2024’s deplorables moment?
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In the North Philadelphia neighbourhood of Fairhill, signs of Puerto Rico are never far off. The US island territory's red, white and blue flag adorns homes and businesses, and the sounds of salsa and reggaetón boom from passing cars and restaurants selling fried plantains and spit-roasted pork.
The area is the beating heart of Philadelphia's more than 90,000-strong Puerto Rican population and forms a key part of Pennsylvania's Latino community, which both the Democrats and Republicans have sought to woo ahead of the 5 November election.
But on Monday morning, many locals were left seething at a joke made at Donald Trump's rally the night before in New York, in which comic Tony Hinchcliffe described Puerto Rico as an "island of garbage".
The joke, some said, could come back to haunt the Republicans in a key swing state that Democrats won by a narrow margin of 1.17% - about 82,000 votes - in 2020..
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I don't think it's an apt comparison.
There's a difference between between a major party candidate dismissing half of the American population and a comic making a joke.
Puerto Rico suffers from real injustices and significant disparities with its people being American citizens while having only the legal status of people living in a territory.
There probably was only ever a snowflake's chance in hell of either party mentioning the real issues regarding Puerto Rico.
It's not exactly news when a comic makes an impolitic joke.
It's the federal government's treatment of Puerto Rico I think is deplorable.
Hawaii used to be a territory and its people suffered the same in the territorial period so I have some sympathy for Puerto Rico.
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It was a stupid, offensive joke, but that's all it was. It was this guy's shot at national attention and he took it.
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I didn't actually watch it. I don't watch any of the rallies.
I see clips sometimes on YouTube kind of randomly or when Trump was almost assassinated.
I'll watch it.
Comics are court jesters anyway.
Always have been. People (especially Democrats) should quit trying to impede the right to free speech we have in this country. -
The comedian was vetted and everything said was on the teleprompter - don't think for a minute that Trump's team didn't want him to say all of that! It is only after the push-back from America that they are scrambling to say this was a stupid, offensive joke, it represents the central concept of Trumpness...
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Evidently it's only bad when it's a GOP rally.
Link to video -
The only reactions that matter come from the group(s) that are the subject of the jokes.
Guess we'll see how the Mexican community reacts to Lopez.
Many in the Puerto Rican community don’t seem to have appreciated Hinchcliffe's sense of humor very much.
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In the case of George Lopez (comedian featured in the video @Mik links to), as Lopez is himself of Mexico descent, this qualifies as self-deprecating humor.
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That’s so weak.
