Thursday, October 31, 2024

PUERTO RICANS PISSED OFF

'Fuera!' Latinos protest Trump in battleground Pennsylvania city

Agence France-Presse
October 30, 2024

Supporters of US Vice President Kamala Harris, including Puerto Rican Americans, protested near a Donald Trump rally in Allentown, a minority-majority city in Pennsylvania (SAMUEL CORUM/AFP)

The chants Tuesday in the largely Hispanic Pennsylvania city of Allentown came from a small but proud and passionate group of protesters outside Donald Trump's latest campaign rally: "Immigrants make America great!"

The refrain -- a play on Trump's "Make American Great Again" slogan -- along with pointed calls of "Trump, fuera!" (Trump, go away) reflect mounting anger among Latinos, in particular those from Puerto Rico, after a comedian who spoke at last weekend's Trump rally in New York likened the US island territory to a pile of garbage.

"Latinos are very disgusted by this," 60-year-old clerk Ivet Figueroa, raised in working-class Allentown by Puerto Rican parents, told AFP as some 50 protesters gathered near the long line of Trump supporters waiting to enter the arena for the former president's speech.

"We are citizens, and he's referring to us that way?" she added. "How dare him!"

The shock remarks at Sunday's Madison Square Garden rally from the comic who called Puerto Rico "a floating island of garbage" have reverberated across the American voter landscape with just a week before Election Day on November 5.

And in a race going down to the wire, the biggest battleground state of all is a toss-up, polls show. A shift of just a few thousand votes could tilt Pennsylvania either to Democrat Kamala Harris or Trump.

Which makes comedian Tony Hinchcliffe's remarks all the more startling.

They have galvanized Puerto Rican voters -- not those on the island, who cannot vote in US presidential elections, but the million-plus so-called "Boricuas" who reside in the country's 50 states, notably the seven battleground states likely to determine the result of the race between Trump and Harris.

- 'Changing their minds' -

Pennsylvania is home to more than 400,000 Puerto Ricans, and get-out-the-vote organizers have already said they see evidence that the controversy is turning Latinos against the Republican former president, even as Trump claims he has been making inroads with the traditionally Democratic-leaning bloc.

"We have heard people actually changing their minds, who are Republicans and now because of this are going to vote for Kamala," said Armando Jimenez, a deputy organizing director for Make the Road Action Pennsylvania.

Tuesday's protest was not the flashpoint it could have been. Many Puerto Ricans stayed home out of fear or nerves, and road closures suppressed the protest attendance, Jimenez argued. It was also a weekday, when people were at work.

But the demonstration -- with Trump supporters occasionally trying to shout down protesters as they marched toward the venue -- highlighted the potential influence of a scorned voter demographic.

"We're the largest-growing voting bloc in the whole country, so anything can really sway the election if we continue to be attacked," Jimenez said.

For Puerto Rican Michelle Fernandez, a devout Trump supporter standing in line at the rally, the comedian's remarks were water off a duck's back.

"It didn't touch a nerve with me," the 54-year-old told AFP alongside her husband, both of whom held "Boricuas con Trump" placards, explaining that the remark "didn't come out of Trump's mouth."

"The comment was ugly, but the comment is not the deciding choice for me," Fernandez, a private sector worker, told AFP. More important to her: undocumented immigration, crime, and the US economy.

While she is more than ready to see a woman win the White House, Harris "has shown no leadership at all in my eye."

As Garbage-gate raged, Trump allies warmed up the arena crowd before the headliner arrived. They included Puerto Ricans like Tim Ramos, a former mayoral candidate in Allentown.

The current mayor, Democrat Matthew Tuerk, was outside at the protest, venting over Hinchcliffe's garbage remark.

"It's an insult to the people here in Allentown!" he told dozens of protesters.


"They're making a closing argument of grievances, about 'the enemy within,'" he said, paraphrasing Trump's own provocative words about Americans he perceives as evil.

"You know who he means? Us. He's talking about us."

Nearby a lone man held up a sign: "Make Racism Shameful Again."


Figueroa, the Allentown native, held her own handmade sign featuring an image of a garbage can.

"Nov 5 is trash day," the sign read. "Let's put you where you belong."


Singer Nicky Jam yanks Trump endorsement over 'island of garbage' Puerto Rico joke

Sarah K. Burris
October 30, 2024 
RAW STORY


Reggaeton artist Nicky Jam pulled his endorsement of former President Donald Trump on Wednesday after a comedian at his Madison Square Garden rally called Puerto Rico a "floating island of garbage."

Nicky Jam, whose father is Puerto Rican, renounced his support for Trump in an Instagram video post, CBS News political campaign reporter Nidia Cavazos was among the first to announce.

"The reggaeton star said he once supported Trump with the economy being top of mind," Cavazos wrote, "but will not tolerate disrespect toward Puerto Rico.

In the video, Jam addressed his 43.5 million followers in Spanish.


MSNBC reported that Jam said “never in his life” did he think “a comedian would appear to criticize and talk badly about my [Puerto Rico]. That’s why I’m renouncing my support for Donald Trump and stepping away from any political conversation. Puerto Rico deserves respect.”

His caption for the video was of the flag of Puerto Rico.

The Reggaeton star reportedly scrubbed his presidential endorsement off social media in September after former President Donald Trump mistakenly introduced the singer as "hot" and used the pronoun "she."

Now, Jam is pulling the endorsement entirely.


'They are switching their vote!' Analyst says music star's decision is a fiasco for Trump

Matthew Chapman
October 30, 2024 
RAW STORY

Donald Trump (KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP)

Democratic strategist Maria Cardona warned longtime Trump insider Matt Mowers on CNN to ignore the Puerto Rican influencers abandoning former President Donald Trump at his own peril.


The latest to do so is Reggaeton superstar Nicky Jam, who on Wednesday walked back his endorsement of Trump over a racist comedy routine at Trump's Madison Square Garden rally in which a comedian called Puerto Rico a "floating island of garbage." Jam's endorsement has already faced questions after he scrubbed it off social media last month when Trump mistakenly thought he was a woman and called him "hot."

"Obviously, he's not a household name, but in some communities, he's a very popular artist who means a lot," said CNN anchor Boris Sanchez. "What's the significance of him coming out now and withdrawing his endorsement of Donald Trump?"

Mowers insisted that it wouldn't do very much.

"I get it. Six days out from election, Democrats are going to try to spin whatever they can to try to say, 'Look, it was really about the Puerto Rican community in Pennsylvania' ... if you look at the vast majority of polling, voters are not undecided right now and yes, maybe there's going to be one or two people who will flip. I guarantee if we found a couple of anecdotes, we could find some on the other side, at the end of the day though this is a very baked-in electorate, voters have made up their minds. They're not going to change it in the final six days, regardless of what you say."

Indeed, he added, "I think President Biden's comments last night calling half of Americans garbage is going to resonate ... where they could be more motivated to show up as a result of the fact that they feel like they were attacked by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris."

Cardona told him that was wishful thinking.

"What I'm hearing from what Nicky Jam did, and from what I'm hearing what voters are saying, they are switching their votes," she said. "In Pennsylvania, 500,000 Puertorriqueños, more in the battleground states. In Nevada, John King had a piece about Latinos, not Puertorriqueños, Latinos who were saying, 'That didn't just p--- off Puertorriqueños, it p---ed the Latino community off, because you're talking about us.' And people are calling into my show, Latino DJ, saying they are switching their vote. So if you think that that has no effect, keep thinking that. We'll talk on Tuesday."

Watch the video below or at the link here


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