By DÁNICA COTO

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A comic strip call Puerto Rico garbage before a crowded Donald Trump rally in New York It’s the latest humiliation for an island territory that has long suffered from mistreatment, residents said Monday in expressions of fury that could affect the presidential election.

Puerto Ricans cannot vote in general elections despite being U.S. citizens, but they can wield powerful influence among their loved ones on the mainland. Phones across the island of 3.2 million people were ringing within minutes of the speaker. made fun of the American territory Sunday night, and they were still buzzing Monday.

Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris is in competition with Trump for conquer Puerto Rican communities in Pennsylvania and other swing states. Shortly after, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe said: “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”, Bad Bunny, Puerto Rican reggaeton superstar announced he was supporting Harris.

Hinchcliffe’s series also included lewd and racist comments about Latinos, Jews and black people, all key groups in the election.

Non-voters with great influence

Milagros Serrano, 81, has a son who lives in the swing state of Pennsylvania and said the entire family was outraged by the comedian’s comments.

“He can’t talk about Puerto Rico like that,” she said as she left for a medical appointment. “He’s the one who’s trash.”

Puerto Rico became a U.S. territory in 1917, and the first major wave of migration occurred after World War II to alleviate labor shortages. There are now more Puerto Ricans in the United States than on the island.

Those who remained say they often feel like second-class citizens because they cannot vote in presidential elections and receive limited federal funding compared to U.S. states.

This festering resentment erupted when Trump visited Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria hit the island as a powerful Category 4 storm in 2017. He threw paper towels at crowds and denied the storm’s official death toll, with experts estimating that nearly 3,000 people died in the suffocating consequences.

After Sunday’s rally, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, Danielle Alvarez, said in a statement that Hinchcliffe’s joke did not “reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.”

José Acevedo, a 48-year-old health worker from San Juan, shook his head as he recalled the feelings that coursed through him as he watched the rally.

“What humiliation, what discrimination! he said early Monday as he waited to catch a public bus to work.

Acevedo said he immediately texted relatives in New York, including a Republican uncle who planned to vote for Trump.

“He told me he was going to have to analyze his decision,” Acevedo said, adding that those close to him were in shock. “They couldn’t believe it.”

Angry reaction at home

The comments dominated local news sites late into the night and prompted Jenniffer González, Puerto Rico’s congressional representative for the pro-statehood New Progressive Party and a Trump supporter, to call them “despicable, misguided and disgusting.” “.

“They don’t represent the values ​​of the GOP,” she said.

Politics in Puerto Rico is defined by the political status of the island, so it is common to see Democrats and Republicans being members of the same local party.

Meanwhile, Democratic Gov. Pedro Pierluisi wrote on Facebook: “Trash is what came out of Tony Hinchcliffe’s mouth, and everyone who applauded him should be ashamed of themselves for disrespecting Puerto Rico.” »