Trump campaign: Comedian's joke about Puerto Rico at MSG rally 'does not reflect' Trump's views

The Trump campaign distanced itself and former President Trump from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe's joke about Puerto Rico at the campaign's Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday.

“There’s a lot going on. 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,” Hinchcliffe said as a warm-up act ahead of the main speakers at the rally.

In response to the comments, senior Trump campaign adviser Danielle Alvarez said in a statement that “this joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign."

Hinchcliffe addressed the backlash he's received for his act.

"These people have no sense of humor. 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," he wrote on X. 

"I love Puerto Rico and vacation there. I made fun of everyone…watch the whole set. I’m a comedian Tim…might be time to change your tampon," he added, referencing Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate.

In advance of Trump's Madison Square Garden rally, Democrats such as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton compared the gathering to a Nazi rally that took place there 85 years ago. 

Presidential historian Craig Shirley criticized Clinton's comparison, noting that former President Bill Clinton accepted the Democratic nomination for president at the same venue in 1992.

Harris, Trump's opponent, was asked about those comparisons on Monday as well as Hinchcliffe's joke.  

"He [Trump] is focused and actually fixated on his grievances, on himself and on dividing our country," she said. "And it is not in any way something that will strengthen the American family, the American worker. It is absolutely something that is intended to and is fanning the fuel of trying to divide us."