On Wednesday, Nicky Jam, the Puerto Rican reggaetón sensation, announced that he is retracting his endorsement of Donald Trump in the upcoming election.
The most recent controversy comes after a comedian referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage” during a rally for the Republican presidential candidate at Madison Square Garden in New York on Sunday. In an Instagram video, Jam explained that he chose to support Trump last month, believing the Republican nominee would positively impact the economy.
“Never in my life would I have imagined that a month later a comedian would come and insult my country and speak so poorly about my country,” said Jam, speaking in Spanish from the seat of a vehicle. “For that reason, I’m withdrawing my support for Donald Trump and am stepping aside from any politics. Puerto Rico will be respected.”
As we previously reported, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe received major backlash for referring to the island as “garbage.”
“There’s a lot going on. Like, 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,” Hinchcliffe said on stage Sunday, eliciting mixed reactions from the crowd.
Hinchcliffe also reacted to a video shared on X featuring Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez weighing in on his speech. “These people have no sense of humor,” Hinchcliffe wrote on X. “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.”
“I love Puerto Rico and vacation there,” he continued. “I made fun of everyone…watch the whole set. I’m a comedian Tim…might be time to change your tampon.” As we previously shared, Hinchcliffe’s speech also featured jokes aimed at Jewish individuals and Black men by making a joke about black people choosing to carve watermelons for Halloween instead of pumpkins.
