A pro-Trump comedian who faced backlash for making a joke about Puerto Rico at then-presidential candidate Donald Trump's campaign rally last month said he would not apologize for the joke and slammed the media for trying to “smear” him. .
Tony Hinchcliffe addresses controversy over his comedy show latest episode It was released Monday night and is part of his podcast “Kill Tony,” recorded the day after President Trump's Oct. 27 Madison Square Garden rally.
“I gave a speech last night and I don't know if you heard about this,” Hinchcliffe quipped to the live audience. “Believe it or not, this was a speech about freedom of speech. I'm under attack right now. I'm the news. I mentioned Puerto Rico. We have a landfill problem where the landfills are full, which is probably unfortunate. But I'm the only one who knew this. That being said, I just want to say that I love Puerto Ricans. They're very smart people. But they're smart, they're smart enough, and you know when they're being used as political fodder.”
“I make absolutely no apologies to anyone,” he continued. “To Puerto Ricans, to white people, to black people, to Palestinians, to Jewish people, to my own mother who made fun of me on set. Nobody. I didn't cut it out. I'm making fun of my own mother.”
A pro-Trump comedian who faced backlash for telling a joke about Puerto Rico at then-presidential candidate Donald Trump's campaign rally last month said he would not apologize for the joke. (Reuters/Andrew Kelly)
Pro-Trump comedian receives criticism from AOC and others after telling Puerto Rican joke at Madison Square Garden
“Maybe the venue at the time wasn't the best place to do this set, but either way, to those who try to smear me in the mainstream media or online, that's what I do. I'm going to work hard and that's what it is. It's never going to change,” he concluded.
Hinchcliffe made a variety of racial jokes at the MSG rally, but his joke in which he called Puerto Rico a “floating island of trash” drew strong negative attention and was criticized by liberal media host Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. It drew criticism from members of Congress, Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign, and the president. Biden.
Hinchcliffe previously hit back at Harris' running mate, Ocasio-Cortez, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who accused him of insulting Puerto Ricans.
“These people have no sense of humor,” the comedian wrote to X last month. “It's really infuriating that a vice presidential candidate would take time out of his 'busy schedule' to analyze jokes that are taken out of context and appear to be racist,” he wrote. “I love Puerto Rico and I'm vacationing there. I made fun of everyone…Watch the whole set. I'm Tim the Comedian…Maybe it's time to change your tampon.”
White House denies Biden called Trump supporters 'trash'
President Biden and comedian Tony Hinchcliffe (Anna Rose Leyden/Getty Images, left, Andrew Kelly/Reuters, right)
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Former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann even predicted that Hinchcliffe's joke could sway the election in Harris' favor.
“Congratulations on your selection as vice president. Do you know how many Puerto Ricans are voting in battleground states?” Olbermann was mocked. Post to X October 27th.
At the time, the Trump campaign quickly distanced itself from the joke, saying, “This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or his campaign.”
Despite the backlash, Trump won some of Florida's counties, which have the highest concentrations of Puerto Ricans in the state, but lost them in both 2020 and 2016.
President-elect Donald Trump celebrates his victory over Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election early Wednesday morning. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Osceola County, which has the highest concentration of Puerto Ricans in the Sunshine State, voted for Mr. Trump after voting Democratic in the previous two elections in which Mr. Trump ran, according to census data. Meanwhile, Miami-Dade County and Hillsborough County, two other districts with large Puerto Rican populations that Trump lost in 2020 and 2016, also backed Trump this time.
FOX News' Alec Shemel contributed to this report.
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