From OSV News:
The Archbishop of San Juan de Puerto Rico, Archbishop Roberto O. González Nieves, has written an open letter to former President Donald Trump, demanding the Republican presidential nominee personally apologize for racist remarks directed at Puerto Rico and others, that took place at his Oct. 27 rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
With days before Election Day Nov. 5, stand-up comic Tony Hinchcliffe was the opening warm-up speaker for Trump’s massive rally. Hinchcliffe, whose brand is insult-comedy, launched into a set of racist jokes toward Latinos and Puerto Ricans, groups known to be majority Catholic.
“These Latinos, they love making babies, too. Just know that they do,” Hinchcliffe said, before getting to the punchline laden with crude sexual innuendo. “There’s no pulling out. They don’t do that. They come inside, just like they did to our country.”
Hinchcliffe, host of the “Kill Tony” podcast, turned to Puerto Rico.
“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,” Hinchcliffe told the audience.
After that, Hinchcliffe then turned to another group where Latinos are heavily represented: immigrants to the U.S.
“Believe it or not, I welcome immigrants to the United States of America with open arms, and by open arms, I mean like this,” said Hinchcliffe, gesturing with his arms in rejection and murmuring, “Go back.”
Hinchcliffe proceeded to make other racist jokes toward Black Americans, Palestinians, Jews, and others.
In his open letter Oct. 29, Archbishop González told Trump he felt “dismayed and appalled” by the comedian’s remarks.
“Puerto Rico is not a floating island of garbage. Puerto Rico is a beautiful country inhabited by a beautiful and noble people, which is why in Spanish it is called ‘un encanto, un edén.’”
The San Juan archbishop, who had served in parishes in New York’s Bronx borough from 1977 to 1988, told the Republican presidential candidate that “more Puerto Rican soldiers died in the Vietnam War as part of the United States military than soldiers from any state in the United States.”
In the letter, the archbishop said — on behalf of the bishops of Puerto Rico — that while he enjoys a good joke, humor also has moral limits.
“It should not insult or denigrate the dignity and sacredness of persons. Hinchcliffe’s comments not only provoke sinister laughter but hatred,” he said. “Such comments have no place in a society founded on ‘liberty and justice for all.’”
Photo: YouTube
