Democrats stepped up their attacks on Donald Trump on Monday, a day after a comedian opening a rally for the former president called Puerto Rico a 鈥渇loating island of garbage,鈥 a comment that drew wide condemnation and highlighted the rising power of a key Latino group in the swing state of Pennsylvania.
Vice President Kamala Harris described Trump鈥檚 rally Sunday at Madison Square Garden as 鈥渕ore vivid than usual鈥 and said he 鈥渇ans the fuel of hate鈥 before she flew to Michigan for a campaign event. President Joe Biden called the rally 鈥渟imply embarrassing.鈥 In a rare move late Sunday, the Trump campaign distanced itself from the remarks on Puerto Rico made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe.
鈥淭he garbage he spoke about is polluting our elections and confirming just how little Donald Trump cares about Latinos specifically, about our Puerto Rican community,鈥 Eddie Moran, mayor of Reading, said at a news conference with other Puerto Rican officials.
With just over a week before Election Day, the fallout underscores the importance of Pennsylvania's 19 electoral votes and the last-minute efforts to court growing numbers of Hispanic voters, mostly from Puerto Rico, who have settled in cities west and north of Philadelphia.
Fernando Tormos-Aponte, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Pittsburgh who specializes in Puerto Rican politics and electoral organizing, said the timing of the comments may spell trouble for the Trump campaign.
鈥淲hen you combine the events that took place yesterday with other grievances that Puerto Ricans have, you really are not engaging in sound political strategy,鈥 Tormos-Aponte said.
The Harris campaign released an ad that will run online in battleground states targeting Puerto Rican voters and highlighting the comedian's remarks. The comments landed Harris a show of support from Puerto Rican music star Bad Bunny and prompted reactions from Republicans in Florida and in Puerto Rico.
From Labour Day to this past weekend, both campaigns have made more visits to Pennsylvania than to Georgia, Arizona and Nevada combined, according to Associated Press tracking of the campaigns鈥 public events. The state has some of the fastest-growing Hispanic communities, including in Reading and Allentown, where more than half of the population is Hispanic.
Pennsylvania鈥檚 Latino eligible voter population has more than doubled since 2000, from 206,000 to 620,000 in 2023, according to Census Bureau figures. More than half of those are Puerto Rican eligible voters.
The comedian's remarks were played early Monday on Spanish-language radio in Pennsylvania by one of Harris' surrogates based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, who called out Trump for not issuing an apology beyond a statement from the campaign saying 鈥渢his joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.鈥
In central Florida, U.S. Rep. Darren Soto, a Democrat whose district covers neighborhoods with large numbers of Puerto Ricans recently moved from the island, noted Monday that there are 鈥渉uge numbers鈥 of Puerto Ricans in swing states.
鈥淲e remember, and you know what, we are going to vote,鈥 Soto said at a news conference called by Puerto Rican leaders. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the only thing we can do right now.鈥
Harris said Monday that none of the vitriol at the Madison Square Garden rally will support the dreams and aspirations of the American people but instead fans "the fuel of trying to divide our country.鈥
She said Trump's event Sunday, in which speakers hurled cruel and racist insults, 鈥渉ighlighted the point that I've been making throughout this campaign.鈥
鈥淗e is focused and actually fixated on his grievances, on himself and on dividing our country, and it is not in any way something that will strengthen the American family, the American worker,鈥 the Democratic presidential nominee told reporters.
Harris also said: 鈥淲hat he did last night is not a discovery. It is just more of the same and may be more vivid than usual. Donald Trump spends full time trying to have Americans point their finger at each other, fans the fuel of hate and division, and that鈥檚 why people are exhausted with him.鈥
Harris also spoke about her proposals for Puerto Rico, such as creating a task force to bring in private companies to upgrade the island鈥檚 electrical grid.
Trump planned to return to Pennsylvania on Tuesday with a visit to Allentown after delivering remarks to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in South Florida.
___
Gomez Licon reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Associated Press writers Mike Schneider in Orlando and Will Weissert in Washington contributed to this report.
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