A comedian’s disparaging comments about Puerto Rico at a recent Donald Trump rally triggered instant and widespread condemnation, including criticism from elected Republicans and some of the island’s biggest celebrities. The wave of backlash has made it to metro Atlanta.
On Tuesday, members of the local Puerto Rican community joined Latino leaders at the Gwinnett County campaign outpost of Democrat Kamala Harris, where they expressed anger and disgust at the comedian’s description of Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.”
“Its time we make ourselves be respected,” said State Rep. Pedro Marin, a Democrat and Georgia’s longest-serving Latino legislator, originally from Puerto Rico, in Spanish.
He added: “I don’t really blame the comedian; I blame the campaign.”
Arvin Temkar/AJC
Arvin Temkar/AJC
There are over 115,000 Puerto Ricans living in Georgia, according to U.S. census data. That’s about 10 times the margin by which President Joe Biden won the state in 2020.
With the presidential contest close, both the Harris and Trump campaigns have been working hard to woo Latino voters. Polls have shown Harris with a lead, but it is smaller than margin Joe Biden won four years ago.
The news conference in Gwinnett comes amid underwhelming early-voting numbers among the Latino electorate, with just 25% of registered voters having cast a ballot as of Tuesday, according to data from GeorgiaVotes.com. Speakers on Tuesday said the Trump rally comments could motivate more Latinos to vote, and support Harris.
“There are still people who have been undecided and I think that for many people this was a tipping point. They’ve been waiting to see what messages speak to them and this spoke directly to Puerto Ricans and other Latinos,” said Elisa Covarrubias, deputy director of the GALEO Latino Community Development Fund and the GALEO Impact Fund.
‘Joke in poor taste’
In a statement to media outlets, the Trump campaign distanced itself from the language that took aim at Puerto Rico.
“This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” Danielle Alvarez, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, said.
On Fox News, Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said the rally speaker made a “joke in poor taste,” but she added that the crowd “didn’t mind.”
In a visit to Georgia on Monday, Trump steered clear of the controversy.
But the speakers at the Gwinnett news conference described a Puerto Rican community that is still reeling. .
“Let me share something that many people know about Puerto Ricans. When someone attacks Puerto Rico, the vast majority of us feel the pain,” Marin said. “You mess with a Puerto Rican, you mess with all of us. We love our island, whether we are born here, we’re born there … or somewhere else in the world. Our love for [Puerto Rico] transcends ideology, distance, or time.”
arvin.temkar@ajc.com
arvin.temkar@ajc.com
On hand at the news conference on Tuesday was Grace Williams, a local accountant who moved to metro Atlanta from Puerto Rico.
“All these attacks target not only Puerto Ricans on the island, but the hardworking business owners like me and families that live here in Atlanta,” she said. “Words matter … I think that moment [at the Trump rally] showed us how insignificant we are to this campaign.”
Lisette Correa, a second-generation Puerto Rican and visual artist, said the Trump rally comments were painful but not surprising.
“After witnessing Trump throw paper towels and hold billions of dollars in relief to help Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, I can’t say that I’m surprised, but today, I am fed up,” she said. “I’m fed up because of the division and racist remarks that Trump’s campaign continues to create.”
Latino voters in Georgia have been running behind other groups in early voting, which has otherwise produced strong participation numbers, with over 3 million people having cast their ballot as of Tuesday morning.
So far, roughly 84,000 of the state’s over 330,000 registered Latino voters have voted, according to data from GeorgiaVotes.com.
That turnout rate (25%), lags behind those of Asian voters (35%), Black voters (37%) and white voters (49%).
Covarrubias said that both parties’ have made limited outreach to Latino communities, which may help explain the low turnout rate. In her view, the controversy surrounding the Madison Square Garden rally could alter that dynamic.
In a poll of Latino voters in eight states released last month by UnidosUS, a Latino civil rights and advocacy organization, just 56% of Georgia respondents indicated they were likely to vote in this year’s presidential election. That was the lowest number across all states polled, with Latinos in Arizona, California, Florida, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Texas all expressing more interest in voting.
Arvin Temkar/AJC
Arvin Temkar/AJC
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