A week before the US elections, Donald Trump and the Republican party are busy putting out fires started by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, whose performance at a Trump rally sparked a furious backlash and accusations of racism. The comedian was one of 30 speakers at the event taking place at Madison Square Garden in New York, where he called the American territory of Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage”. The joke received fierce criticism from Democrats as well as Republicans, with the GOP now distancing itself from the comedian’s statements.

Hinchcliffe, known for his live comedy podcast Kill Tony, is a popular insult comedian who specialises in shock jock humour, much like the provocative joke that landed him in the middle of a political firestorm. “There’s a lot going on,” he told the gathered crowd. “I don’t know if you know this but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”

Not the smartest choice of material for an election campaign event, particularly since Puerto Rico is an American island territory with a large diaspora across various states, most notably Florida. “The joke bombed for a reason,” wrote US Senator Rick Scott on X. “It’s not funny and it’s not true.”

Hinchcliffe’s performance also touched upon other racial—and racist—stereotypes such as black people loving watermelons, Jews being penny-pinchers and calling Palestinians rock-throwers. The Trump campaign had allegedly vetted the comedian’s set before the event, and claim that Hinchcliffe added the offensive jokes off-the-cuff.

Hinchcliffe took to X to defend his performance. “These people have no sense of humour,” he wrote, in response to criticism from Democratic lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz. He also went on to say that “I love Puerto Rico and vacation there.”

Trump has stayed silent on the matter so far. However, numerous political figures—including the archbishop of Puerto Rico—have called on the former President to apologise for the proceedings that took place at his rally.

As part of his outreach in the run-up to a hotly contested election, Trump has associated himself with numerous comedians by making appearances on their podcasts, including Theo Von’s This Past Weekend, Andrew Schulz’s Flagrant and most recently Joe Rogan’s The Joe Rogan Experience.