Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who goes by the stage name "Kill Tony," pushed back on the outrage machine in the aftermath of his joke about Puerto Rico at Sunday's rally for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, saying Democrats "have no sense of humor."
Hinchcliffe aimed his remarks at Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democrat vice presidential candidate, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who criticized the comic in real time Sunday during their live stream on Twitch.
"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," Hinchcliffe said in a post to X on Monday.
Hinchcliffe was one of many speakers leading up to Trump's rally at Madison Square Garden. He cracked jokes about Jews and Black people but it was his Puerto Rico joke that drew the most attention and criticism.
"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.
Ocasio-Cortez, who is of Puerto Rican descent, said in her livestream with Walz that the comments were "super upsetting."
"When you have some a-hole calling Puerto Rico 'floating garbage,' know that that's what they think about you. It's what they think about anyone who makes less money than them," AOC said, adding later, "I want every Puerto Rican in Philadelphia and Reading and across the country to see this clip."
"Who is that jackwad?" Walz said before criticizing Trump's response to Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in 2017.
"I love Puerto Rico and vacation there. I made fun of everyone … watch the whole set. I'm a comedian Tim … might be time to change your tampon," Hinchcliffe added in his Monday post.
The Trump campaign, too, distanced itself from Hinchcliffe's remarks on Monday. Danielle Alvarez, an adviser to the Trump campaign, told Newsmax on Monday that his comments don't represent the views of the Trump campaign.
"President Trump has been incredible for my Latino community," Alvarez said.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said in a post that the comments were "not funny and it's not true."
David Urban, who has advised Trump on Pennsylvania strategy, said Hinchcliffe's comments were "unfunny and unfortunately offended many of our friends from Puerto Rico."
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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