The archbishop of San Juan, Puerto Rico, called on Monday for former President Donald Trump to personally apologise for a series of racist remarks made by a comedian at his campaign rally in New York City.
The Trump campaign is facing yet another political crisis with just over a week to go until the election after far-right comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” during an opening set at the former president’s event Sunday at Madison Square Garden. The comments — which also included tropes about Black Americans, Latinos in general and Jews — were quickly trashed as racist and offensive.
“I enjoy a good joke,” the archbishop, Roberto O González Nieves, wrote in a letter posted to Facebook. “However, humour has its limits. It should not insult or denigrate the dignity and sacredness of people. Hinchcliffe’s remarks do not only provoke sinister laughter but hatred.”
“It is not sufficient for your campaign to apologise,” the archbishop added. “It is important that you, personally, apologise for these comments.”
Trump has not condemned the jokes, but his campaign released a statement disavowing them with unusual haste on Sunday night.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have been quick to lambaste the comedian and distance the Republican Party from his remarks.
Angel Cintrón, the chairman of Puerto Rico’s Republican Party, said on Monday he would not support Trump unless he apologises for insults.
“Right now we have no business and no relationship with Trump,” Cintrón said Monday night on Jugando Pelota Dura, a Puerto Rican talk show, according to a translation. He said he would not back Trump unless he apologizes to Puerto Rico.
“Puerto Rico is always first,” he added.
Puerto Ricans living on the island are not able to vote for president and the territory carries no electoral vote, but more than two-thirds of Puerto Ricans live in the US and are able to cast ballots in the states where they reside. It’s unclear what residency Cintrón holds. HuffPost has reached out to the Puerto Rico Republican Party for comment.
Trump’s running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, responded with his own frustration at a series of events on Monday. Vance said even if the joke was “stupid” and “racist,” he was “so over” people getting offended at “every little thing.”