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Jennifer Lopez, campaigning with Kamala Harris on Thursday in Nevada, said Donald Trump’s campaign had offended “every Latino in this country” with his Sunday rally at Madison Square Garden, where a comedian mocked Puerto Rico. The pop star and actress’ comments at Harris’ rally in Las Vegas came as outrage continues to reverberate over the pro-Trump comedian calling the US island territory of Puerto Rico — where Lopez’s parents were born — a “floating island of garbage.”
“At Madison Square Garden, he reminded us who he really is and how he really feels,” Lopez said of Trump. “It wasn’t just Puerto Ricans who were offended that day, OK? It was every Latino in this country, it was humanity and anyone of decent character.”
Harris’ stop in Las Vegas with Lopez came during a swing through the hotly contested Western battlegrounds of Arizona and Nevada — where CNN polls released earlier this week showed exceedingly close races with no clear leader.
The vice president has deployed a growing list of celebrities and musicians with huge social media followings in the race’s closing days, as her campaign seeks to turn out key constituencies — including Black voters in Georgia and Latinos out West. That list ranges from music legends Stevie Wonder and Bruce Springsteen, who have performed at Harris events in Georgia, to the stars of Marvel’s “Avengers” movies, who backed the vice president on social media Thursday.
But the most impactful support might come from Puerto Rican stars like Lopez, who have grown more vocal since Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally.
“This is our country, too,” Lopez said Thursday night. At one point, she fought back tears.
“You know what? We should be emotional. We should be upset. We should be scared and outraged. We should. Our pain matters. We matter,” Lopez said. “Your voice and your vote matters.”Other Puerto Rican celebrities have also been critical of Trump in recent days.
Bad Bunny, one of the world’s biggest Latin music stars, shared Harris’ platform for Puerto Rico on social media on Sunday. And reggaeton star Nicky Jam, who had previously appeared onstage with Trump, withdrew his endorsement of the former president, saying, “Puerto Rico should be respected.”
Trump has long sought to make inroads with Black and Latino men. In the critical swing state of Pennsylvania, in particular, a sizable portion of the rapidly growing Latino population is of Puerto Rican heritage.
Harris’ campaign on Thursday launched a Spanish-language ad, aimed at reaching Latino voters, that highlighted comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s remark at the Trump rally.
“Puerto Rico is an island of scientists, poets, educators, stars and heroes,” the narrator of the ad says in Spanish. “We’re not trash, we’re more.”
