In one of the most notorious arenas in the world, Puerto Rico was insulted in the name of a political campaign.
Tony Hinchcliffe, an American comedian, infamously spoke about the island at a Donald Trump rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
“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.”
This type of rhetoric really damages communities. You would expect comments like this to ruin Trump’s chances with Latino constituents but for some reason, he received 45% of their vote.
It is astonishing to me that any Latino would consider voting for the man whose campaign is centered around hateful language towards them. Although Hinchcliffe made multiple racist jokes – he’s not the problem – our future president is.
Puerto Rico is a beautiful place, which is evident if you visit their rainforests and clear ocean water, and eat their amazing food. But you also will still see hurricane damage and experience multiple power outages because of the corrupt funding and government.
During Trump’s presidency, Puerto Rico faced one of the most devastating hurricanes in their history, Hurricane Maria. Instead of helping, Trump feuded with the former Mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulin Cruz, on Twitter.
Trump claimed to have helped the island, but Yulin Cruz disagreed.
“If he thinks the death of 3,000 people is a success, God help us all,” Yulin Cruz wrote on X, formally known as Twitter.
Although many Americans are unaware, Puerto Rico is a US territory – not just a vacation destination. They have been facing devastation for over 7 years, and our government does not support them efficiently.
Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens who pay federal taxes, but they can’t vote against the presidential candidate who hadn’t provided them with sufficient hurricane recovery resources or called their home a “floating island of garbage.”
The families of Puerto Rico have still not recovered from that devastating hurricane partially due to the way Trump disregarded them. Despite this, he treated this island like an inconvenience during his presidency and he continues to do so in his campaign.
I am a member of one of the thousands of families that firsthand experienced the president-elect’s neglect. He saw the disaster as something to joke about. In fact, he visited a relief distribution center and teasingly threw paper towels at them.
Now, we are just a month away from his second term knowing that he was able to win the presidency with a campaign based on hurtful and racist jokes. I don’t know if Puerto Ricans, or even Americans, are prepared for what’s coming next. If this doesn’t show you who our future president is, what will?
