Selena Gomez Joins Celebs Blasting Back at Pro-Trump Comic Tony Hinchcliffe Over His Puerto Rico 'Garbage' Gag: 'I Definitely Want to Stand By My People'
Selena Gomex hit back at Puerto Rico jibe at Trump rally as former President continues to exploit controversy.
Oct. 31 2024, Published 9:40 a.m. ET
Selena Gomez has slammed Tony Hinchcliffe's jibe at Puerto Rico, saying she "strongly disagrees" with the Pro-Donald Trump comic's controversial "garbage" comments.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the actress, who was born in Texas and has family of Mexican descent, insists she's determined to "stand by her people" in the wake of the gag told at Trump's Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday night, which the former president has yet to apologize for.
Selena Gomez says she 'strongly disagreed with comments'.
And ahead of Wednesday's rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Trump, 78, appeared to make light of the gag - and President Biden's blundering reaction - by emerging from his plane wearing a bright orange and yellow safety vest before climbing into a garbage truck, with a big "TRUMP" sign emblazoned on the side.
Hinchcliffe caused a storm on Sunday by comparing Puerto Rico to a "floating island of garbage."
Zoe Saldaña was also critical of Tony Hinchcliffe's joke.
Speaking about the joke for the first time, Gomez, 32, says she "strongly disagreed with any comments that were made recently. I definitely want to stand by my people."
Explaining why she posted a video of her submitting her ballot, she added: "People can sometimes forget that the one vote can change everything."
Fellow actress Zoe Saldaña, who stars alongside Gomez in movie Emilia Perez, also laid into Hinchcliffe, saying: "I voted today so I’m definitely exercising my responsibility as an American citizen to care for the well-being of my nation, because it's also my son's country and it has to be worthy of my children.
Trump made light of the garbage joke ahead of Wednesday rally.
Saldaña, 46, whose mother is Puerto Rican, added: "It’s sad that today, 2024, there's just so much poverty in character on so many people that we misname as leaders.
"We have to pick leaders that really represent who we are as human beings."
Jennifer Lopez, 55, Bad Bunny, 30 and Ricky Martin, 52, were among a number of Latino stars to throw their support behind Trump rival Kamala Harris, 60, in wake of Hinchcliffe’s comments, which said in full read: "There's literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it's called Puerto Rico."
Hinchcliffe practiced the gag at a New York comedy club the previous night.
Actress Aubrey Plaza, 40, also hit back, branding his joke "disgusting".
She said: "I just wanted to very quickly respond to the racist joke that was made at that Trump rally about Puerto Rico, where most of my family is from.
"Thankfully, my sweet abuelita wasn’t here to hear that disgusting remark."
She continued: "But if she was alive today, I think she would say, 'Tony Hinchcliffe, go (expletive) yourself'.
"And yes, the Wall Street Journal can quote me on that."
Audrey Plaza branded the joke 'disgusting'.
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RadarOnline.com revealed on Wednesday Hinchcliffe, 40, rehearsed the gag at a New York comedy club the night before Sunday's rally - and it didn't go down well there either.
According to NBC News, the joke received just a handful of awkward chuckles at The Stand comedy club.
Hinchcliffe told the audience he would be performing at the Madison Square Garden rally the next day and said multiple times during his routine that he would get a better reaction "tomorrow at the rally."
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