The View co-host Sunny Hostin has delivered a passionate response to comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s racist comments about Puerto Rico at Donald Trump’s recent Madison Square Garden rally.
At the campaign event in Manhattan on Sunday, Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico “a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean” and made other offensive comments about Jewish and Black Americans.
Speaking on The View today (October 28), Hostin directly addressed the camera and said: “This Puerto Rican has something to say about the island I love, where my family is from.
“Puerto Rico is trash? We are Americans, Donald Trump. Americans. We voluntarily serve disproportionately high in the military, while you have bone spurs.
“And we vote. Pennsylvania is home to almost half a million Puerto Ricans. North Carolina, 115,000. Georgia, 100,000. Arizona, 64,000. Wisconsin, 61,000. Michigan, 43,000. Nevada, 27,000. We vote, Donald Trump. Trash?
“And by the way, Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, Bad Bunny, Luis Fonsi and Marc Anthony have over 345 million followers on Instagram. I think you only have 26 million, since you care so much about size.
“And we don’t like what was said about Ruerto Rico. And we know how to take the trash out, Donald Trump. Trash that has been collecting since 2016, and that’s you, Donald Trump. And finally, my fellow Puerto Ricans, trash collection day is November 5, 2024. Don’t forget it!”
Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz was also among those criticizing Hinchcliffe, branding the comedian a “jackwad” and recalling Trump’s response when Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017.
“Does anybody remember how [Trump] responded to [Hurricane] Maria in Puerto Rico? It was absolutely horrific,” Walz said during a Twitch livestream on Sunday. “Down there, insulting people. People in Puerto Rico are citizens, they pay taxes, they’re in the military.”
Hinchcliffe has since defended himself on X and hit back at Walz.
“These people have no sense of humor. 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,” the co-host of the Kill Tony podcast said in a Sunday X post.
“I love Puerto Rico and vacation there. I made fun of everyone… watch the whole set. I’m a comedian Tim… might be time to change your tampon.”
The tampon comment refers to a name Republicans have given Walz – “Tampon Tim” – because as Minnesota governor, he signed legislation mandating public schools in the state provide menstrual products in all bathrooms.
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez swiftly responded to Hinchliffe’s latest remarks: “Can’t get over this dude telling someone else to change tampons when he’s the one s****ing bricks in his Depends after realizing opening for a Trump rally and feeding red-meat racism alongside a throng of other bigots to a frothing crowd does, unironically, make you one of them.”
The New York Democrat added, speaking to Hinchcliffe directly via X: “You don’t ‘love Puerto Rico.’ You like drinking piña coladas. There’s a difference.”
Hinchcliffe has faced significant backlash in the wake of his performance and even the Trump campaign has distanced itself from his comments.
