BETHLEHEM, Pa. —Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) at a Pennsylvania get-out-the-vote occasion on Monday night criticized a comic’s Puerto Rico joke at former President Trump’s Madison Sq. Backyard rally, however downplayed their affect on the election.
As Johnson fielded questions from a crowd of about 90 individuals on the get–out-the-vote occasion to help GOP congressional candidate Ryan Mackenzie, attendee Wanda Mercado-Arroyo piped up with concern concerning the “floating island of garbage” remark from Hinchcliffe.
“I say Latina myself, I am concerned about the comments made by the supposed comedian,” Mercado-Arroyo mentioned. “What are we going to do about that? We need to have a strong voice about that, because we were making such a great advance with Latinos.”
The toss-up district the place Mackenzie is hoping to unseat Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.) consists of Allentown, a majority Latino metropolis house to 34,000 Puerto Ricans. Trump is holding a rally in Allentown on Tuesday.
“People are bombarding all of us Latinos that happen to know that we’re Republicans, asking us why, how that can happen? Who vetted these people who were speaking?” Mercado-Arroyo mentioned.
Johnson echoed various different Republicans together with his response.
“I don’t think the stupid comments of a comedian that were ill-thought will make any difference,” he mentioned.
“I mean, Trump came out to denounce it, as he should have. It doesn’t reflect the views of any Republican I know. I mean, the guy’s an entertainer, he picked the wrong venue, it wasn’t funny at all,” Johnson mentioned.
Trump himself has not publicly addressed the remark, however Trump’s marketing campaign has distanced itself from them, with marketing campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt saying on “Fox & Friends” on Monday that “it was a comedian who made a joke in poor taste.” A wave of Republicans have expressed frustration concerning the feedback.
Hinchcliffe, for his half, has defended his jokes on the rally, which additionally included saying that Latinos “love making babies.” He wrote on X that “people have no sense of humor.”
Johnson, who additionally spoke on the Madison Sq. Backyard rally, added that he didn’t hear the comic’s joke or “any of the crazy stuff that was said” on the time as a result of he was greeting different individuals when it occurred. He continued that Republicans have “been embracing the Latino and Hispanic community.”
However Mercado-Arroyo pressed on: “My question remains, what is the party going to do about it?” she mentioned, including that she hopes the problem is addressed “before the damage is done.”
“I mean, we’ve all denounced it … I’m sure he’ll address it tomorrow,” Johnson mentioned of Trump. “We’ve been embracing the Latino and Hispanic community … We’ve gotta help them understand that our policies are the things that lead to human flourishing, that are better for them and their families, their individuals and families and communities, and embrace them and keep them in the party.”
One other attendee requested the Speaker to move the message to Trump to indicate help for the group throughout his rally.
“We’re definitely asking, put in Trump’s ear to give a shout-out to the Latinos in Allentown,” the attendee mentioned. “Getting in their hearts that we love them, we care for them. Let them hear that.”
