds the key to the Oval Office. In the last election, a few ballots were what allowed Joe Biden to win in Arizona. In Pennsylvania, victory was a matter of 80,000 votes.
Trump called for voting in Allentown two days after racist insults in New York. This city is one of the key places that can determine who will take Pennsylvania’s votes on November 5 and more than 50% of its inhabitants are Latino. However, this does not seem to cause any inconvenience to the former president: on Tuesday morning, Trump defined the Madison Square Garden event as “a party of absolute love.” “There has never been such a beautiful rally,” he said from his Mar-a-Lago residence. He has also tried to distance himself from the comedian, stating that “he didn’t know him.”
The opportunity to recover the Latino vote
This Tuesday, during his electoral event in Allentown, the former president boasted of the support he has among Latino voters. “No one loves our Latino community and our Puerto Rican community more than me,” he said to his followers.
The Republican is trying to put the controversy behind him, but his margin is small and the Democrats are not willing to let him fall into oblivion. On Monday night, Harris’ campaign released a new video with the clip of the comedian saying that Puerto Rico is a “garbage island.” In the next frame Trump’s face appears.
He spot remember how the tycoon managed the catastrophe of Hurricane María in 2017, which caused deaths and destruction on the island. Faced with the problem, the then president considered the idea of selling Puerto Rico. A report later revealed that the Trump administration delayed more than $20 billion in humanitarian aid to the island following the hurricane. Ironically, this is one of the false accusations that the Republican is now launching against Joe Biden’s Government regarding aid for Hurricane Helene.
Harris’ video comes just after the coincidence on Sunday that the Democrat announced a new economic plan for Puerto Rico. The measures were announced when the Madison Square Garden rally had not yet ended. If elected, the Democratic candidate promised that she will promote an “economy of opportunities” for the island. “Working with the private sector, the Puerto Rican Government, municipalities and other stakeholders will strive to strengthen the energy grid, make Puerto Rico a hub for the industries of the future and elevate the island’s role as a vibrant economic and cultural center.” , the Harris campaign said in a fact sheet posted on the campaign website.
Meanwhile, the vice president distanced herself this Wednesday from the controversy unleashed by President Joe Biden when it seemed calling Trump supporters “trash” in an interview. “I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for,” Harris said. The White House has come out to qualify the president’s words: “The president referred to the hateful rhetoric at the Madison Square Garden rally as garbage.”
The Democratic candidate has found an opportunity to stop Trump’s advance among Latino voters and improve her numbers. Just two weeks ago, a survey by New York Times It showed that Harris was losing support in this community, while the Republican managed to consolidate the positive trend that already began in 2016.
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