An Analysis of Tony Hinchcliffe’s Puerto Rico Joke
The Trump rally at Madison Square Garden was not, as absurdly dishonestly predicted by those on the other side of the political aisle, a Klan rally, a Nazi rally, by any stretch of the imagination. As such, the only apparent controversy to be drummed up out of it has been a single joke told amidst a set performed there by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe (host of the #1 live podcast in the world, Kill Tony, which sold out Madison Square Garden two nights in a row in this same year).
Tony has been known to dabble in off-color, often ‘insult’ humor, and this joke has been interpreted by the least honest people in the world to be an example of that—and a particularly egregiously offensive one. But, is this true? Let’s take a look at the joke, verbatim:
“There’s a lot going on, like, 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. Yeah. I think it’s called Puerto Rico?”
In order to find this joke offensive, one must interpret it as either saying that Puerto Ricans themselves are the ‘garbage’ in question, or as saying that Puerto Ricans are filthy people. But the joke is, in actuality, saying neither of those things—instead, it is referring to a notorious and as yet unsolved problem that Puerto Rico has been having in regards to its landfills (and comparing that to the literal floating island of garbage in the ocean which most everyone is familiar with).
This garbage problem that Puerto Rico is having has been covered in the media for many years, entirely uncontroversially—it is known, and it is not disputed. However, unless you have a specific interest in Puerto Rico, you might not have heard about it.
Tony Hinchcliffe does have a specific interest in Puerto Rico—in a tweet made in response to wild accusations made about the joke by AOC and Tim Walz, he states that he loves Puerto Rico and vacations there.
Racist jokes are born out of ignorance and unfair stereotype. What we have here instead is a joke borne out of over-familiarity—the problems that Puerto Rico faces are so known to Hinchcliffe that he forgot that others may be largely unfamiliar with them. This is a joke, then, whose ideal audience is Puerto Ricans who live in Puerto Rico. It is not a racist joke, but a ‘local joke’—the kind of joke that typically fits into the start of a comedy set as a treat for those who are actually from where you’re performing. Told within that setting, no one would have batted an eye (and it would have likely been followed by several other jokes in a row about the garbage problem).
Is the joke, then, out of place for a Trump rally in NYC? Yes—Hinchcliffe didn’t realize how unfamiliar others are with the problems of Puerto Rico, and so, it didn’t get a strong laugh, as it was too confusing, too ‘inside baseball’. He recognized this immediately, and quickly recovered. Were it not for the undue, dishonest focus placed on the joke subsequently by those in the media out to get not just him, but Trump and his supporters, it would have been a joke that was not even remembered.
This manufactured controversy should blow over fairly quickly—there is no meat to it whatsoever. All that will remain of it is the unintended side effect of increased awareness about the garbage problem in Puerto Rico. To worry that this joke will somehow hurt Trump’s support in Puerto Rico is insane, as Puerto Ricans are the people in this world most able to understand the joke—if anything, it will help Trump with them, as he will be associated with an understanding of a specific, local plight of theirs.
Any accusation made against an opponent that is easily uncovered to be dishonest will only, in fact, help the opponent. Trump is as powerful as he is today because the media and all those who are dishonest about him do not understand this. As time goes on, they are only seen more as liars (because they are) and he is only seen more as unfairly picked on (because he is). This is partly how he won the first time, and this is definitely how he will win again (and by larger margins) this time—how unfairly he and his supporters are treated is even more obvious now than it ever was before.
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