2 weeks Ago By USA TODAY
A comedian at Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s made jokes about Latinos having too many babies, called Puerto Rico a floating garbage island and referenced “carving watermelons” with a Black friend. “There’s a lot going on. I don’t know if you know this but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now,” Tony Hinchliffe, who goes by the stage name Kill Tony, said on Sunday.
He paused before delivering his punch line. “I think it’s called Puerto Rico.” The opening-act comments by Hinchcliffe drew laughs and some groans from the crowd ahead of .
Kill Tony, Hinchcliffe’s comedy show with nearly 2 million YouTube subscribers, often features new and established and has drawn criticism for being racist and sexist. Hinchcliffe's opening act comes as the 2024 presidential candidates are trying to drive home a national message. For Trump, that's a at Madison Square Garden, a world-renown venue for entertainers.
But Hinchliffe's jokes are also consistent with the that has drawn large crowds from Trump. In his remarks, Hinchliffe also went after Latinos to mixed responses from the crowd. He said he welcomed migrants to the United States with "open arms," and then spread his arms into a "get out of here" gesture.
“It’s wild," he continued. "And these Latinos, they love making babies, too, just know that. They do, they do.
" During his act, Hinchcliffe also pointed to a Black man in the audience and said, “All right, heck yeah. A black guy with a thing on his on his head. What the hell is that, a lampshade?” Hinchcliffe said.
“Look at this guy. Oh, my goodness, After a pause, Hinchliffe added, “I'm just kidding. That's one of my buddies.
He had a Halloween party last night. We had fun. We carved watermelons together.
It was awesome.” A Trump campaign spokesman did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz and New York Democratic Rep.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, , criticized Hinchcliffe for his comments. Both said there were hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans who live in Pennsylvania, and urged them to watch the remarks so they could vote for Harris instead. After Hinchliffe criticized Puerto Rico, posted on X, formerly Twitter, "Who wants to tell these guys there are ~ HALF A MILLION Puerto Ricans living in Battleground PA, whose votes are up for grabs?” In a , Hinchcliffe said later on Sunday that he loved Puerto Rico and had vacationed there.
He also marveled that his comments had already drawn a rebuke from Walz. "These people have no sense of humor," he wrote..
