A flippant “joke” about Puerto Rico told by a crude comedian at former President Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally has not changed any votes in the battleground of Pennsylvania despite hours of anti-Trump media and Harris campaign attacks.
Cygnal pollster Brent Buchanan said that the outfit’s polling of Pennsylvania since the Sunday event showed no change in the Hispanic vote.
“Puerto Ricans are one of the least Republican groups, so these comments are less likely to flip votes from Trump than they are to potentially activate votes against him,” he said in a morning memo.
However, he added, “Our Pennsylvania data shows zero change among Hispanics in the presidential race in the state the past few days.”
BREAKING — PUERTO RICO SENATOR ZORAIDA BUXO TO ENDORSE TRUMP IN ALLENTWON, PA pic.twitter.com/rcoPdZ6HIz
— Election Wizard (@ElectionWiz) October 29, 2024
Trump said on Tuesday that he didn’t hear the comment that came early during the rally.
The media and the Harris campaign, desperate for a vote-moving issue in the final week before Election Day, have seized on the comment from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe that the U.S. territory is “a floating island of garbage.”
👀@johnrogersal told @newsmax exactly why @KamalaHarris has lost ground among young black and Hispanic voters: she has NOT made the case as to how their lives have improved over the last 4 years. pic.twitter.com/ZUBz5MqK8H
— Cygnal Polling & Analytics (@cygnal) October 29, 2024
The focus on Hinchcliffe’s comments highlights the problem Harris is having in sustaining the Democrats’ traditional hold on Hispanic people. Multiple polls have shown the Hispanic vote moving to Trump.
What battleground state has a largely noticeable segment of persuadable voters who are Puerto Rican? This seems like a stretch… https://t.co/WCJ2XP93NX
— Brent Buchanan, Pollster (@brentbuc) October 28, 2024
Cygnal has charted the shift. It released a New York voter poll this week that found Trump winning over more Hispanics than in prior elections.
SEE THE LATEST POLITICAL NEWS AND BUZZ FROM WASHINGTON SECRETS
In New York, Trump is capturing more of the Hispanic vote than he did in 2020, 37% versus 22%. And while President Joe Biden won Hispanics in 2020 over Trump by 48 points in the commonwealth, Harris has just a 16-point lead in Pennsylvania, and that includes the Puerto Rican vote.
“Trump is capturing 15% more of the Hispanic voters in New York state than in 2020,” said Mitch Brown, pollster and director of political strategy. “This is a trend we continue to see across the country where Trump has made significant gains among black and Hispanic voters, especially non-white working-class voters.”