Puerto Rico "Floating Island of Garbage" Tony Hinchcliffe Controversy

Overview

Puerto Rico "Floating Island of Garbage" Tony Hinchcliffe Controversy, also known as Tony Hinchcliffe MSG Trump Rally Jokes Controversy, refers to several controversial comments and jokes made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe during a Trump Rally held at Madison Square Garden (MSG) in late October 2024, during which he compared the American territory of Puerto Rico to "floating garbage." The comments made during the Kill Tony podcast host's set faced significant backlash online, with Donald Trump's campaign issuing statements distancing themselves from the comments and various Latin-American celebrities, including Bad Bunny, Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin issuing statements in support of Vice President and Democratic Presidential nominee Kamala Harris soon after the segment aired.

Background

On October 27th, 2024, former President Donald Trump held a rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City during the last leg of his campaign days ahead of the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election. Kill Tony podcast host and stand-up comedian Tony Hinchcliffe performed at the event, delivering a controversial set that included jabs at several ethnic minorities.

At the 3:49 timestamp, Hinchcliffe calls Puerto Rico a "floating island of garbage," while the crowd appears to groan in response. Around the 2:45-minute timestamp, he says Latinos "love making babies," and then at the 5:17 timestamp, he makes a joke about "carving watermelons" with his Black friend.

A video of Hinchcliffe's speech was posted to the YouTube^[1] channel Forbes Breaking News, where it gathered over 500,000 views in a day.

Developments

On October 27th, 2024, VP Kamala Harris posted a video on Instagram^[2] promising to "invest in Puerto Rico's future so that Puerto Ricans can not just get by, but get ahead." The video gathered over 96,000 likes in a day.

Various Latin-American celebrities reposted the aforementioned video and issued their endorsement of Harris's campaign on October 27th, including Bad Bunny,^[3] Jennifer Lopez^[4] and Ricky Martin^[5] (shown below).

Also on October 27th, 2024, Tim Walz and AOC posted a video reacting to Hinchcliffe's statements, with Walz saying, "I want every Puerto Rican in Philadelphia and Reading and across the country to see this clip."

Hinchcliffe^[6] quoted the video with his rebuttal, saying, "These people have no sense of humor," adding, "I love Puerto Rico and vacation there." The post gathered over 100,000 likes in a day.

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… https://t.co/VFxHRcdv5k

— Tony Hinchcliffe (@TonyHinchcliffe) October 27, 2024

Despite Hinchcliffe doubling down on his statements, Trump Senior Adviser Danielle Alvarez issued a statement denouncing his comments on October 27th, saying, "This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign."^[7]

Online Reactions

Tony Hinchcliffe received criticism and support for his statements about Puerto Rico on October 27th, 2024, with Redditor /u/ExactlySorta's post to /r/WhitePeopleTwitter^[8] gathering over 30,000 upvotes in a day and /u/Odlavso's post on /r/PublicFreakout gathering over 13,000 upvotes in a day.^[9]

Later on October 27th, Redditor /u/f-Z3R0x1×1×1 posted a Disaster Girl meme to /r/AdviceAnimals, ^[10] gathering over 10,000 upvotes in a day.

Also on October 27th, 2024, X^[11] user @BeaneaterB wrote, "I’m a huge Tony Hinchcliffe fan. I’ve lost some respect for Tony today… You’re no longer just telling jokes in a club. You’re telling racist jokes to an arena full of people there to be influenced politically." The post gathered over 13,000 likes in a day.

Search Interest

External References