When podcaster Tony Hinchcliffe attacked Puerto Rico as “a floating island of garbage” during Donald Trump’s October 27 rally at Madison Square Garden, he wasn’t making those remarks in isolation.
Not only have numerous conservative media figures defended him, but other Trump-aligned media figures have previously dismissed or denigrated Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory whose residents are American citizens.
The former president’s allies have claimed that Puerto Ricans shouldn’t be allowed to serve as federal judges because they’re “not even from this country”; mocked Puerto Rico as a “third world country”; told a Puerto Rican “who can barely speak English” to “go back” to “your old country”; and questioned, “Why don’t the illegals ever want to go to Puerto Rico?”
Trump ally Laura Loomer: Puerto Ricans shouldn’t be federal judges because they’re “not even from this country.” Loomer is a bigoted podcaster who is heavily connected to Trump. She has also hosted numerous Republicans, including Kari Lake, Bernie Moreno, and JD Vance. (She is scheduled to host Sen. Rick Scott tonight.)
During a rant about immigrant judges on her May 21 program, Loomer said that Puerto Rico isn’t part of the United States. She said: “In what world is it appropriate for immigrants to be deciding whether or not, you know, Donald Trump could be on the ballot or whether or not Donald Trump will be the next president depending on the outcome of these cases. And some people will say that that’s an offensive statement to make. I don’t really care. It’s just something that a lot of people aren’t aware of, and I think that it puts things into perspective when people realize, holy shit, three of the judges involved in Trump’s cases are not even from this country. They’re from Jamaica, Colombia, and Puerto Rico.”
Trump surrogate Tucker Carlson mocked Puerto Rico as a “third world country.” Carlson has been campaigning for Trump during this election. During a 2017 interview with former Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, Carlson asked of a push to make Puerto Rico a state: “Why would it be good for America to absorb a third world country into the United States? A country where electricity doesn’t work. The whole island went dark in September, as you well know. It’s massively in debt. It’s totally corrupt and dysfunctional. I mean, no offense it’s a great place and everything, but why would we — what would be in it for America to make it a state?”
Trump ally Carl Higbie on Puerto Ricans: “If you are so proud of your old country, then go back.” Higbie, a former Trump administration official, is now a Trump-supporting host for Newsmax who recently interviewed the former president. In his book, Higbie criticized Puerto Ricans, complaining about “some young punk, who has lived in America his whole life, with a Puerto Rican flag in the back of his car and who can barely speak English.” He added, “As I have said before, if you are so proud of your old country, then go back.” From Higbie’s 2012 book:
