Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who called Puerto Rico "a floating island of garbage" at former President Donald Trump's Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday, faces growing backlash from Republicans — including Trump's own campaign.
“This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign," Trump campaign's senior adviser Danielle Alvarez wrote in a statement to ABC News.
Senate Republican Rick Scott — who has long supported statehood for Puerto Rico — also wrote on X that the joke was not funny and “bombed for a reason," while House Republican Maria Salazar said on the platform that she was “disgusted” by Hinchcliffe’s rhetoric, which " does not reflect GOP values."
The Republican Party of Puerto Rico also denounced Tony Hinchcliffe's comments in a statement on Sunday, with party chair Angel Cintrón writing that they were "unfortunate, ignorant, and entirely reprehensible."
He added that the comments do not represent the values of any Puerto Ricans, Democrat or Republican, on the island or throughout the United States.
Notably, while Puerto Rico does not vote for president in the general election, since it is a U.S. territory, the Republican Party of Puerto Rico held a primary in April as part of its presidential nominating process. That primary was won by Donald Trump, who netted the territory's delegates.
Hinchcliffe has not yet issued a formal response as the GOP distances itself from him.
He did, however, quickly reply to Tim Walz when the Democratic governor of Minnesota called him a "jackwad," writing on X, “These people have no sense of humor. Wild that a vice presidential candidate would take time out of his 'busy schedule' to analyze a joke taken out of context to make it seem racist.”
Hinchcliffe continued, “I love Puerto Rico and vacation there. I made fun of everyone…watch the whole set. I’m a comedian Tim…might be time to change your tampon.”
The controversy is not a first for Hinchcliffe, who has a history of making racially charged jokes.
In 2021, he came under fire after calling fellow comedian Peng Dang racist names in a mocking Chinese accent. It was during a Big Laugh Comedy show in Austin, Texas, where Dang had just introduced Hinchcliffe to the stage after doing a series of jokes related to #StopAsianHate. During the set, Hinchcliffe reportedly further made racist jokes against Chinese people.
After the incident, Hinchcliffe was reportedly removed from his agency, WME, and dropped from a scheduled episode on Joe Rogan’s podcast. He was also reportedly forced to cancel several upcoming shows.
-ABC News' Lalee Ibssa, Soorin Kim, Oren Oppenheim and Kelsey Walsh