Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who called Puerto Rico "a floating island of garbage" during President-elect Donald Trump's rally at New York City's Madison Square Garden last month, is apologizing “to absolutely nobody."
Hinchcliffe’s remarks at the rally quickly ignited a media uproar and bipartisan criticism, with some speculating that the controversy might hurt Trump’s support among Puerto Rican communities in key battleground states. However, Trump ultimately gained traction with Latino voters on Election Day, securing all seven swing states.
Speaking on his Kill Tony podcast—the episode was recorded the day after the rally but released this week—Hinchcliffe said the set was “about free speech” and claimed he is "under attack" by critics, including celebrities and social media users, who have decried his joke as racist.
He said:
"I am currently under attack ... I referenced Puerto Rico, which currently has a landfill problem in which all of their landfills are filled to the brim. I guess I'm the only person that knew about this, unfortunately."
“I love Puerto Ricans, they’re very smart people. They’re smart, they’re street smart, and they’re smart enough to know when they’re being used as political fodder. And right now that is happening. And, uh, I apologize to absolutely nobody."
“Not to the Puerto Ricans, not to the whites, not to the Blacks, not to the Palestinians, not to the Jews, and not to my own mother, who I made fun of during the set."
"Nobody clipped that. No headlines about me making fun of my own mother."
Hinchcliffe added that “perhaps that venue at that time wasn’t the best f**king place to do this set at," but still doubled down:
“To the mainstream media and to everybody trying to slander me online: That’s what I do, I go hard, and that’s never going to change."
You can hear what he said in the video below.
He was harshly criticized.
Despite Trump's win, Hinchcliffe’s comments have reignited criticism of Trump’s own response to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, specifically when he tossed paper towels to Puerto Ricans at a relief center in the disaster-stricken territory.
Trump defended the incident, insisting the crowd was “screaming and loving everything” about his appearance including the "beautiful, soft towels."
This lay in stark contrast to proposals made by Vice President Kamala Harris, who in the last days of her campaign reiterated that she—were she to win the election—would "create a new Puerto Rico Opportunity Economy Task Force, where the federal government will work with the private sector, with nonprofits and community leaders to foster economic growth and create thousands of new, good-paying jobs in Puerto Rico, including for our young people."
