by
Gabriela Santiago-Romero
Detroit City Council member Gabriela Santiago-Romero, who was born in Mexico, and other local Latinos, including Puerto Ricans, expressed anger Monday and slammed racist comments made about Latinos at a Donald Trump rally in Madison Square Gardens in Manhattan Sunday night.
Santiago-Romero tells Deadline Detroit she was "terrified that this is being fed in this platform, this narrative that will just allow for more hate. And at the same time, the Republican Party has been doing so much work in trying to get minority groups to support them. A part of me is relieved that they are still showing their true colors and how they actually think about us."
Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, 40, one of the main speakers Sunday night, triggered a backlash around the country after he told the audience:
"I don't know if you know this, but there's literally a floating island of garbarge in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it's called Puerto."
He also said:
"These Latinos, they love making babies, too, just know that. They do, they do. There's no pulling out. They don't do that. They come inside, just like they did to our country."
Addiitonally, Hinchcliffe made a racist remark about a Black person and a watermelon. Other speakers also spewed racist, antisemtitic, misogynist or anti-Palestinian remarks. TV personality Tucker Carlson referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as a "Somoan-Malaysian low IQ-former California prosecutor." A businessman who spoke said Harris and "her pimp handlers will destroy our country."
Some Trump surrogates have insisted the remarks do not relfect the former president's views.
Some Metro Detroit Latinos interviewed by Deadline Detroit said the racist comments fuel a misunderstanding amongst many in the states, who don't realize that Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory and residents are not immigrants, but rather U.S. citizens, who have American passports. Puerto Ricans cannnot vote for president unless they move to one of the 50 states or D.C. and register to vote.
They also said it was unclear what impact the remarks would have on the election in Michigan where Hispanics or Latinos make up about 5.6 percent, or 564,000 of Michigan's 10 million population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Of that, Newsweek estimates there are more than 43,000 Puerto Ricans in the state.
"I'm not sure," said Councilwoman Santiago-Romero, "but it definitely got me to send that link and that clip to all of my family members, who I've heard joke around about potentially supporting Trump."
"So it was definitely something that I'm using as a reminder to even my family and my friends and my neighbors and my residents, those of us that pretended that this Republican Party accepted us who cared about us; this was a very clear reminder that they don't." She said she has no choice but to vote for Harris.
Dorimar Mercado, 27, who came from Puerto Rico three years ago and lives in Royal Oak, said of Sunday's remarks: "I'm upset to say the least. I just can't believe it's even acceptable to make these racist comments in a public space."
Mercado, who is an operations coordinator at a Detrot non-profit, added: "It's so sad, even now, in 2024, this is still happenening. I have a lot of friends living here today and this is just really upsetting to all of us."
Will it make a difference to Puerto Ricans supporting Trump?
"I would like to say yes, but I don't think so," she said, explaining that she's already seen Latino people defending Trump, saying the remarks were just a joke and shouldn't be taken personally.
Puerto Rican native Jose Rivera-Hernandez, 29, a mechanical engineer for General Motors, who lives in Auburn Hills, said he follows the comedian Hinchcliffe, who delivered the controversial remarks. Hinchcliffe has a podcast, "Kill Tony" and has written for some Comedy Central Roast episodes.
He said at a comedy club he might get away with those remarks, but they're not funny in a setting like a poltiical rally.
"He was over the top," said Rivera-Hernandez, who spent eight years in the Marines. "They are racist comments toward us people who have contributed taxes to all the U.S. for years and have been helping win wars defending the U.S."
"I was angry, frustrated," he said when he heard the remarks about Puerto Rico, "knowing how beautiful it is to me."
"I want to save money to go back to Puerto Rico. I came here for the opportunities."
"Before, when I was a Marine, I used to be a Republican until Trump came into the race," he said. "Since 2016 I always supported the Democratic Party because of Trump, because Trump has been racist since the beginning."
"Now, I will vote for Harris, for sure."
