Bad Bunny has released an eight-minute tribute video to his Puerto Rico homeland. He captioned it âgarbage,â alluding to a speakerâs remarks, at a Donald Trump rally on Sunday, invoking various racist stereotypes and referring to Puerto Rico as an âisland of garbage.â Watch Bad Bunnyâs cinematic love-letter to the island on Instagram.
Bad Bunny reacted swiftly to Sundayâs commentsâmade by Tony Hinchcliffe at New Yorkâs Madison Square Garden, in what was framed as a comedy setâby sharing a clip on social media from the Kamala Harris campaign, outlining her plans for Puerto Rico. The video took aim at former President Donald J. Trumpâs handling of Hurricane Maria during his presidency, tying in with Bad Bunnyâs recent protest song, âUna Velita,â which addressed the domestic political response to the 2017 disaster. Resharing Harrisâ video did not amount to an endorsement, a Bad Bunny representative told CNN, but he is âsupportingâ Harris.
Hinchcliffe, whose remarks have been criticized by Harrisâ running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, and other Democrats, and even disavowed by the Trump campaign, said he was making a joke that has been taken out of context. The context was that he played on racist stereotypes of Black and Jewish Americans, too, and the joke, in full, was: âI donât know if you know this, but thereâs literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. Yeah. I think itâs called Puerto Rico.â
Bad Bunnyâs new video features Puerto Rican actor Benicio del Toro, who joins many other Puerto Rican celebritiesâsuch as Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, and Ricky Martinâin condemning the Trump campaign and Hinchcliffe. In addition, during his performance ahead of the New York Yankeesâ World Series game last night, Fat Joeâa Bronx native of Puerto Rican and Cuban descentâpointedly shout out Puerto Rico.
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