Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe has refused to apologize for a controversial joke in which he called Puerto Rico a “floating island of trash,” but then-presidential candidate Donald Trump's rally at Madison Square Garden became part of his routine. Admittedly, it wasn't the best place to be.
Mr Hinchcliffe, whose “rubbish” comments sparked widespread outrage in the week leading up to the election, opened up about the unpopular joke in the latest episode of his podcast. “Kill Tony” It was released on Monday.
“I'm sorry to everyone,” Hinchcliffe declared to the cheering audience at the live show.
“To Puerto Ricans, to white people, to black people, to Palestinians, to Jewish people, and even to my own mother, who I made fun of during filming. I didn't clip it either. There's no headline saying I'm making fun of my own mother.”
Hinchcliffe lamented that the real meaning behind his speech, the importance of free speech, had been ironically lost in the controversy.
“I gave a speech last night, and I don't know if you heard about it,” Hinchcliffe said in a podcast recorded the day after the election. “Believe it or not, this was a speech about freedom of speech…I mentioned Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico has a landfill problem right now where all the landfills are full. Sorry. However, I am the only one who knows this.”
In fact, the island of Puerto Rico has a landfill problem, with 29 dumpsites either overflowing or not meeting government standards. According to the Saint Kitts and Nevis Warden. According to the report, the island generates 3.7 million tons of waste annually.
Hinchcliffe admitted that the time and place of the comments had not been taken into account when deciding which jokes to tell.
“Perhaps the venue at the time wasn't the best place to do this set. But in any case, to those trying to smear me in the mainstream media and online, it's my job.” And that will never change,” Hinchcliffe concluded before the podcast episode featuring James McCann and Ali Matti.
“What I'm saying is, I love Puerto Ricans. They're very smart people. They're smart, they're street smart, they know when they're being used as political fodder. We're smart enough to know.' That's what's happening right now,'' Mr Hinchcliffe said.
