The Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, speaks at a rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s derogatory remark at the same event about Puerto Rico has angered Puerto Rican voters. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
Alba Colon-Nieves (Courtesy Photo)
On Sunday, Alba Colon-Nieves returned home to Charlotte after a 10-day visit to Puerto Rico.
Colon-Nieves, her husband and business partner Esther Ramirez-Pevney traveled to Colon-Nieves’ hometown of Bayamon, then south to the coastal town of Caba Rojo. They visited family and friends, frolicked on pristine beaches and feasted on tasty island dishes.
The trio was well rested and still in vacation mode when they touched down Sunday afternoon, but the good feelings would soon end. Their cell phones immediately began to blow up with messages from friends sharing videos from Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s campaign rally in New York’s Madison Square Garden.
The peace and restfulness the three achieved over the previous 10 days quickly dissipated after seeing video clips of comedian Tony Hinchcliffe referring to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean.”
“It was such a slap in the face,” Colon-Nieves said. “It made me sit up straight and think, what are these people talking about. We have over 5.9 million Puerto Ricans living in the mainland (U.S.), Puerto Ricans that can vote, and you say something like that?”
Alienating a sizable voting bloc?
In the U.S., the Puerto Rican population is concentrated in Florida (21%), New York (17%), New Jersey (8%), Pennsylvania (8%) and Massachusetts (6%).
Ramirez-Pevney said that allowing a comedian to tell such tasteless jokes during a campaign rally is not a winning strategy for Trump.
“Why would anyone think that it’s in good taste to go to Madison Square Garden in a political rally and decide at the last minute that the way we’re going to get the last MAGA voters is to show how racist we are and how this voting group [Puerto Ricans], this huge voting group, how we can knock them down,” Ramirez-Pevney.
According to the Associated Press, Puerto Rico’s Gov. Pedro Pierluisi, a Democrat, wrote on Facebook that, “Garbage is what came out of Tony Hinchcliffe’s mouth, and everyone who applauded him should feel ashamed for disrespecting Puerto Rico.”
Esther Ramirez-Pevney (Courtesy Photo)
Several Puerto Rican celebrities including megastar rapper Bad Bunny have thrown their support behind Vice President Kamala Harris after Hinchcliffe’s remarks.
Colon-Nieves said Puerto Ricans across the country must send the Republican Party a stern message on Nov. 5.
“If half of 5.9 million people say I’m not going to put up with this and we’re not going to let anyone talk about our island and our people this way, then we can impact the election.”
Both she and Ramirez-Pevney are urging Puerto Ricans to vote for Harris on Nov. 5.
“That’s how you fix this problem,” Colon-Nieves said. “You have to show the people who believe what that guy [Hinchcliffe] said that we’re not garbage and that we have the power in our hands — with as many Puerto Ricans as we have — to change it.”
Watching video clips of Hinchcliffe was painful, Colon-Nieves said, particularly after just having returned from Puerto Rico where she saw Americans enjoying the island, the people and culture.
“And he’s [Hinchcliffe] is calling it an island of garbage?” she said. “Right now, I’m a little bit teary-eyed because we’re not an island of garbage.”
Colon-Nieves and Ramirez-Pevney are co-owners of the Puerto Rican Festival of the Carolinas, which was held in Concord over the summer.
Ramirez-Pevney is president of E&A Productions Inc., an events promotions company. Colon-Nieves is vice president.
In those roles, the two women “promote Puerto Rican culture in North Carolina” and come in contact with many of the more than 120,000 Puerto Ricans who call the state home. In 2021, Puerto Ricans were 12% of the state’s total Hispanic population.
“We’ve already had to endure paper towels being thrown at us by our then-president [Trump] and it wasn’t funny,” Ramirez-Pevney said. “It’s not funny now to be called an island of garbage.”
Ramirez-Pevney is referring to the 2017 incident where then-president Trump, on a visit to Puerto Rico, tossed rolls of paper towels into a crowd of citizens affected by Hurricane Maria. Critics said the move was demeaning to Puerto Ricans and unbecoming of a president.
On the island, Ramirez-Pevney said there is support for the GOP that’s driven by the idea that the path to statehood is through the Republican Party. Although Puerto Ricans living on the island cannot vote in U.S. elections, some who move to the states bring that mindset with them, she said.
“That’s where the Republican votes come from, but definitely not by mocking people on the island, not by mocking our culture or by calling us garbage,” Ramirez-Pevney said.
Ramirez-Pevney, who grew up in New York, said Puerto Ricans are a proud people.
“I came here to North Carolina in 2008 and I started celebrating our culture through a festival that showcases and educate people as to the vibrancy and the culture and the music and the food of the people and never had an [racial] incident,” Ramirez-Pevney said.
Holding Trump responsible
Although Trump did not say the offensive words, he’s still responsible for what people invited to his rally say, Ramirez Pevney said.
Debbie Guerrero (Courtesy Photo)
“How do you not know who you’re putting on stage and what they stand for,” Ramirez-Pevney said. “This particular comedian has tons of available posts that you can research and see where he’s coming from.”
Debbie Guerrero, a senior infrastructure engineer who lives in Concord, also believes Trump is responsible for offensive remarks made at his political rallies.
“They [political parties] screen who is going to represent them at these rallies,” Guerrero said. “They [GOP] clearly knew what they wanted said and they got someone who could say it.”
Guerrero, a Puerto Rican born and reared in New York, said Hinchcliffe didn’t just call the island garbage, he also called the people of Puerto Rico garbage.
“He was calling the people, everything and everybody that represents that beautiful island garbage and that did not sit well with me at all,” Guerrero said. “Those who applauded that comedian [Hinchcliffe] or are in agreement with what he said or see no problem with what he said, they are part of the problem.”