Jennifer Lopez blasts Trump campaign’s ‘garbage’ comments

This week, Kamala Harris called for Americans to “stop pointing fingers at each other” as she tried to push past comments made by President Joe Biden about Donald Trump’s supporters and “garbage”.

Harris held rallies in a trio of battleground states in the closing week of the election, with stops in Raleigh, North Carolina; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and Madison, Wisconsin. 

She has leant on star power, with the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Beyoncé, and yesterday, she was joined on stage by Jennifer Lopez, who responded to the racist comments about her heritage made at a rally for Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden.

Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe sparked controversy when he called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage”, a comment which reportedly prompted Biden to allegedly call Trump’s supporters “garbage” in return.

As Biden denied the claims, Trump took part in a photo-op in which he dressed up and drove around in a garbage truck.

Lopez, who is Puerto Rican, talked about her experience as a Latin-American woman living in the US at a Las Vegas rally in support of Harris, and delivered a takedown of Trump.  

“At Madison Square Garden, he reminded us who he really is and how he really feels,” she said. “It wasn’t just Puerto Ricans that were offended that day. It was every Latino in this country. It was humanity and anyone of decent character.” 

“I am Puerto Rican, and yes, I was born here, and we are Americans,” she continued. “I am a mother. I am a sister. I am an actor and an entertainer. And I like Hollywood endings. I like when the good guy, and in this case, the good girl wins.” 

She added: “We should be emotional. We should be upset. We should be scared and outraged. We should – our pain matters. We matter. You matter. Your voice and your vote matters.” 

“Women have the power to make the difference in this election.” 

Other Puerto Rican celebrities have also been critical of Trump in recent days. 

Bad Bunny, one of the world’s biggest Latin music stars, shared Harris’ platform for Puerto Rico on social media; Ricky Martin shared a clip of Hinchcliffe’s set, captioned: “This is what they think of us”; and reggaeton star Nicky Jam, who had previously appeared onstage with Trump, withdrew his endorsement, saying: “Puerto Rico should be respected.” 

Jennifer Lopez’s comments came the same day Harris seized on Trump’s remark in Wisonsin that he will protect women, “whether the women like it or not.”  

The vice president told reporters that Trump’s comment is “very offensive to women, in terms of not understanding their agency, their authority, their right and their ability to make decisions about their own lives, including their own bodies.”