Americans in Puerto Rico can't vote for US president. Their anger at Trump is shaping the race

[Judi Lynn]

By DÁNICA COTO
Updated 9:35 PM CDT, October 28, 2024

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A comic calling Puerto Rico garbage before a packed Donald Trump rally in New York was the latest humiliation for an island territory that has long suffered from mistreatment, residents said Monday in expressions of fury that could affect the presidential election.

Puerto Ricans cannot vote in general elections despite being U.S. citizens, but they can exert a powerful influence with relatives on the mainland. Phones across the island of 3.2 million people were ringing minutes after the speaker derided the U.S. territory Sunday night, and they still buzzed Monday.

Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris is competing with Trump to win over Puerto Rican communities in Pennsylvania and other swing states. Shortly after stand-up comic Tony Hinchcliffe said that, “I don’t know if you guys 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,” Puerto Rican reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny announced he was backing Harris.

Hinchcliffe’s set also included lewd and racist comments about Latinos, Jews and Black people, all key constituencies in the election.

More:
https://apnews.com/article/puerto-rico-trump-joke-garbage-a91e2aafd93a06d32365efa013581b85

[Lunabell]

1. Hey, Kanye, Candace, Amber, Patrick and other black magats!

Y'all carving watermelons instead of pumpkins for Halloween? How'd you like that pos "joke" from the orange blobfather's nazi rally? Did you laugh? Did you think that was fucking hilarious? Was it a knee slapper?

Explain to me how you can support this racist pos? Explain to me like I'm a 5th grader, because it just does not make any goddamned sense to me.

[eppur_se_muova]

2. A lot of PRs relocated to FL after the hurricane(s). I wonder how many can get registered to vote ?

If they, or a member of their family/household has resided in FL sufficiently long and/or for a sufficient % of the year, can they qualify as residents for the purpose of voting ? I wish Dems in FL would push this really hard -- they may have so many temporary, or even permanent, economic refugees from PR it could tip a lot of FL races to Dems.

[GreenWave]

3. Can't they vote on the mainland or is residency required?

If they can vote, plane flights to Florida are the way to go!

[JohnSJ]

4. but those Puerto Ricans in Pennsylvania can and will vote.