A disparaging comment about Puerto Rico was made at Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally has incensed residents of the island territory—and experts say it’s not clear how it may impact an upcoming non-binding referendum where Puerto Ricans can vote for statehood or independence.
Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe joked that Puerto Rico was “a floating island of garbage” during a rally on Sunday that featured crude and racist remarks from several speakers. The comment drew condemnation from both sides of the aisle, including from some of Trump’s top Republican allies. The campaign has distanced itself from the joke about Puerto Rico, but not the other remarks.
Trump refused to apologize at several events and during interviews on Tuesday, calling the rally “an absolute lovefest.” He told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Tuesday night that he doesn’t know Hinchcliffe and “can’t imagine it’s a big deal.” However, he later agreed that he “probably he shouldn’t have been there.”
Trump also said that he had “done more for Puerto Rico than any president.”
However, some say the joke at Trump’s rally was a reminder of the former president’s history with Puerto Rico—he fought with Puerto Rican officials during his first term, resisted sending aid after the island was devastated by hurricanes in 2017 and tossed paper towels into a crowd during a visit after Hurricane Maria. He also reportedly called Puerto Rico “dirty” and wondered if the U.S. could sell the island.
Despite being U.S. citizens, Puerto Ricans cannot vote in general elections and have no voting representation in Congress due to the island’s political status. But the outrage could galvanize Puerto Ricans who are residents of states and eligible to vote—that could prove consequential in battlegrounds like Pennsylvania where the polls show the race is extremely close.
Puerto Ricans who live on the island will be heading to the polls where, in a non-binding plebiscite, they can choose among three options for a new political status for the territory: statehood, independence, or independence with free association. For the first time, the island’s current status as a U.S. territory will not be an option.
The results will not change the island’s status: that can only happen with approval from the U.S. Congress and president. A recent survey found that a majority of Americans support Puerto Rico becoming a state, with support higher among Democrats and independents than Republicans.
Christina Ponsa-Kraus, a professor of legal history at Columbia Law School, noted the “colonial catch-22” of Puerto Rico’s political status in a recent article for Time: “Puerto Rico remains a colony because it has no leverage in Congress, and it has no leverage in Congress because it remains a colony.”
But Ponsa-Kraus, a Puerto Rican who studies the legal issues surrounding the political status of Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories, said there is a “glimmer of hope” because of the Puerto Rico Status Act, a bill that would offer Puerto Ricans the chance to vote on the island’s status in the first ever binding referendum.
The legislation was approved by the U.S. House in 2022 with some Republican support and was endorsed by President Joe Biden’s administration, but did not get a Senate vote during that session. It has been reintroduced in the current session, with 98 co-sponsors in the House and 26 in the Senate.
Puerto Rico has already held six referendums dating back to 1967. The most recent three votes saw a majority vote in favor of becoming the 51st U.S. state, but as Ponsa-Kraus noted in her article for Time, opponents questioned the process in the fourth and fifth vote and the low turnout. Almost 53 percent voted in favor of statehood in the most referendum in 2020, which had a turnout of about 55 percent.
A result with a clear majority and higher turnout in November’s vote could put pressure on Congress to take action.
Ponsa-Kraus told Newsweek that she believes the “abhorrent” comments about Puerto Rico at Trump’s rally could have some impact on the upcoming vote. “I imagine they will only sway undecided voters, and it’s difficult to say in which direction,” she said. “I expect voters committed to an option will only redouble their commitment.”
Supporters of statehood “believe that the best response to racism and exclusion is to reject it by steadfastly insisting on equality and inclusion,” she said.
“Their attitude is like that of the civil rights movement of the 1950s-60s: we won’t compromise, we’re not going anywhere, and we demand equal citizenship.”
But supporters of independence “believe that the best response is to reject it by becoming a separate sovereign nation,” she added. “And supporters of a third option, free association under international law, which is basically independence with a power-sharing treaty with the United States, see theirs as the best response.”
Ponsa-Kraus said that she expects most voters “will not be deterred from choosing their preferred option in the upcoming plebiscite. If anything, the outrageous display of racism at Trump’s rally makes the case for self-determination all the more urgent.”
She said it’s critical to remember the upcoming vote is not a federally authorized vote.
“It will rightly send a message to Congress, but it won’t require Congress to act,” she said. “Puerto Ricans cannot change their political status by themselves because the island is a U.S. territory subject to Congress’s control. Congress has to do its part: it must enact legislation offering Puerto Ricans on the island the opportunity to choose among non-territorial options in a federally authorized plebiscite.”
Amílcar Antonio Barreto, a professor of cultures, societies, and global studies at Northeastern University whose work has focused on Puerto Rico and Latinos in the U.S., told Newsweek that he believes the disparaging comments about Puerto Rico could hinder the movement for statehood.
“There is the possibility that the outrage could animate more Puerto Rican islanders to vote on the status question,” he said. “If this does end up the case, however, I don’t think it would bode well for the statehood movement. After all, the Madison Square Garden comments say loud and clear how a Puerto Rican state would be welcomed by a large portion of the American public—the MAGA branch.”
Barreto added that those “opposed to statehood will certainly take advantage of the ‘island of garbage’ reference to claim that Puerto Ricans will never be treated as equals even if the island became a state.”
He added: “The reality is, of course, that regardless of whether Puerto Ricans want statehood or not the ultimate decision to change its status is up to the U.S. Congress.”
