Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump‘s rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday opened up with comedian Tony Hinchcliffe—of the comedy podcast Kill Tony—calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage,” among other xenophobic and prejudiced punchlines. The ’quip' did not appear to land with the crowd in attendance.
Hinchcliffe continued by deploying a crass sexual slur for Latino immigrants—joking that they should all leave the country.
“These Latinos, they love making babies, too, just know that. They do. They do. There’s no pulling out,” he said. “They don’t do that. They come inside, just like they did to our country.”
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He also delved into racist stereotypes for Black people and played into antisemitic tropes when addressing the Gaza-Israel war during a relatively short set.
HuffPost reporter Christopher Mathias, among those in attendance, labeled it “shockingly racist even for a Trump rally.”
Hinchcliffe justified the contents of his set by saying: “Republicans are the party with a good sense of humor.”
Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, who is Puerto Rican herself, punched back at the comments Sunday afternoon during a live-stream event with her party’s vice presidential nominee, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
“When you have some a-hole calling Puerto Rico ‘floating garbage,’ know that that’s what they think about you,” she said. “It’s what they think about anyone who makes less money than them.”
Hinchcliffe later lashed out at the pair in a post on X, saying that he was simply doing comedy—while claiming that he loves Puerto Rico because he vacations there.
“These people have no sense of humor,” he wrote. “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."
Kill Tony, Hinchcliffe’s comedy show with 1.8 million Youtube subscribers, features new and established comedians. Jokes commonly venture off into the raunchy side, where racist and sexist humor are regular.
“Normally I don‘t make my political beliefs a known thing,” Hinchcliffe said at the rally. “It‘s divisive for a comedian to do that. But, just know I sleep well at night knowing who I’m voting for.”
“It‘s just obvious to me who the right candidate is,” Hinchcliffe continued. He then called Trump’s shot to the ear “the best place to get shot.”
