Philadelphia-area Puerto Rican leaders call out Trump campaign after comedian’s offensive comments
By Josh Sanders, Adam Fox
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PHILADELPHIA (KYW) — Eight days before the election, Puerto Rican Councilmember Quetcy Lozada, Reading Mayor Eddie Morán and Latino leaders called out the Trump campaign for comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s comments describing Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.”
“Enough is enough folks, I’ve had it,” Morán said. “The frustration level is beyond me.”
Reading is Pennsylvania’s fourth largest city and has a majority Latino population.
“Our community votes with passion,” Morán said.
Both the Harris and Trump campaigns have continued to prioritize Pennsylvania as a must-win battleground state and are courting the Latino vote.
“I hope people are as pissed off as all of us are and that we show him the kind of people we really are,” Lozada said.
Over the weekend, Vice President Kamala Harris visited Freddy & Tony’s, a historic Puerto Rican-owned restaurant in North Philadelphia, where she highlighted her New Way Forward agenda to create opportunities for Latinos and families across Pennsylvania.
Harris responded to Hinchcliffe’s comments on Monday.
“I think last night, Donald Trump’s event in Madison Square Garden really highlights the point that I’ve been making throughout the campaign,” Harris said. “He (Trump) is focused and fixated on his grievances, on himself and on dividing our country and it is not in any way, something that strengthens the American family, the American worker.”
The Trump campaign is now distancing itself from Hinchcliffe’s comments. In a statement, the Trump campaign’s senior advisor Danielle Alvarez said: “This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump of the campaign.”
Latino leaders believe the comments can galvanize the Latino vote for Harris.
“On November 5th, we need to show Donald Trump and all his moron friends that Puerto Ricans have a voice, and that we matter, and that we need to be respected,” Lozada said.
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