WAUSAU, Wisc. — Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance says we all need to just “chill” and “take a joke.”
Vance, Donald Trump’s running mate for vice president, told a rally in Wausau that the uproar over jokes made during a Trump rally Sunday at Madison Square Gardan in New York was overblown.
“I think that we have to stop getting so offended at every little thing in the United States of America. I’m so over it,” Vance said.
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But since the New York rally, the uproar, particularly over a remark about Puerto Rico, has been building steam.
The event was described as filled with coarse remarks, including references to Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, as “the devil.” Others described Harris, who is vying to become the first woman and Black woman president, as having begun her career as a prostitute
The joke that launched a firestorm of criticism was made by Youngstown native Tony Hinchcliffe, a standup-comic whose set also included lewd and racist comments about Latinos, Jews and Black people, all key constituencies in the election just nine days away.
Following a quip about Latinos “making babies,” Hinchcliffe followed up with another shot at Hispanics.
“I don’t know if you guys 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 said.
The Trump campaign later distanced itself from Hinchcliffe’s remarks.
“This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” campaign spokeswoman Danielle Alvarez said in a statement.
Several of Trump’s allies also expressed dismay at the language used by speakers, particularly Hinchcliffe’s joke about Puerto Rico, CNN said. Politico went so far as to declare that the fallout is a serious problem — in Pennsylvania, a critical swing state that could decide the election – for Trump. Many Puerto Rican voters in the state are furious about the comments, it reported. There are nearly half a million Pennsylvanians of Puerto Rican descent in the vital battleground state. Trump barely won Pennsylvania in 2016 and lost there to Joe Biden in 2020.
On Monday, Vance told people he hadn’t seen the comment, but said it’s time for people to stop being so touchy.
He referred to criticism of comedian George Lopez for stereotypical remarks about Mexican thieves (Lopez is of Mexican descent) during a Democratic rally.
People had encouraged him, Vance said, “to sort of blow this up and make this about how Kamala Harris doesn’t respect Latinos. And my response was, ‘Can we all just take a chill pill and take a joke from time to time?’”
“This is ridiculous. Our country was built by frontiersman who conquered the wilderness. We are not going to restore the greatness of American civilization if we get offended at every little thing,” he said. “Let’s have a sense of humor and let’s have a little fun.”
Hinchcliffe, from the stage on Sunday, praised the audience for laughing and cautioned against censorship.
“Republicans are the party with the good sense of humor,” he said. “Free speech is under attack, people. I host a show and each week I get updates. What words I’m allowed to use and not use anymore. It’s happening right now, for the past few years. It’s a real thing.”
Hinchcliffe, in a 2023 interview with The Vindicator, Youngstown’s newspaper, described his hometown city as a rough place where arson and homicide abounded. Growing up there affected his style, which he described as “rugged, dark, defiant, honest.”
While he says he’s a Trump supporter, that doesn’t mean Trump is spared from his wit.
In an interview in 2016 with cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer shortly after Trump was officially nominated at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, he said “This Trump thing is insane, right? I feel like it‘s a test from our government to see if we should still be allowed to vote for president. I feel like if Trump wins, the curtain behind him falls, and we see five old white guys with microphones and we meet the Illuminati for the first time. They’re just like, ‘Whoa, whoa, we have to step in here.’”
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Cleveland.com is closely tracking JD Vance’s every move and the reactions he provokes, as he becomes the first Ohioan in 80 years to appear on a presidential ticket for either major party. The coverage of JD Vance aims to provide a daily snapshot of the buzz surrounding him, capturing what he says, what he does, and what others are saying about him.
