CNN reporter can’t believe first time Puerto Rican voter is voting for Trump: ‘Really?’
A young Puerto Rican woman said that although Tony Hinchcliffe’s jokes at Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden bothered her, she is still voting for the former president.
The woman was interviewed by CNN in Florida, where Trump was quickly declared the winner after the polls closed.
She admitted to reporters that she voted for Trump, in her first experience voting in a presidential election.
Stunned journalists tried to challenge her decision based on Hinchcliffe’s comments after he joked that Puerto Rico was a “floating island of trash.”
“I’m Puerto Rican, so I was like, ‘Wow, I don’t really like that,’” she said, admitting she struggled with it.
A young Puerto Rican woman said that although Tony Hinchcliffe’s jokes at Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden bothered her, she is still voting for the former president.
Journalists tried to challenge her based on Hinchcliffe’s comments, in which he called Puerto Rico a “floating island of trash”
However, the unidentified woman said that Trump’s policies ultimately motivated her to choose him over Kamala Harris.
But reporters refused to accept her answer and demanded to know why she approved of what Hinchcliffe said.
‘No, certainly not. I just think everyone has an opinion, they don’t like Puerto Ricans, it hurts, but at the end of the day I’m okay with who I am and at the end of the day I want to have a better life in the world. future,” she said.
Her response to the joke seems to reflect a broader view in America.
Only 0.7 percent of the electorate has a more negative view of Trump after the Madison Square Garden bad taste joke.
The lack of impact on voters was revealed in an extensive final poll before election day by DailyMail.com and JL Partners, which surveyed 1,003 people.
The poll found that the events at Madison Square Garden were the second most noticed news story of the week, behind the Israeli attack on Iran.
James Johnson, co-founder of JL Partners, told DailyMail.com: ‘Despite reporting on the comments at the Madison Square Garden rally, voters are reacting with a shrug.
“Most people are talking about other broader issues related to Trump and Harris, whether it’s attacks they’ve heard in ads, whether it’s the economy, whether it’s the bigger issues.
Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump leaves after a rally at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York, USA, October 27, 2024
“What this says to me is that this moment didn’t change the race. This does not definitively play the role of an October surprise, and it does not change general views on Donald Trump or his campaign.”
He added, “That said, our polling cannot show what impact this might have on specific Puerto Ricans in Philadelphia, for example, but on a macro level this is certainly not a game changer.”
About 500,000 Puerto Ricans live in Pennsylvania, the state that could ultimately decide who takes the keys to the White House.
The winner between Trump and Harris could be decided by just a few thousand Keystone State residents.
Since Sunday, Harris and her Democratic allies have followed the comments.
Trump, meanwhile, used a campaign rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania, to endorse Puerto Rican Republican politician Zoraida Buxo.
On Tuesday evening, Trump said he had “never heard” of Hinchcliffe, the comedian who made the offensive comments at the start of his rally.
He told Fox News’ Sean Hannity, “I have no idea who he is. Someone said there was a comedian making fun of Puerto Rico or something, and I have no idea who that was. I’ve never seen him, never heard of him and don’t want to hear from him.
Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe speaks during a campaign rally for former US president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden in New York on October 27, 2024
‘I have no idea. They put a comedian in there, which everyone does… you don’t check them and you go crazy.
“What they have done is bring someone who has nothing to do with the party, has nothing to do with us, has said something, and they are trying to make a big deal. But I don’t know who it is, I don’t even know who put it in there. And I can’t imagine it being that bad.
“I have done more for Puerto Rico than any other president who has ever been president.”