Puerto Rico comments from speaker at Trump rally draw criticism while Harris’ plan for the island gets Bad Bunny endorsement

With nine days until Election Day, Puerto Rico has been thrust into the spotlight by both campaigns. Vice President Harris unveiled a plan to assist the island — leading to an endorsement from Bad Bunny — while Puerto Rico was referred to as “a floating island of garbage” by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who spoke at a rally for former President Donald Trump in New York City. 

In an effort to court Puerto Rican voters in the U.S. mainland, Harris on Sunday posted a video on her social media platforms pledging to create a Puerto Rican task force to create jobs, cut red tape to ensure disaster recovery funds are used quickly and efficiently and work with leaders across the island to ensure Puerto Ricans have access to reliable and affordable electricity. 

Reggaeton musician and singer Bad Bunny, a global superstar from Puerto Rico, shared the vice president’s video on his Instagram account with his 45 million followers and later posted a clipped portion of the video in which Harris slammed Trump for his response to Hurricane Maria, which devastated the island in 2017. 

“I will never forget what Donald Trump did and what he did not do when Puerto Rico needed a caring and a competent leader,” Harris said in the video. “He abandoned the island, tried to block aid after back-to-back devastating hurricanes, and offered nothing more than paper towels and insults.”

In 2017, Trump visited the island to survey damage after Hurricane Maria struck as a major Category 4 storm. While visiting with survivors, the former president at one point threw paper towels into the crowd when distributing supplies, a move that was criticized as callous amid widespread frustration over the federal response to the hurricane that left much of the island without power and food. 

A source close to Bad Bunny confirmed to CBS News that the Instagram post represents an endorsement of the vice president, breaking from Bad Bunny’s longstanding tradition of not weighing in on national politics. It’s a coveted endorsement, carrying weight that both political parties have long sought to strengthen inroads with Latino voters, given Bad Bunny’s global popularity. 

Moments before Bad Bunny’s endorsement, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe targeted Puerto Rico during a set of disparaging jokes while speaking at a Trump rally in Madison Square Garden. 

“I don’t know if you guys know this, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now,” Hinchcliffe said. “I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”

Trump senior advisor Danielle Alvarez told CBS News, “This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” adding that the jokes were not reviewed or pre-approved by the campaign. 

Hinchcliffe’s remarks, which also included offensive jokes about Black people and Latinos, were met with swift backlash, with several celebrities coming out in defense of Puerto Rico and Latinos in the U.S. and voicing their support for Harris’ plan for the island. Among those who weighed in were Jennifer Lopez, Ariana DeBose and Ricky Martin. Martin, with over 18  million followers, took to Instagram and posted, “Puerto Rico, this is what they think of us, vote for Kamala Harris.”

Several Democratic and Republican politicians were also among those to denounce Hinchcliffe’s swipe at Puerto Ricans, who make up a crucial voting group.

Harris’ running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, said during a livestream with Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, “There are hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans across battleground states. They need to vote.”

Ocasio-Cortez agreed with Walz and directed her comments toward Puerto Ricans in the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania. “If you’re in Reading, if you’re in Philly, look at that trash,” Ocasio-Cortez said, referring to Hinchcliffe’s joke. “What is trash is people actually just thinking of other human beings that way.”

Pennsylvania is home to over 579,000 eligible Latino voters, according to the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute, with roughly 50% residing in the “222 Corridor” — a stretch of small cities west and north of Philadelphia including Reading, Allentown and Bethlehem.

Both campaigns have been actively courting Puerto Rican voters in Pennsylvania. Trump and his surrogates have made multiple stops in the “222 corridor.”     

With Trump winning the Keystone State in 2016 by 44,000 votes and President Biden taking it by 81,000 in 2020, slim margins are again expected to determine the candidate who gets Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes.

The comments at the rally likely will not help Trump’s efforts gain support from the state’s Latino voters.      

Harris on Sunday spoke directly to Latino voters while visiting a local Puerto Rican restaurant in Philadelphia. “When I was in the Senate, knowing Puerto Rico doesn’t have a senator, I always felt a need and an obligation to do what I could as a senator to make sure that Puerto Rico’s needs were met,” Harris said. 

Harris campaign spokesperson Kevin Muñoz said Sunday in a statement, “A reminder: Pennsylvania is home to more than 1 million Latinos who are primarily of Puerto Rican backgrounds, and today, Vice President Harris campaigned in the heart of Philadelphia’s Puerto Rican community talking not just about her vision for the island, but how she will lower costs and create opportunity in their communities on the mainland.”

On Tuesday, Trump is expected to campaign in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where Latinos make up 54% of the population, the majority being of Puerto Rican descent.

Republican Florida Senator Rick Scott, an ally of Trump’s, also denounced Hinchcliffe’s comments.

“This joke bombed for a reason. It’s not funny and it’s not true,” Scott said. “Puerto Ricans are amazing people and amazing Americans! I’ve been to the island many times. It’s a beautiful place. Everyone should visit! I will always do whatever I can to help any Puerto Rican in Florida or on the island.”

Republican Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar called the comments “racist.”

Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón, a Republican running for governor of the island, said the comments were “despicable, inappropriate and disgusting.”

contributed to this report.