Puerto Rico's largest publication endorses Kamala Harris after joke at Trump rally

The editorial board for Puerto Rico's largest newspaper on Tuesday endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris over former President Donald Trump, after a comedian trashed the island territory at a Trump rally on Sunday.

Insult comedian Tony Hinchcliffe jokingly commented that Puerto Rico is a "floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean," at Trump's Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday, which has prompted backlash from critics of the former president. 

Trump's campaign has distanced itself and the former president from the joke, stating that it "does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign."

The newspaper El Nuevo Día expressed outrage at Trump for the joke, claiming that he was "hiding behind a comedian," and asserted that Trump has an “obsession and disdain for a people who do not have the power of the vote to defend themselves."

“The hearts of all of us who love this beautiful Garden of America, and of the world, clench with rage and pain,” editor María Luisa Ferré Rangel wrote. “Is that what Trump and the Republican Party think about Puerto Ricans? Politics is not a joke and hiding behind a comedian is cowardly."

The newspaper urged Puerto Ricans who live in one of the official U.S. states, and can vote legally in federal elections, to support Harris, who it claims "present[s] a government program that promises progress and well-being for the American people."

"Kamala Harris directly addresses Puerto Rico’s pressing emergencies," Mangel continued. "Just on Sunday, as insults rained down on Puerto Rico, the Democratic candidate offered a message of hope, promising to maintain the interagency group dedicated exclusively to strengthening and creating new opportunities."

The endorsement comes after a series of U.S. newspapers decided against endorsing a presidential candidate this year, a move that Jeff Bezos, owner of The Washington Post, attributed to the "perception of bias" an endorsement gives the public. The Los Angeles Times and USA Today have also declined to endorse a candidate so far.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.