Why is a joke about Puerto Rico from a comedian known for his “roasts” causing so much consternation and upset from the media and the left (but I repeat myself)?

Because the whole “Trump is a fascist” and “this rally was a Nazi party throwback rally” failed to stick, that’s why. Otherwise, the jokes that Tony Hinchcliffe, aka “Kill Tony,” told would be passing by without comment. Since attack line one of trying to cast everyone at the rally as a Nazi failed badly, the media have moved on to something (ANYTHING!) that they think might stick and tar Trump.

So, what was actually said? Hinchcliffe did a nearly 12 minute set, but these are the jokes that has the media hyperventilating.

Hinchcliffe’s set also included jokes targeting Jews and Black men and a reference to Black Americans carving watermelons for Halloween instead of pumpkins, but it was his comments about Puerto Rico that generated the most attention and backlash.

“There’s a lot going on. Like, 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. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” Hinchcliffe said on stage Sunday, eliciting mixed reactions from the crowd.

At another point, he said Latinos “love making babies.”

“They do. There’s no pulling out. They don’t do that. They come inside. Just like they did to our country,” he said.

Only two problems. First, Donald Trump didn’t say these lines, but the media has decided to make him completely responsible for them. Second, the media has also noticed that Puerto Rico has a garbage problem. So it’s okay to report on it, but not joke about it?

Look: https://t.co/BtjPpW6Byj

— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) October 28, 2024

You can claim that the joke was in poor taste, but the level of hysteria being pushed is definitely not in proportion to the joke itself. The archbishop of Puerto Rico wants Donald Trump to personally apologize.

Roberto González Nieves, archbishop of San Juan de Puerto Rico, called on former President Trump to apologize personally for comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s joke comparing Puerto Rico to “a floating island of garbage.”

In an “open letter” addressed to the former president, the archbishop said he “consulted with my brother bishops of Puerto Rico” and was “dismayed and appalled” by Hinchcliffe’s joke, which the controversial comedian delivered Sunday at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally ahead of the GOP presidential nominee’s speech.

“I call upon you, Mr. Trump, to disavow these comments as reflecting in any way your personal or political viewpoints,” the letter reads. “It is not sufficient for your campaign to apologize. It is important that you, personally, apologize for these comments.”

AOC and Tim Walz, predictably, had a fit about the joke while they were playing video games together. Hinchcliffe actually responded to AOC’s whining himself on X.

These people have no sense of humor. Wild that a vice presidential candidate would take time out of his “busy schedule” to analyze a joke taken out of context to make it seem racist. I love Puerto Rico and vacation there. I made fun of everyone…watch the whole set. I’m a… https://t.co/VFxHRcdv5k

— Tony Hinchcliffe (@TonyHinchcliffe) October 27, 2024

You know who else found the jokes funny? Jon Stewart, who understands that this is Hinchcliffe’s entire shtick as a comedian.

Props to @JonStewart for admitting he finds @TonyHinchcliffe funny.

“I find that guy very funny. I’m sorry, I don’t know what to tell you. I mean, bringing him to a rally and having him not do roast jokes? That’d be like bringing Beyoncé to a rally and not … " pic.twitter.com/Y3ZFCnRtDb

— Johnny Woodard (@JohnnyWoodard) October 29, 2024

The outrage cycle regarding Puerto Rico should be focused on their current ballot, where Democrats are pushing statehood in a referendum vote yet again – but this time, they have removed the status quo of being a “commonwealth” off the ballot in order to force the population to choose statehood.

When they walk into the polling booth on Election Day, Puerto Ricans will be offered three possibilities: (1) statehood, (2) complete independence from the U.S., and (3) sovereignty that includes an ongoing association with the United States. What they will not see is the option of maintaining the status quo.

In previous referendums, the status quo—remaining a commonwealth—has been among the most popular options. So why would the latest referendum suddenly exclude this option? Because the Democratic Party, in concert with Puerto Rico’s pro-statehood party, have designed it that way. There is no other way to describe it: They have rigged the vote to give the statehood option a decisive advantage—and they have done it in plain sight.

Realistically, Puerto Rican statehood could happen only if Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress and the White House, while also eliminating the filibuster—a situation that is unlikely but far from impossible. Should that circumstance ever arise, Democrats have been preparing the ground for Puerto Rican statehood by encouraging referendums on the island. In principle, there is nothing wrong with this. In fact, it’s a good thing to check in on the popular will of Puerto Ricans. To that end, in both 1997 and 2010, House Democrats passed bills calling for straightforward referendums that included the full suite of options.

This time, however, Democrats are playing dirty. In 2022, House Democrats, in consultation with the PNP, passed the Puerto Rico Status Act, which called for another referendum—one that excluded the status quo option. The bill was reintroduced in 2023, this time with more co-sponsors, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the most famous American politician of Puerto Rican descent. The Democrats’ bill was then adopted by Pedro Pierluisi, Puerto Rico’s pro-statehood governor, as the basis for November’s referendum.

Now technically, these referendum votes are “non-binding,” but all that would be needed would be Democrat control of the House, Senate, and White House in order to use a cooked referendum vote to make Puerto Rico a state, despite how the residents of the island actually feel about it. Why is this not making waves within the media? Because the media, along with Democrats, assumes that two new senators from Puerto Rico would be Democrats – and help tip control of the Senate permanently into Democrat hands.

This is not about a tasteless joke or a shock comedian. This is all about the long game. Donald Trump has made a lot of inroads into the Latino voting bloc, and Democrats are freaking out. Calling him Orange Hitler has not worked. So even though Trump did not make the joke, the media is now hyping up how he might lose the Puerto Rican vote in Pennsylvania. The campaign and Trump himself have now “distanced” themselves from the jokes, but the media is most definitely fanning the flames of this “outrage” in order to try and blunt Trump’s momentum. Not that Kamala Harris is capable of seizing the moment with her own charisma and charm.

NEW: Kamala Harris' rally crowd is completely stumped after she tells them to all start shouting their own names.

The moment came after the crowd started a "Kamala" chant.

Harris: "Now I want you to all shout your own names, do that!"

Crowd: *silent* pic.twitter.com/p61FYhPQQP

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 29, 2024

Yeah. While Kamala’s campaign is now trying to make some hay out of the Puerto Rico joke, we again come back to the same conclusion – she’s been vice president for over three years, and nothing has changed for Puerto Rico. Will one shock comedian’s tasteless joke really offend Latino voters to the point that they change their vote? Who knows, but the media are certainly putting their thumbs on the scale for this story. And all because the Hitler label didn’t stick.

Featured image via Pixabay, Pixabay license