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Puerto Rican leaders in Philadelphia slam Trump over Tony Hinchcliffe’s racist remarks

Puerto Rican leaders in Philadelphia slam Trump over Tony Hinchcliffe’s racist remarks

More than a dozen Latino community leaders gathered in Fairhill on Monday to denounce racist language directed at Puerto Ricans at former President Donald Trump’s Sunday rally.

The dominant message: “Our frustration and anger must come out in a vote,” said Reading Mayor Eddie Moran, who is Puerto Rican. He was accompanied by Philadelphia City Councilman Quetsi Lozada, State Rep. Danilo Burgos and representatives of several community organizations.

Organized by Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign, the meeting was a last-minute response to racist comments. comedian Tony Hinchcliffe talks about Puerto Rico — and Latinos more broadly — to rile up the crowd at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday.

“I don’t know if you know this, but there’s literally a floating island of trash in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” Hinchcliffe said to the lukewarm audience reaction.

The announcement has become something of a reverse rallying cry for the Harris campaign and her surrogates, who are seizing the moment to encourage Puerto Rican voters to go to the polls — especially in Philadelphia, which has one of the largest Puerto Rican populations in the states. second only to New York.

“I need every Boricua present here to take this rally clip and put it on your family WhatsApp and group chats. ESPECIALLY (sic) if you have relatives in these states.” US. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) published on X above a list of Puerto Rican populations in swing states, including Pennsylvania. Puerto Rican superstars Bad Bunny, Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin also posted a video of Harris discussing her island plan to their Instagram stories hours after Hinchcliffe’s comments.

The Trump campaign told reporters that Hinchcliffe’s joke “does not reflect the views of President Trump.”

Meanwhile, the comedian stood nearby: “I love Puerto Rico and vacation there. I made fun of everyone… watch the whole episode.” – Hinchcliffe. wrote on X.

That defense did not satisfy Latino community leaders in Philadelphia on Monday, who said they would “absolutely not” accept an apology from the Trump campaign over Hinchcliffe’s remarks.

As surrogates, “all of these statements that we make here are vetted by the campaign,” said Lozada, who represents the Latino communities of Hunting Park, Fairhill and Kensington within the 7th City Council District. “Don’t be deceived. This is what they agree with. The (Trump) campaign thinks we’re trash.”

Lozada went on to draw a sharp contrast between Harris: who visited the Puerto Rican establishment Freddy & Tony’s Sunday — with what she called “Trump’s record.” She quoted the former president’s comments about wanting exchange Puerto Rico for Greenland and a 2017 photo shoot with Trump threw paper towels among survivors of Hurricane Maria.

Sunday’s comments angered Losada and Moran so much that both politicians said they couldn’t sleep.

“This is Trump’s final message,” Lozada said, “that attacks our community for his own political gain.”