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Let's Talk About That Puerto Rican Joke at Trump's MSG Rally

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  October 28, 2024 1:45 AM

Donald Trump held his epic rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City yesterday. It was packed to the rafters. If this were a show, Trump could’ve sold out three nights. That’s how many people attended, both inside and outside the venue. It was a day jam-packed with VIPs and the who’s who of MAGA nation, energizing the base as we enter the final week of the 2024 election. 

Yet, one person said that Puerto Rico was a floating island of garbage. Of course, that was the second layer to liberal America’s freakout over this event, which the lefty intelligentsia tried to frame as a neo-Nazi rally. It wasn’t, but that was the lead narrative, followed by this one. There’s only one problem: it was a joke. Also, it’s not like this didn’t touch upon something that wasn’t a real issue. 

Independent reporter Michael Shellenberger shredded this liberal media narrative in a couple of tweets. He also touched upon the larger ‘this rally is Nazism’ nonsense that the Left will undoubtedly try to push all week: 


What’s insulting is calling Trump and his supporters fascists, racists, and anti-Semitic without any evidence. In fact, the rally included speakers and attendees who were Jewish, black, Hindu, and people of many races and religions, one of whom condemned Harris for making false accusations of anti-Semitism.

"Hitler invaded Poland when I was 9,” said Holocaust survivor Jerry Wartski, who attended the Madison Square Garden rally. “He murdered my parents and most of my family. I know more about Hitler than Kamala will ever know in a thousand lifetimes. For her to accuse President Trump of being like Hitler is the worst thing I ever heard in my 75 years living in the United States. She owes my parents and everybody else who was murdered by Hitler an apology for repeating this lie." 

Wartski is right to be angry. False accusations of racism and anti-Semitism are dangerous because they make it harder to raise the alarm in the face of evidence of genuine prejudice. 

“I went to the rally to see for myself,” wrote British podcaster Konstantin Kisin. “The line outside was full of Jews as well as every other demographic, chatting to each other like old friends. Inside, large Israeli flags were prominently displayed by several groups of attendees. Several speakers proudly declared their and Trump's support for Israel. The pro-Israel lines got some of the biggest positive reactions of the night. The idea that this is a Nazi rally is a disgusting lie which disrespects the memory of the victims of actual Nazis.” 

And the media disinformation about Puerto Rico’s trash problem is particularly egregious given that the media has itself covered the island’s garbage problem for years. In 2017, NPR published a story headlined, “After Maria, Puerto Rico Struggles Under The Weight Of Its Own Garbage.” “Puerto Rico’s yearslong debate over WTE continues as the island’s landfill issues mount,” wrote a waste industry publication in 2020. “Trash Crisis Leaves Puerto Rico Near ‘the Brink,’” wrote the progressive nonprofit media company, Global Press Journal, in 2021. And in 2022, Grist, a leading environmental news organization, published an article headlined, “Disaster debris is pushing Puerto Rico’s landfills to the brink.”

In fact, anyone who reads about how long Puerto Rico has failed to deal with its trash problem is likely to conclude that the island’s government deserves ridicule. 

“Puerto Rico Facing Garbage Crisis,” read a Washington Post headline in 2007, ten years before a hurricane hit the island. “The mounting garbage problem has potentially disastrous consequences,” wrote a reporter, who quoted the regional administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency saying the problem "has to be addressed now.” It wasn’t. 

Puerto Rico’s trash issues began receiving significant attention in the 1960s when its landfill system started experiencing strain. Puerto Rico enacted the Solid Waste Reduction and Recycling Act in 1992, aiming to recycle 35% of its waste, yet by 2019, only about 10-15% was being recycled. “In 2017,” noted Global Press Journal, “the EPA ordered the dump to close. But it is still receiving trash.” 

Puerto Rico produces 5.6 pounds of trash per resident per day as compared to 4.4 pounds per day for the rest of the U.S. “They’ve been saying for about 10 years that they’re going to close the dump, but nothing has happened,” a resident told Global Press Journal in 2020. “We’re worse off because of the contamination. What kind of town are we going to leave to those who come after us? A polluted one.” 

As such, there is a good case to be made that drawing attention to the island’s waste problem is merited if it helps inspire action. “After a proposed incinerator project stalled in 2018,” wrote the waste industry publication, “the territory’s long-term plan remains uncertain as noncompliant landfills are reaching capacity.” 

Another lefty talking point hurled into the meat grinder. And yet, these liberal media types wonder why trust in media is cratering. It’s because of how easy it is to shoot down these attacks. After almost a decade of trying to push fake news against Trump, everyone hits the mute button on these guys. It’s too easy to debunk the lyin’ press.

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