Jon Stewart defends Tony Hinchcliffe after 'garbage' Puerto Rico joke at Donald Trump rally

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Jon Stewart is speaking out in defence of “roast comic” Tony Hinchcliffe, who told insulting jokes at a campaign rally for Donald Trump in New York City over the weekend.

Hinchcliffe appeared Sunday at Madison Square Garden and out of nearly 30 speakers he got the most headlines after making a slew of remarks many viewers branded as racist.

“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. Later, he made a wisecrack about how he “carved watermelons” with one of his Black “buddies.”

Speaking about Latinos, Hinchcliffe said they “love making babies.”

“There’s no pulling out. They don’t do that. They come inside, just like they did to our country,” he quipped.

He also made crude jokes about Palestinians throwing rocks and Jews clinging to money.

But during an episode of The Daily Show this week, Stewart backed up the comedian’s routine, telling his viewers “to be fair” Hinchcliffe was “really just doing what he does.”

“Now obviously in retrospect, having a roast comedian come to a political rally a week before election day and roasting a key voting demographic, probably not the best decision by the campaign politically,” said Stewart.

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Stewart then played clips from Hinchcliffe’s appearance at The Roast of Tom Brady Netflix special earlier this year. During that event, Hinchcliffe called Jeff Ross “so Jewish he only watches football for the coin toss,” said Rob Gronkowski was “the Nazi that kept burning himself on the ovens,” and branded Kevin Hart “so small that when his ancestors picked cotton, they called it deadlifting.”

“Yes, yes, of course. Terrible, boo, yes,” said Stewart of Hinchcliffe’s jokes. “There’s something wrong with me. I find that guy very funny. I’m sorry. I don’t know what to tell you. I mean, bringing him to a rally and have him not do roast jokes? That’d be like bringing Beyonce to a rally and not have — oh.”

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The Beyonce dig was a reference to the pop star’s appearance at a Kamala Harris rally last Friday in which many thought the Grammy-winning singer would perform. Instead, she gave a speech and told the crowd, “Your vote is one of the most valuable tools, and we need you.”

“No singing? Just a heartfelt statement on the importance of the election?” Stewart asked. “F— it, I’m voting for Trump.”

The Trump campaign sought to distance itself from Hinchcliffe’s quip about Puerto Rico.

“This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” Trump campaign senior adviser Danielle Alvarez noted in a statement.

But critics were quick to pile on. Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz called Hinchcliffe a “jack wad,” and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat with Puerto Rican roots, said his insults were “super upsetting.”

Comedian Marc Maron didn’t name Hinchcliffe, but in a blog post he hit out at comedians who have been courting “shameless, self-proclaimed white supremacists and fascists on their show to joke around.”

Luis Fonsi, the Puerto Rican musical artist behind the hit song Despacito, went on Instagram and wrote “going down this racist path ain’t it.”

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Ricky Martin, who had previously endorsed Trump’s rival U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris, said “that’s what they think of us,” on Instagram.

Following Hinchcliffe’s remarks, Bad Bunny, who was the most-streamed artist on Spotify in 2020, 2021 and 2022, threw his support behind Harris, sharing a video with his 45 million Instagram followers that showed Harris saying “there’s so much at stake in this election for Puerto Rican voters and for Puerto Rico.”

In a garbled statement while addressing the Hispanic advocacy group Voto Latino, U.S. President Joe Biden seemed to imply that people voting for Trump are “garbage.”

“Just the other day, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage. Well, let me tell you something, I don’t, I don’t know the Puerto Rican that I know, the Puerto Rico where I’m fr — in my home state of Delaware. They’re good, decent honorable people,” he said.

The president then added: “The only garbage I see floating out there is (Trump’s) supporters. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American. It’s totally contrary to everything we’ve done, everything we’ve been.”

Biden later took to social media to personally clarify what he said.

“Earlier today I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump’s supporter at his Madison Square Garden rally as garbage — which is the only word I can think of to describe it,” he posted on X. “His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That’s all I meant to say. The comments at that rally don’t reflect who we are as a nation.”

But Hinchcliffe brushed off his detractors, saying they “have no sense of humour.”

“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,” Hinchcliffe 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.”

Trump also wouldn’t apologize for Hinchcliffe’s digs. Speaking at his Florida resort Tuesday, Trump said that “there’s never been an event so beautiful” as his Sunday rally in his hometown of New York.

“The love in that room. It was breathtaking,” he said. “It was like a lovefest, an absolute lovefest. And it was my honour to be involved.”

mdaniell@postmedia.com