A stand-up comedians words at Donald Trumps recent rally turned into a major pre-election problem when he called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage“
The timing couldnt be worse for republicans as swing states like Pennsylvania (home to about 500k Puerto Rican voters) play key roles in upcoming election. Six other swing states have similar-sized Puerto Rican communities that could affect voting results
Latino support for Trump was looking good until the rally incident: now major cultural figures are speaking up. Reggaeton mega-stars changed their neutral position and backed Kamala Harris instead
hearing such racist and disdainful words directed at my home and at Latinos is heartbreaking
Famous artist Bad Bunny (worlds most-streamed musician from 20ʼ to 22ʼ) joined the criticism. His earlier songs already pointed out problems with federal help after Hurricane Maria about 7 years ago
Trump tried to fix things by saying that hes done more for Puerto Rico than any other president; however many islanders dont agree with this statement and remember slow aid response after the devastating storm
- Residents of Puerto Rico cant vote in presidential elections
- Almost 500k Puerto Ricans live in Pennsylvania
- Similar numbers spread across other swing states
- Latino men showed strong republican support in recent polls
The whole situation made cultural leaders — who stayed quiet before — pick sides in this years election race