Polls show whether Puerto Rico’s “island of trash” joke has damaged Trump

When a speaker at Donald Trump’s wild rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday compared Puerto Rico to a “floating island of trash,” it sparked outrage.

But the extensive media coverage of the incident involving comedian Tony Hinchcliffe does not appear to have changed many minds when it comes to voting.

Only 0.7 percent of the electorate has a more negative view of Trump after the incident, which took place during a five-hour MAGA marathon in the heart of Manhattan.

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.

More than 50 million Americans have already cast their ballots, but some are still deciding, and others are still considering whether to vote at all.

Amid the final fever of the campaign, Trump and Kamala Harris’ every rally and speech is under closer scrutiny.

It is exciting for the candidates and one verbal stumbling block or unexpected development can increase their chances.

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.

Hurricanes, food recalls, a scandal involving Diddy, the World Series and Elon Musk were the other stories on voters’ radars.

However, most Americans are focused on broader issues than Hinchcliffe’s joke as they went to the polls, the poll found.

When respondents were asked why they have a negative view of Trump, the most popular answer was his “overall personal character” at 12 percent.

Concerns about the 78-year-old’s “mental state” followed in second place at four percent, while his “self-interest and corruption” came in third.

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.

“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.

‘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.”

Also Hinchcliffe’s controversial routine