Donald Trump’s rally on Sunday at New York’s Madison Square Garden wasn’t even over before it became clear that the opening comments by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe were going to be a problem for the Trump campaign.
Hinchcliffe made quite a few jokes about different ethnic groups, the sort of thing that might not raise eyebrows on the podcast circuit, at a roast, or in comedy clubs but do draw a very different sort of attention when they’re attached to a political campaign that’s trying to win votes. Most memorably, Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico “a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean.”
The Trump campaign, which doesn’t distance themselves from a lot of things, did just that with the comedian’s comments.
“This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” campaign spokesperson Danielle Alvarez told the press. And now, a report states that the campaign rejected other jokes that crossed other lines- indicating that they did, in fact, vet Hinchcliffe’s routine in advance, although the campaign denies they saw those specific jokes.
BREAKING: The Bulwark is reporting that according to 4 different Trump campaign sources the Trump campaign approved of these remarks by Tony Hinchcliffe last night.
Originally Tony had planned to call Kamala Harris a “c-nt” but the campaign pushed back on that.
Campaign… pic.twitter.com/zaO9edxan2
— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) October 28, 2024
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According to The Bulwark’s Marc A. Caputo, citing a campaign insider, Hinchcliffe had planned to include a joke that referred to Harris as the “c-word” for female genitalia, which the campaign flagged and rejected.
“Let’s say it was a red flag,” a campaign source told Caputo.
“Campaign staffers had asked all speakers to submit drafts of their speeches ahead of time—before they were loaded into the teleprompter—according to the aforementioned sources,” the report said. A staffer had noticed the offending joke on the TelePrompTer and asked Hinchcliffe to strike it.
The reporter’s sources stated that “the other objectionable lines” were ad-libbed.
Since Sunday, Democrats have been mobilizing in reaction to the joke, seeking to move votes in states with large Puerto Rican populations, especially Pennsylvania. Celebrities of Puerto Rican heritage, including Bad Bunny and Ricky Martin, have come forward with endorsements of Harris-Walz.
Meanwhile, should Hinchcliffe’s joke end up costing Trump in the election, he’ll likely be reminded of that by other comedians at roasts for the remainder of his career in comedy.
imo the comedian thing is sticking because racial depolarization and education polarization means that a lot of Black/latino voters aren’t offended by the same things that offended Black/latino activists, but you still can’t like, outright call them slurs without consequence.
— William B. Fuckley (@opinonhaver) October 28, 2024
It’s sorta hilarious that the Trump campaign stumbled ass backwards into getting a bunch of unexpected minority support, and all they had to do to keep it was not even NOT be racist, but just maintain their CURRENT LEVEL of racism, and instead they put on Bigot Coachella in NYC.
— Tyler Austin Harper (@Tyler_A_Harper) October 29, 2024
Photo courtesy of Political Tribune media library.
