When comedian Tony Hinchcliffe made his now-infamous racist joke at Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally—“There’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now, I think it’s called Puerto Rico”—he “picked on the wrong people,” the actor Rosie Perez told the Daily Beast.
“Puerto Ricans have contributed a lot to this country, and one thing is that we don’t take c**p,” Perez said. “We just don’t. Everybody knows that about us. Conservative, liberal, moderate, whatever—our pride comes first.”
Hinchcliffe’s joke, and the tone and content of the rally last Sunday, continues to create waves of controversy.
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Perez was “shocked” to hear Hinchcliffe’s words, as well as the rest of the event’s vituperative, freely expressed bigotry. “It was supposed to be a political rally, so I thought there was going to be a certain decorum on stage,” Perez said. “We can have our policy differences, but when you bring in stuff like that it changes the ballgame.
“I honestly was outraged and hurt,” she added. “People don’t talk about how racism hurts, and I think that’s why you’re seeing such a huge backlash. But also there’s also a huge backlash because that comedian picked on the wrong people. People say Trump didn’t say it. Well, he sure did not denounce it.” (Trump has said he did not know Hinchcliffe, and that the MSG rally was a “lovefest.”)
Perez said Trump “could have had his John McCain moment,” referring to the moment in the 2008 presidential campaign when McCain challenged a woman in a town hall who was disparaging Barack Obama. “He literally took the microphone away from her and said, ‘No, he’s a decent family man.’”
Perez notes that the hate on the MSG stage was not solely directed at Puerto Ricans. “There were disparaging remarks about African Americans, Jewish people and Palestinians and women. Trump had such an opportunity and he blew it, and now he’s trying to capitalize on Joe Biden’s ‘garbage’ misstep. But he can’t, because Biden came out and immediately corrected himself. Trump didn’t.
“When Kamala (Harris) says ‘We’re not going back,’ to me it means not going back to hating each other and tearing this nation apart over ideology. It’s supposed to be over policy. There’s a difference, people. It’s so hurtful. I hope people wake up, because I mean, how many groups were offended during that rally? Don’t think you may not be next.”
Perez said. “I have family members who are Trump supporters. It was, like, radio silence after the rally. Usually, they come back and say something to me, ‘Yeah, but what about Kamala,’ what about this, what about that. After Madison Square Garden there was nothing for three days straight. It was pretty incredible.”
The rally, Perez said, had clearly “struck a nerve. The radio silence for three days spoke volumes for me.”
There were other Trump supporters in Perez’s family who were swifter in their response—“I’m still Republican but I’m not garbage,” as she sums up their response. “They were very upset that Trump didn’t come out on stage and say, ‘Hold it, hold it, hold it that’s not cool.’ One thing about Puerto Rican people: you can knock us down, but we’ll get right back up each and every time. I have two family members who were going to vote for him and have changed their minds after these comments.”
Perez said she had told one of her pro-Trump family members, “Listen, if you want to still vote for this person, that’s your right. But could you at least admit what happened at Madison Square Garden wasn’t right. Can you at least give me that?” she laughed. “If Megyn Kelly can say it and Nikki Haley and even Rick Scott can, come on! As a Puerto Rican can’t you even f---ing say that?’”
Perez noted that she was not going to be at “the polls with each individual,” so could not evaluate how much of an impact the rally would have on other pro-Trump family members and voters, but “I would say, as Americans—which Puerto Ricans are—I think it hit in a really, really personal way as well, because it speaks about the character of a person.
“I’m not talking about that Tony guy (Hinchcliffe). I’m talking about the person who’s trying to lead this country. I think that some people’s minds are already made up and they’ll still vote for Trump. Theres probably a small percentage who will say ‘You know what, that’s it, that’s the final straw.’”
Perez said she remained in an ongoing debate with her pro-Trump family members.
“They’re like, ‘I’m still gonna ride with him.’ I’m like, ‘Wow, really?’ It’s very disappointing. They say voting for Trump is about the economy, and I say, ‘Have you read the news lately? The economy’s’ doing really well.’
“They say, ‘Well, inflation is sky high.’ I say, ‘No, it actually came down. What are you doing?’ We are ahead of all the major countries in the world. The United States has survived and thrived after the worst pandemic of our lifetimes. Those are just facts. France is suffering. The U.K. is suffering. Germany is suffering. Alright, we can do better, but we’re doing alright.”
Her pro-Trump family members also say they are voting for him because of the issue of immigration. “Well, I agree with you,” Perez said of her response to them. “I don’t think the Biden administration handled that well, but at least they admitted their mistake and tried to correct it. Trump never admits a mistake. He never admits he is wrong. That attests to his character.”
Perez said she also listened to the warnings of those who used to work under Trump, like retired Marine Corps general John Kelly, who recently called him a “fascist”—and the testimonies of many others.
“You have to listen to people who used to work for Trump, and used to honestly believe in him. I don’t believe they are all racists. I think people really believe in this man’s mission. Now they’re coming out of the woodwork to say ‘Stop, don’t vote for him. Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!’”
Of Trump himself, Perez said, “I just don’t think he’s a of good character. I really don’t. I don’t know this man personally, but my family members who did support him initially thought he really did want to do something good for the country. But time and time again he’s proven that he’s not a good person, and after Jan. 6 I told my family, ‘You have no arguments. It’s done—because we had an insurrection. It’s just really, really scary.”
Perez emphasized that she sees herself as a moderate, rather than a liberal.
“I’m not a liberal by far. Some of my liberal friends want me to go hard on the attack. I tell them I have seen the disappointment and hurt of family members and friends who once supported Trump. I don’t want to go hard, I just want them to open their eyes and see for themselves. I just want to talk about policy and character. I’m tired of it. I don’t want to fight with my family. I love my family. I love my friends. We just differ.”
Is she voting Harris?
“Oh yes, I have made that clear.”
Perez said that when deciding who to vote for, people—Puerto Rican or not—should see that “it’s not just about what happened at Madison Square Garden. That was just a tipping point. It is about the totality of Trump’s influence since 2016. Vote with your conscience, vote with your heart, and vote back the character of what it means to be American. We used to have this image of people with character and dignity. Let’s vote for that again. We can continue to agree and disagree, but let’s not continue to hate each other. Its f---ing exhausting, and its f---ing hurtful.
“When I have family members calling and crying to me and saying, ‘Please don’t think I don’t love Puerto Rico because I’m still going to vote for him’—what the hell is going on? ‘Please, I still love you,’ they say. I say, ‘I still love you too. I’m disappointed, but I still love you too. Come over on Monday, because I’m going to try and keep trying to change your mind.’” Perez laughed softly.
Is she concerned about the future of the country should Trump win?
“Yes, I’m worried,” Perez said. “But the good thing about the country is that we have a Constitution, we have a democracy, and I hope and pray that we can rely on that—and that if he happens to win, which I don’t think he will, we’ll just buckle up and then after four more years, it’s gone, he’s gone. And I think the Republican party would be happy too. I’m not partisan. I don’t believe in the bulls--t dogma of tearing us apart, I don’t. But what’s right is right and what’s wrong is wrong—and that should stand for something.”
Perez said she remained determined, within her family and friendship circles, to “keep the dialogue open. I spoke to one of my family members today, and that family member just was quiet on the phone. I ended the call by saying, ‘I love you and after Tuesday you’ll still be my relative, and we’ll still fight, and we’ll still laugh and we’ll still love each other. We cannot let this person destroy us. You’ve given that person too much power.’”
Perez paused. “I just hope that whatever happens that we start to f---ing heal, you know.”
