The controversial “floating garbage” joke about Puerto Rico made by a comedian at a rally for Republican President-elect Donald Trump during the final days before the election may not have had the negative effect on Trump’s support from Puerto Ricans that critics expected it would.
Despite the backlash from the quip made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe at a Trump rally in New York City roughly a week before Tuesday, Trump still won several Florida counties with the state’s largest concentration of Puerto Ricans, which he lost in both 2020 and 2016.
Osceola County, which is home to the largest concentration of Puerto Ricans in the Sunshine State based on census data, voted in favor of Trump on Tuesday night after voting Democrat in the last two elections in which Trump ran. Meanwhile, Miami-Dade and Hillsborough counties, two other districts with a significant population of Puerto Ricans that Trump lost in 2020 and 2016, also went for Trump this time around.
A demonstrator with a Puerto Rican flag attends a rally to protest against Donald Trump on June 18, 2019, in Orlando, Fla.
Trump not only garnered significant support in Florida’s counties with large Puerto Rican populations, the U.S. territory also chose a candidate who is a Trump ally as its next governor.
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Questions about how Trump would fare with the Latino electorate began swirling in the lead-up to Election Day after Hinchcliffe created a firestorm after appearing at a Trump rally and telling a joke that likened Puerto Rico to a “floating pile of garbage.
“Comments like these motivate us. Latinos aren’t a group to be underestimated, especially when it comes to our impact at the ballot box,” Ana Valdez, the CEO of a Latino nonprofit, told Newsweek ahead of Tuesday’s election. “We expect this weekend’s comments to drive even more turnout in Latino-heavy states like Arizona, Nevada and Florida.”
Then-President Trump visits Cavalry Chapel in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, on Oct. 3, 2017, nearly two weeks after Hurricane Maria rampaged through the region.
Meanwhile, an unidentified female voter of Puerto Rican descent spoke to CNN on Election Day and was asked how Hinchcliffe’s joke may have affected who she chose to support. The voter said the joke did not sit right with her but concluded that “at the end of the day” she wanted to vote for who will give her “a better life in the future,” regardless of such comments. The voter added that this was a decision she and her family came together on.
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Furthermore, other Puerto Rican voters in Pennsylvania told Fox News that Hinchcliffe’s joke did not impact their support for Trump either, even though one of their state lawmakers insisted it would have an “undeniable impact” on the election’s results.
Protesters demand the resignation of Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced during a demonstration, Jan. 20, 2020, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
In addition to the ground Trump gained among Puerto Rican voters this election, Puerto Rico’s four-way gubernatorial race ended with a victory by Trump ally Jenniffer González-Colón, who was previously the nonvoting delegate to Congress for the territory.
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Hispanics overall were significantly less supportive of 2024 Democrat presidential nominee Vice President Harris than they were of President Biden in 2020. While a majority of Hispanic voters supported Harris over Trump, the vice president’s eight-point margin of victory on Tuesday paled to Biden’s 33-point margin of victory over Trump in 2020.
