Amid a controversy over a comedian at Donald Trump's Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday night joking about Puerto Rico, that nation's largest newspaper endorsed Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris for president, The Hill reported Tuesday.
Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe said on stage ahead of Trump's speech: "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."
The joke elicited mixed reactions from the crowd and Trump's campaign disavowed it, although the former president has yet to address the topic publicly as of Tuesday afternoon.
In an editorial on the newspaper's decision to support Harris, María Luisa Ferré Rangel, publisher of El Nuevo Día, or "The New Day" in English, wrote, according to The Hill, "One week before the election, Trump's erratic and narcissistic behaviors reveal a lack of balance and ability to build agreements and solutions to the serious problems facing the United States, its territories, and the broad group of its allied countries."
Ferré Rangel wrote that Trump "suffers from psychopathic elements that he evidences by lying repeatedly."
"He has no moral compass and believes that the rules do not apply to him," she wrote. "These are traits typical of those people who qualify as malignant narcissists. Trump is one of the worst. With these emotionally hollow characteristics, the only thing important to that type of person is themselves. This is evident in his distortion of reality. To Trump, no one is better than he is. Only he exists. We are facing one of the most critical moments, not only in the history of the United States, but of the world."
Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens but can only vote in federal elections if they are residents of one of the 50 states or the District of Columbia. Because Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, it doesn't send electors to the Electoral College, meaning island residents can't vote for president. Puerto Rico does have a nonvoting representative in Congress, Jenniffer González-Colón, a member of the New Progressive Party who caucuses with House Republicans.
"To all Puerto Ricans who can vote in this upcoming United States election and represent those of us who cannot: Vote for Kamala Harris," wrote Ferré Rangel.
There have been reports the joke could cause Trump considerable fallout in battleground states, including Pennsylvania, where there are nearly a half-million Puerto Rican voters, according to Politico. Trump's rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday night was located in the middle of the city's Puerto Rican neighborhood.
"It's not the smartest thing to do, to insult people — a large group of voters here in a swing state — and then go to their home asking for votes," Norberto Dominguez, a precinct captain with the local Democratic Party in Allentown, told Politico.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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