Chicago Puerto Rican residents react to racist joke made at Trump rally
CHICAGO (CBS) – Two days after a comedian at a rally supporting Donald Trump made racist jokes about Puerto Rico, members of Chicago's Puerto Rican community are calling for action.
Conservative defenders said when one invites an insult comic to an event, they should expect insulting things to be said.
Those in the Puerto Rican community don't see it that way, and they are planning to use the final week before the election to mobilize and affect change beyond their neighborhood ballot box.
"I am angry, and I know that a lot of you are angry," said Marvin Garcia, of Community as a Campus. "So we are going to take that anger and we're gonna channel it and we're gonna organize, and make a difference in the battleground states."
Community members on Tuesday rolled out plans to use their anger in response to the comments made at the pro-Trump rally to say that if the former president is elected, and offensive refrains continue, they'll have themselves to blame.
"I'm here to thank the man for his stupidity and ignorance in giving 500,000 Puerto Ricans in Pennsylvania something to stand up for," said Hipolito Roldan, of the Hispanic Housing Development Corporation.
As cheering Chicagoans supported the rallying cry, at Trump's home base in Palm Beach, he gave no direct reaction to the comedian's words.
But he framed the New York rally this way:
"I don't think anybody has ever seen anything like what happened the other night at Madison Square Garden," Trump said. "The love in that room, it was breathtaking."
Trump basked in the love among his fan base, and framed his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, as amplifying an angry narrative.
"Talking about Hitler and Nazi, because her record is horrible," Trump said. "Her borders are the worst in the history of the world."
Back in Chicago, organizers are aiming to coordinate a ground game in the campaign's final few days.
"Our families in Puerto Rico have families in the United States," said Roldan. "They're in Pennsylvania. They're in New Jersey. They're in Florida. They're in the battleground states. We are going to make a difference."
A CBS News poll from last week found that 62% of Latino voters nationwide backed Harris, while 36% supported Trump. That poll was conducted before those racist jokes by the comedian about Puerto Rico.