Donald Trump finally talked about Puerto Rico on Tuesday night. He just didn’t mention why — or the offensive remarks about the U.S. territory that have distracted his campaign in the closing days.
Trump’s visit to Allentown, Pennsylvania — a majority Latino city in the crucial swing state — was scheduled long before Tony Hinchcliffe’s racist opening speech Sunday night at Madison Square Garden and the ensuing controversy. But the visit was an opportunity to address the situation and put the issue to bed.
At least, there was that opportunity.
Trump, once again, avoided directly addressing the remarks. But he did indirectly make the case why Puerto Ricans should vote for him. Or, rather, one of Puerto Rico’s “shadow” senators made the case for him.
“We have some unfinished business to do with respect to Puerto Rico,” Shadow Sen. Zoraida Buxó said after joining Trump onstage. “If there is a leader that can get us to a final resolution, that is you. So the people of Puerto Rico trust you, and we have high hopes.”
In Allentown, there was time to talk about the supposed love between Trump and Puerto Rico. But Trump dodged, addressing the island — and why Puerto Ricans should vote for him — without ever addressing the “joke” that offended so many.
“I will deliver the best future for Puerto Ricans and for Hispanic Americans,” Trump said, content to leave it at that.
It was the latest deflection in a day of deflections, distractions and diversions from comments that Trump’s campaign is trying to distance itself from. On Tuesday morning, Trump ducked questions about Hinchcliffe calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” in an interview with ABC News’ Rachel Scott. Then he largely ignored the issue during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago.
During his rally Tuesday night, Trump and Buxó went back and forth before Trump delivered one of his standard stump speeches of doom and gloom — “They’ve already started cheating!” he claimed at one point — while he also seemed to get sentimental about the closing days of what he’s suggested will be his final campaign either way.
“It’s sort of sad,” Trump said. “We’ve been on this journey together. … This is the final week.”
It seemed to be an ideal spot of reflection to offer an apology — or at least some sort of rebuke. After all, Pennsylvania could be essential to Trump winning the White House, and his campaign has quickly run away from both the comment and the comedian. (A flood of conservatives have also eviscerated Hinchcliffe for his speech.)
Allentown has around 33,000 Puerto Rican citizens, while Pennsylvania has around 500,000 in total. In 2020, Trump lost the state by just over 80,000 votes, and current polls have him and Kamala Harris deadlocked within the margin of error. It’s no exaggeration to say the Puerto Rico controversy could determine the entire election.
But rather than make amends with an essential voting bloc, Trump spoke at length about women — specifically, his campaign’s exasperation with his comments about protecting women.
“My people said, ‘Sir, please don’t say that,’” Trump said.
“Are there any women in this giant, massive arena that do not want protection?” he asked.
Trump came closest to addressing the comments during an interview with Sean Hannity later Tuesday night, when he seemed to blame the media for the controversy, saying Hinchcliffe has nothing to do with the Republican Party or the Trump campaign.
“You throw comedians in. You don’t vet them and go crazy. It’s nobody’s fault. But somebody said some bad things,” he said.
“I can’t imagine it’s a big deal,” he added, saying he did more for Puerto Rico than any other president.
As Harris continues to use Hinchcliffe’s remarks and Trump’s muted response to advance her new pro-Puerto Rico policies, President Joe Biden took a different approach Tuesday night, appearing to call Trump supporters “garbage.” (The White House is disputing that was Biden’s intent and issued a transcript to suggest he was referring to Hinchcliffe’s remarks.)
Whether Biden meant Trump’s supporters — as his interview suggested — or Trump’s supporter’s comments, the president’s words instantly landed on the GOP’s bulletin board.
As the rally wrapped up, Trump called Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to the stage. Rubio, who has already rebuked Hinchcliffe’s words, immediately bashed Biden’s comment. Then he said what many Puerto Ricans have been saying since Sunday.
“We are not garbage,” Rubio said. “We are patriots who love America.”
—
Ben T.N. Mause is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.