Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ campaign has cashed on Donald Trump’s MSG rally blunder to launch a digital ad targeting Latino voters in America.
During the NYC rally, Trump’s guest speaker Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe made a crude joke, “There’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”
The 30-second ad intended for Latino voters argues that they deserve better than what former President Trump has to offer.
The latest Harris campaign video opens with the comedian’s own words, followed by a clip of Trump saying “Puerto Rico,” and concludes with Harris addressing Trump’s response to Hurricane Maria’s devastating impact on the island in 2017.
“I will never forget what Donald Trump did. He abandoned the island and offered nothing more than paper towels and insults,” said Harris in the ad.
“As president, I will always fight for you and your families, and together, we can chart a new way forward,” the ad concludes.
According to NBC News, the ad will run online in battleground states on platforms like YouTube TV, Hulu and Snapchat, which the maximum Latino use, the data was given by a Harris campaign official to NBC News.
Pennsylvania alone is home to more than 450,000 Puerto Ricans, according to census data, with more than 300,000 eligible voters, according to the Latino Data Hub at UCLA.
In addition to the ad, a Harris campaign official stated that digital advertisements will be placed in El Nuevo Dia, the most widely read newspaper in Puerto Rico, leading up to Election Day. These ads will include a GIF that reads in Spanish: “Focus on your family in the States. One voice, one vote.”
The Trump campaign made efforts to distance itself from the comedian’s controversial remarks, with high-profile Republicans quickly voicing disapproval. On Monday, Sen. JD Vance stated that, although he hadn’t heard the jokes firsthand, he felt Americans need to “stop getting so offended.”
“A comedian told a joke; I don’t think that’s newsworthy,” Vance said to a local reporter.