Don’t Mess with Puerto Rico: How a Joke May Cost Trump PA

Puerto Ricans furiously reacted to Tony Hinchliffe’s joke at Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden that equated Puerto Rico with a floating island of trash. Politico reports that one Allentown Democrat said the fury is “spreading like wildfire through the community.”  Latino elected officials from Reading to Philadelphia condemned the remarks.

As an indication of how toxic the issue has become, a Republican candidate for a state house seat in Allentown also condemned the joke. The leader of the Republican Party in Puerto Rico demanded that Trump himself apologize, an indication of how deeply offended Puerto Ricans are over the issue.

Politico quoted a community leader in Allentown who said: “I’m not a Republican, I’m not a Democrat, I’m independent … But at this point, it’s not about political, partisan issues. It is about the respect and honor our Puerto Ricans and Latinos deserved as citizens and legal residents of this country, that’s the issue.”

Puerto Ricans have an unusual relationship with the United States; after 126 years they remain a territory without the right to vote for federal officeholders. Unlike residents of most states, their loyalty to their Commonwealth, and its unique culture, is akin to nationalism. That pride, and the legacy of disrespect that Donald Trump showed the island after Hurricane Maria, is what is fueling the anger of the almost 5 million Boricuas living on the mainland.

There are almost 600,000 Latinos in Pennsylvania, and approximately 450,000 are Puerto Rican. A recent poll has Trump winning 34% of Hispanic voters, a lower proportion than in many battleground states. The joke may well provide a reason to vote for a group that is predominantly young, working class, and disenchanted with both political parties. The working poor tend to be low propensity voters, though if they are engaged, or enraged, they may well turn out to vote. These voters tend to tune into the election late, and trust social influencers over the news media. 

They will be reminded of the insult by famous Puerto Ricans. Bad Bunny, the reggaetón superstar, endorsed Kamala Harris. “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 says in the video, which Bad Bunny reshared multiple times with a focus on Trump. “He abandoned the island, tried to block aid after back-to-back devastating hurricanes and offered nothing more than paper towels and insults.”  The message was sent out to his 45 million Instagram followers. 

Ricky Martin posted “this is what they think of us.”  Performers from Jennifer Lopez to Luis Fonsi reacted in similar fashion. CBS quotes U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: "If you're in Reading, if you're in Philly, look at that trash … What is trash is people actually just thinking of other human beings that way."

Anat Shenker-Osorio, a Democratic strategist, argues that the MAGA movement is fueled by a steady diet of outrage, and Trump’s campaign may well have miscalculated how the rally would land with Latinos and suburban women, who are key voters in Pennsylvania.  Former GOP strategist Mike Madrid argues that if the issue moves 2% more Puerto Ricans to vote, or to shift from Trump to Harris, the state swings solidly behind Harris. For suburban women, Madrid argues that: “The greater numerical impact beyond Puerto Rican or Latino voters is with college-educated white Republican voters, specifically women, who have had a very uneasy relationship with the party in the Trump era. They are looking for any basic reason to leave, and this really gives them the perfect one to do it.”

As luck would have it, the Harris campaign was releasing its plan for Puerto Rico at roughly the same time as the MSG rally. Harris seeks to create a contrast with Trump, saying that she respects the island and its hard-working, resilient people, while Trump insults them. She puts forward a variety of policy goals, such as allowing the island to enjoy the level of funding for Medicare, Medicaid, and other programs as states. This would reverse decades of deliberate underfunding of anti-poverty programs such as food assistance. Puerto Ricans would be able to access tax credits for buying solar panels, and the federal government would reduce bureaucratic hurdles to build a cleaner and a more resilient electrical grid. Given how fragile, unreliable, and expensive electricity is on the island, any of these would offer welcome relief to Boricuas.

Gaffes typically become meaningful when they crystallize an opinion about a candidate.  Think of Mike Dukakis and his tank ride, or Mitt Romney’s video saying that half of Americans were “takers.”  Of course, in our fractured media universe, there’s not a single moment that defines a candidate for most voters. But for many Puerto Rican voters, and others, that moment came last Sunday.