Democratic New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slammed a MAGA comedian who made a racist joke at the expense of Latinos.
On Sunday night, Tony Hinchcliffe, known for roasting celebrities on Comedy Central and for being a frequent guest on the Joe Rogan Experience, spoke at a rally for Republican candidate Donald Trump held in New York's Madison Square Garden.
The comment that sparked backlash was when the 40-year-old comedian referred to the commonwealth of Puerto Rico as "a floating island of garbage."
He also said:
“These Latinos, they love making babies too. Just know that. They do. They do."
Hinchcliffe added:
“There’s no pulling out. They don’t do that. They come inside. Just like they did to our country.”
The campaign account for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris shared a video of AOC and Harris' running mate Tim Walz watching the livestream of the rally and responding to the beleaguered podcaster's remarks.
Walz called him an "a-hole" and a “jackwad.”
Trump's campaign immediately went into damage control mode to mitigate the controversy.
Senior Adviser Danielle Alvarez clarified to multiple media outlets that Hinchcliffe's Puerto Rico joke "does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign."
However, the comedian doubled down on his comments.
He criticized the pushback from Trump's political opponents, saying:
"These people have no sense of humor."
"Wild that a vice presidential candidate would take time out of his 'busy schedule' to analyze a joke taken out of context to make it seem racist."
"I love Puerto Rico and vacation there. I made fun of everyone…watch the whole set."
"I’m a comedian Tim…might be time to change your tampon," said Hinchcliffe, referencing the "Tampon Tim" dig made by Republicans mocking Walz's signing of a Minnesota bill that provided menstrual products for free in school restrooms.
Ocasio-Cortez, who is of Puerto Rican descent, clapped back at Hinchcliffe and reminded him of Trump's lack of a response to the hurricanes that ravaged the U.S. territory during his administration.
"You’re opening for Trump by calling Puerto Rico a floating pile of garbage. 4,000+ Puerto Ricans died under him," wrote the Congresswoman.
AOC added:
"This isn’t the comedy store. You’re using your set to boost neo-Nazis like MTG & stripping women’s rights to the Stone Age."
"Your 'sense of humor' doesn’t change that."
She clarified in the comments that his so-called humor was actually validating Trump's harmful rhetoric.
"And before people try to act like this is some PC overly sensitive nonsense, I’ve been to Kill Tony shows. I’m from the Bronx. I don’t give a sh*t about crude humor."
"But don’t pretend that your support for Trump is a joke. Own it. You doing a set to support him. That’s a choice," she said.
On Mondya's MSNBC news broadcast, AOC explained that Trump's team was in damage control mode after failed recent attempts at persuading undecided voters from swing states to vote for Trump.
"Right now the Trump campaign is scrambling," said AOC before identifying the real culprit behind the GOP's latest debacle in the election.
"They're trying to blame this rhetoric about Puerto Rico on a so-called comedian. This is not a comedian. This is the Trump campaign."
"They invited this rhetoric on their stage for a reason. It was a chorus of speakers on that campaign for a reason."
"It was vetted. They knew exactly who was going to say what before they went on."
"They're just realizing they might've made a big error by saying out loud what they're thinking," she added.
Social media users weren't fooled by Republicans passing Hinchcliffe's remarks off as "comedy."
Users also noted Republicans are continuing to botch Trump's campaign.
Following Hinchcliffe's "floating island of garbage" comment at the rally, Puerto Rican artist Luis Fonsi, known for singing the hit song “Despacito,” wrote on Instagram that “going down this racist path ain’t it.”
He added:
“We are not OK with this constant hate. It’s been abundantly clear that these people have no respect for us.”
Singer Ricky Martin, who is also Puerto Rican and previously endorsed Harris, was also offended by Hinchcliffe's remark and said on Instagram of Republicans, “That’s what they think of us."
You can watch Hinchcliffe's full speech at Sunday's rally here.
- YouTubeyoutu.be
