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Imagine being a stand-up comedian and bombing so badly that you change the course of a presidential election, and in essence alter the course of history. So it is with “roast comic” Tony Hinchcliffe, an unsuccessful comedian who was hired to speak at Donald Trump’s Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. Hinchcliffe’s set became one of the biggest stories of the Nazi rally, and that’s saying something. The parts of Hinchcliffe’s set which got the most attention: “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” and the obscene joke about how Latin Americans never pull out and they “loved making babies.” Don’t forget the “joke” about how he has a Black friend and they “carve watermelons” together. Racism on top of racism. Well, the Trump campaign and Republicans across the board are trying to distance themselves from Hinchcliffe. The Bulwark hilariously points out that the Trump campaign knew exactly what Hinchcliffe was going to say because they already killed a “joke” in which he called Kamala Harris a C-U-Next-Tuesday.
Donald Trump’s campaign was left scrambling Sunday night after roast-comic Tony Hinchcliffe made insulting jokes about Hispanic and black people on stage at the ex-president’s Madison Square Garden rally. The lines sparked immediate backlash and even condemnation from fellow Republicans. But four top campaign sources said it could have been even worse.
“He had a joke calling [Vice President Kamala] Harris a ‘c-nt,’” a campaign insider involved in the discussions about the event told The Bulwark. “Let’s say it was a red flag.”
Hinchcliffe’s remarks—and the ensuing backlash—has sparked questions about how such an offensive speech was allowed at such a high-profile rally; whether it was deliberate; and why a presidential campaign would elevate a roast-master comic edgelord in the closing days of a tight race for the White House. Campaign staffers had asked all speakers to submit drafts of their speeches ahead of time—before they were loaded into the teleprompter—according to the aforementioned sources. Once the objectionable “c-nt” joke was spotted, the sources said, a staffer asked Hinchcliffe to strike it. He complied.
Those sources insisted that they did not spot the other objectionable lines in Hinchcliffe’s speech prior to him delivering it because they were ad-libbed. Hinchcliffe couldn’t be reached for comment.
About three hours after [Hinchcliffe’s] performance, as condemnation was pouring in from left, right, and center, the Trump campaign was forced to take the rare step of distancing itself from one of their speakers—though it only separated itself from the “trash” line and not the watermelon one. “This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” Danielle Alvarez, a Trump senior adviser said.
By then, the political damage had been done. In Pennsylvania, home to a sizable number of Puerto Rican voters, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro denounced the comments. At roughly the same moment, Puerto Rican reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny announced his endorsement of Harris.
Behind the scenes, the Trump campaign debated how to respond. Some aides wanted a full-throated denunciation of Hinchcliffe while others, in accordance with MAGA’s no-apologies crowd on Twitter, advocated for no response at all. “It’s a joke. People need to grow up,” one Trump adviser in the no-apology camp told The Bulwark. “This is what we’re campaigning against: PC culture run amok.”
Another adviser, speaking to The Bulwark, took the opposite position: “This isn’t the hill we need to die on, Puerto Rico as a trash island—for f–k’s sake!”
That’s interesting that the Trump campaign is circulating a story about how Hinchcliffe ad-libbed the lines about Puerto Rico and watermelons, that those racist jokes were not part of the set he provided to them, the set which was loaded into the Teleprompter. The thing is, even if that’s true (and it could be, you never know), the Trump people have zero credibility. Especially since they platformed ALL OF THE OTHER RACIST AND SEXIST SH-T. It’s crazy that the one thing they struck was “hey, don’t call Kamala Harris a c–t” and left all of the other sh-t in.
I also wanted to highlight two despicable reactions to Hinchcliffe’s set, one from JD Vance and one from Jon Stewart. I don’t even have words for how much I despise Jon Stewart’s bullsh-t these days. The fact that he basically agrees with JD Vance should tell you everything about Jon Stewart. “Stop being offended by racism, you’re too sensitive, it was just jokes from a roast comic!!”
Vance: I have heard about the joke… Maybe it's a stupid, racist joke.. Maybe it is not. But we have to stop getting so offended at every little thing can a United States of America. I’m so over it pic.twitter.com/I93s68plT8
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 28, 2024
Photos courtesy of YouTube.
