Comedian Jon Stewart responded on Monday to criticism surrounding jokes made by stand-up comedian Tony Hinchcliffe at former President Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night.
The jokes sparked reactions from Democrats and media outlets, especially the Harris campaign, which seized on some of Hinchcliffe’s humor as grounds for labeling Trump’s event as offensive.
These people have no sense of humor. Wild that a vice presidential candidate would take time out of his “busy schedule” to analyze a joke taken out of context to make it seem racist. I love Puerto Rico and vacation there. I made fun of everyone…watch the whole set. I’m a… https://t.co/VFxHRcdv5k
— Tony Hinchcliffe (@TonyHinchcliffe) October 27, 2024
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One of the jokes that drew the most backlash involved Hinchcliffe’s reference to Puerto Rico, which he described as “a floating island of garbage.”
CLAIM: Trump rally speaker claims Puerto Rico is a floating pile of garbage.
TRUTH: This is called comedy and the “speaker” is comedian Tony Hinchcliffe.
Here are the facts:
-This is Tony Hinchcliffe, the host of K*ll Tony, the #1 live podcast in the world.
-Tony is known for… pic.twitter.com/rSfbeyQDeM
— KamalaHQLies (@KamalaHQLies) October 27, 2024
The comment quickly became the centerpiece of the Harris campaign’s push to depict Trump as harboring insensitivity toward key demographic groups.
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“Extremely vile. So-called jokes?” Stewart questioned rhetorically, referencing one media personality’s critique.
Stewart pointed out that the media’s focus on the comedy set even referenced one of his own comedy albums from the 1990s.
Stewart acknowledged that the decision to bring a roast comedian to a major campaign event might not have been the wisest political move, especially so close to Election Day.
“Now, obviously, in retrospect, having a roast comedian come to a political rally a week before Election Day and roasting a key voting demographic probably not the best decision by the campaign politically,” Stewart remarked. “But to be fair, the guy’s really just doing what he does.”
To illustrate Hinchcliffe’s comedic style, Stewart played a clip from one of the comedian’s past routines, in which Hinchcliffe roasted NFL star Tom Brady. Stewart chuckled, admitting, “There’s something wrong with me. I find that guy very funny.”
He further commented on the media’s interpretation of Hinchcliffe’s role at the rally, saying, “I don’t know what to tell you. I mean, bringing him to a rally and having him not do roast jokes would be like bringing Beyoncé to a rally and not…”
30,000 People were mad as hell once Beyonce left the Kamala Rally without performing…total bait & switch operation pic.twitter.com/AVqWhDAPAh
— Alex Stein #99 (@alexstein99) October 26, 2024
Stewart left his comparison unfinished, making a subtle reference to Beyoncé’s recent appearance at a Harris campaign event in Houston on Friday, where she did not perform.
Jon Stewart is spot on here. Even he thinks the outrage over MSG is BS. pic.twitter.com/IGnURSV7qp
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) October 29, 2024
The exchange underscored an ongoing narrative among some Democratic candidates and their supporters, who argue that Trump and his supporters have encouraged divisive rhetoric.
The back-and-forth over the weekend’s event highlights the intensified scrutiny as both campaigns focus on their closing messages and attempt to energize supporters in the final days before the election.
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