Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe's now infamous joke about Puerto Rico at Sunday's trump rally in Madison Square Garden continues to generate condemnations across the political spectrum even as the president himself tried to minimize its importance on Tuesday. Different figures ranging Florida senator Rick Scott to Puerto Rico's GOP chairman to Bad Bunny have come out to criticize the comments, labelling it everything from "not funny" to "red-meat racism."
Former GOP presidential candidate Nikky Haley joined the fray on Tuesday during an interview with Bret Baier at Fox News. First off, she questioned why Hinchcliffe was invited to the event in the first place:
"I think it's harmful. I mean, look, there's no reason to have a comedian at an election campaign event that had so much energy and so many good issues. Why have a comedian that separates people? This is not people being sensitive."
Haley then addressed the comments per se, pointing out to the fact that Republicans should be pushing for support from Puerto Ricans, not alienating them:
"I mean, Puerto Ricans, that's personal for them. They take that personally. So, if they were right to denounce the comedian, they need to go and tell Puerto Ricans how much you know they do value them. They need to tell Latinos that."
The former South Carolina governor seemed to also imply that the incident is part of a larger pattern by Trump's' campaign towards an "overly masculine" tone that risks alienating key groups such as women:
"This is not a time to have anyone criticize Puerto Rico or Latinos. This is not a time for them to get overly masculine with this romance thing that they've got going. Fifty-three percent of the electorate are women. Women will vote. They care about how they're being talked to, and they care about the issues. They need to remember that this is a time of discipline, and this is a time of addition."
Haley also doubled down on this idea by referring to the campaign's language as "bro romance" and "masculinity stuff" that "borders on edgy."
Although Haley has not actively campaigned for Trump, she stated she remains available to assist if called upon:
"They're very aware that we're on standby. They know that we would be there to help. I've helped with some fundraising letters and text messages and those types of things, so we've done that. It is their campaign's decision on what he needs, and these last final days, it does not bother me at all"
"We're on the same team. It does not bother me at all. I think they need to do what they need to do to get across the finish line."
— Amerinder Khatra (@AmerinderKhatra) October 29, 2024
Gov. Nikki Haley
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
Fox News - Special Report with Bret Baier
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