Jennifer Lopez says ‘every Latino in this country’ offended by Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally

By Eric Bradner, CNN

(CNN) — Jennifer Lopez, campaigning with Kamala Harris on Thursday in Nevada, said Donald Trump’s campaign had offended “every Latino in this country” with his Sunday rally at Madison Square Garden, where a comedian mocked Puerto Rico.

The pop star and actress’ comments at Harris’ rally in Las Vegas came as outrage continues to reverberate over the pro-Trump comedian calling the US island territory of Puerto Rico — where Lopez’s parents were born — a “floating island of garbage.”

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

Harris’ stop in Las Vegas with Lopez came during a swing through the hotly contested Western battlegrounds of Arizona and Nevada — where CNN polls released earlier this week showed exceedingly close races with no clear leader.

The vice president has deployed a growing list of celebrities and musicians with huge social media followings in the race’s closing days, as her campaign seeks to turn out key constituencies — including Black voters in Georgia and Latinos out West. That list ranges from music legends Stevie Wonder and Bruce Springsteen, who have performed at Harris events in Georgia, to the stars of Marvel’s “Avengers” movies, who backed the vice president on social media Thursday.

But the most impactful support might come from Puerto Rican stars like Lopez, who have grown more vocal since Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally.

“This is our country, too,” Lopez said Thursday night.

At one point, she fought back tears.

“You know what? We should be emotional. We should be upset. We should be scared and outraged. We should. Our pain matters. We matter,” Lopez said. “Your voice and your vote matters.”

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 on Sunday. And reggaeton star Nicky Jam, who had previously appeared onstage with Trump, withdrew his endorsement of the former president, saying, “Puerto Rico should be respected.”

Trump has long sought to make inroads with Black and Latino men. In the critical swing state of Pennsylvania, in particular, a sizable portion of the rapidly growing Latino population is of Puerto Rican heritage.

Harris’ campaign on Thursday launched a Spanish-language ad, aimed at reaching Latino voters, that highlighted comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s remark at the Trump rally.

“Puerto Rico is an island of scientists, poets, educators, stars and heroes,” the narrator of the ad says in Spanish. “We’re not trash, we’re more.”

The Trump campaign has sought to distance itself from Hinchcliffe, with Trump campaign spokesperson Danielle Alvarez saying in a statement after the rally, “This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.”

And Trump’s campaign has sought to turn attention to another “garbage” remark — pointing to President Joe Biden’s comment on Tuesday night that many interpreted as referring to Trump supporters as “garbage.” (The White House and Biden quickly tried to clean up the comment, saying that the president was referring to “supporter’s,” as in the comedian, and the rhetoric at the Madison Square Garden rally.)

Harris, in Las Vegas, said Trump is “all about hate and division.” She said if he is elected again, he would reinstate a policy that led to migrant families being separated at the US-Mexico border.

Lopez repeatedly said Harris “gets it” — and said she understands what it means for immigrant families to chase the American dream, because her parents were also immigrants.

She also said she believes “in the power of women.”

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

The singer’s comments came the same day Harris seized on Trump’s remark in Wisconsin the night before that he will protect women, “whether the women like it or not.” He said he would protect them “from migrants coming in” and “from foreign countries with missiles and lots of other things.”

The vice president told reporters on Thursday 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.”

She pointed to Trump’s appointment of three conservative Supreme Court justices who helped undo Roe v. Wade’s national abortion rights protections. Trump said earlier this month he would veto a national abortion ban, but has waffled on the issue in the past, and many Republican-led states have imposed their own restrictive laws.

Polls show this year’s election could see a historic gender gap, with a majority of men backing Trump and women supporting Harris — a reality that helps explain Harris’ emphasis on an issue that has proven potent with voters, particularly women, since the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision.

As she campaigned in Reno, Nevada, on Thursday, Harris again raised Trump’s remarks, which she called “outrageous.”

“This is someone who simply does not respect the freedom of women or the intelligence of women to make decisions about their own lives,” she said.

CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez, Nikki Carvajal, Samantha Waldenberg, DJ Judd and Ebony Davis contributed to this report.

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