Puerto Rican voters have shot to middle stage in nationwide elections, marking a serious shift for an citizens that was largely neglected for a century.
The voting bloc is on the middle of nationwide consideration following a collection of crude jokes advised by Tony Hinchcliffe on Sunday at former President Trump’s Madison Sq. Backyard (MSG) rally, by which the comic equated Puerto Rico to oceanic rubbish patches.
Although the Trump marketing campaign and lots of particular person Republicans have disavowed Hinchcliffe’s set, the fracas opened a window for Vice President Harris to make a last-minute pitch to low-propensity voters who may assist determine the election.
“I think there is a significant number of people who will not be turned off and will make excuses for Trump,” stated Federico de Jesús, a Washington-based guide and former deputy director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration.
“But I think that this can and could make a big difference with Puerto Ricans who were already anti-Trump but were not sold yet or were soft on Kamala. They might be voting for her, but they weren’t enthusiastic. I think that this will create rage, anger and motivate people to go out and maybe volunteer. Maybe take their relatives to vote. Maybe take a second look at Kamala if they were undecided, and really shore that vote up.”
Hinchcliffe’s rubbish joke struck on the most delicate of sentimental spots for Puerto Ricans throughout the political spectrum: their homeland.
“The young and the old, their heart is in Puerto Rico, even the ones who were born here in Pennsylvania, in New York, in Nevada, in Georgia, where you have a Puerto Rican population who can decide an election,” stated Javier Llano, a D.C.-based Puerto Rican political guide.
Hinchcliffe’s phase additionally included a crass line about Hispanic reproductive habits, in addition to anti-Black and antisemitic punchlines that drew a combined reception from the viewers.
Republicans together with Sen. Rick Scott (Fla.), Reps. María Elvira Salazar (Fla.) and Anthony d’Esposito (N.Y.) and Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón, who’s operating for governor, all disavowed the comedy set, which Hinchcliffe defended on Monday, saying it was taken out of context, and he “made fun of everyone.”
“This is also, I think, an opportunity for every single American to pay real close attention to what was said at that rally, because no group went unscathed. He talked about Latinos, he talked about Puerto Ricans, he talked about African Americans, he talked about women. The only group that was safe was literally white men, cis white males, to be very specific,” stated María Teresa Kumar, president of Voto Latino.
Trump marketing campaign spokeswoman Danielle Alvarez stated in an announcement, “this joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.”
But the timing of the MSG rally performed in favor of Harris, who on the identical day launched a set of coverage proposals for the U.S. territory.
“I will create a new Puerto Rico opportunity economy task force, where the federal government will work with the private sector, with nonprofits and community leaders to foster economic growth and create thousands of new, good paying jobs in Puerto Rico, including for our young people. And I know that Puerto Rico’s economic future depends on urgently rebuilding and modernizing the island’s energy grid,” Harris stated in a video posted on social media on Sunday.
That distinction additionally drew help from prime Puerto Rican celebrities, together with Ricky Martin, Jennifer López and Dangerous Bunny.
Dangerous Bunny re-posted Harris’s financial pledge to his Instagram account, which is adopted by 45.6 million individuals, highlighting her line, “I will never forget what Donald Trump did when Puerto Rico needed a caring and competent leader.”
Dangerous Bunny’s bounce into nationwide politics is very vital not just for his worldwide fame, however as a result of he has traditionally centered his consideration on inside Puerto Rican points, reasonably than nationwide ones.
“The reason that getting a Bad Bunny — the reason that getting a Ricky Martin and getting a Jennifer Lopez to endorse, is that it allows them to use their information on their feeds to talk to low-propensity information voters,” stated Kumar.
The Harris marketing campaign rapidly lower an advert with footage of the “garbage” joke, together with Trump’s unorthodox pronunciation of the island’s identify in 2017 and Harris’s financial pitch.
Nonetheless, Trump has pulled in his personal Puerto Rican celeb help, most notably from reggaeton stars Anuel AA and Nicky Jam, an indication that each campaigns perceive the outsize function Puerto Rican voters may play on this election.
“The fact that both of them and Trump referred to Puerto Rico as a country, which for some Democrats might be a surprise, but to anybody who’s spoken to Puerto Ricans in Spanish knows that’s how we refer to the island. It resonated with some people, right? And again, he doesn’t need to win the majority of Puerto Ricans, but there’s a swath of Puerto Rican men with which that resonated,” stated de Jesús.
“And Kamala Harris was yesterday in Pennsylvania rolling out a plan on Puerto Rico. So Puerto Ricans on the island may not vote for president, but Puerto Ricans in the states obviously do, and there’s a large number of us that have the island in our hearts when we go out to vote.”
Puerto Ricans are on the middle of the combat for Pennsylvania — the important swing state — and Florida, a once-swing state with a doubtlessly aggressive Senate race.
Puerto Rican voters are additionally anticipated to play a key function in Nevada, Georgia and North Carolina.
That is a far cry from the group’s historic clout in secure blue strongholds like New York and Illinois, and from the electoral marginalization of Puerto Rico’s territorial standing.
Puerto Ricans on the island have been statutory U.S. residents since 1917, however solely Puerto Ricans with residence within the District of Columbia or one of many 50 states can vote in federal elections.
Although the Jones Act, the regulation that conferred citizenship in 1917, spurred migration to the mainland, most Puerto Ricans initially settled in non-battleground liberal states.
For the following century, the Puerto Rican vote was essential in some native elections however by no means on the presidential degree.
“This time, we could be the decisive vote. In 2020 we were one of several groups, but this time around we could be the decisive swing vote,” stated de Jesús.
“We didn’t really matter per se in the presidential races until Florida became such a heavy state with more than 1 million Puerto Ricans. And you know what’s happened since, obviously, for local races, statewide races in New York and in Pennsylvania and other states, Puerto Ricans have mattered. But the fact that there’s so many Puerto Ricans, more than 100,000 in Georgia, for example, more than that in North Carolina and obviously in Pennsylvania and in Wisconsin, that changes things.”
