By Brian Wright O’Connor
Prominent Puerto Rican veteran Antonio “Tony” Molina, a mainstay of GOP politics in the Bay State, told “La Hora del Café” listeners this morning that he can’t vote for former President Donald Trump in the wake of offensive comments made during a Republican rally at Madison Square Garden by one of the featured speakers.
“I’m still a Republican, but I can’t give my vote to someone who has a long history of insulting Puerto Ricans, who have given so much in defense of this country,” said the president of the Puerto Rican Veterans Association of Massachusetts during El Mundo Boston’s livestream morning program.
Molina’s comments came less than 24 hours after comedian Tony Hinchliffe made lewd and racist comments about Puerto Ricans, Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, African Americans, Jews, and other minority groups.
The so-called comedian called Puerto Rico “a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean” during a packed rally at the iconic Manhattan arena, sparking a broad backlash against the Republican Party and its tolerance of ethnic slurs.
For Molina, his misgivings about the former president date back a long way. When President Trump flew to the island in the wake of 2017’s Hurricane Maria, the deadliest storm to hit Puerto Rico in recorded meteorological history, the sitting commander-in-chief cavalierly tossed paper towels to residents desperate for relief.
“He has insulted Puerto Rico in many ways,” said Molina.
“To treat people suffering so terribly from the hurricane shows that the problem with Donald Trump is his mind. Puerto Ricans have given so much to this country—serving our nation in uniform and dying more than any other group per capita. We don’t deserve to be treated like this.”
Trump and his running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, distanced themselves from Hinchliffe’s remarks, but the damage was already done among Puerto Ricans and Latinos across the country—a key demographic courted by the GOP in this tight electoral contest.
More than 300,000 Puerto Ricans live in Pennsylvania alone, a swing state considered by many to be key to the White House in a race too close to call.
The backlash included poignant comments from Massachusetts Veterans Affairs Secretary Jon Santiago, a South End Democrat and physician born in Puerto Rico.
“This weekend my son was born on the same day his culture was called ‘garbage’ at one of the largest political rallies of the season,” said the Army Reserves major on X, posting a photograph of his newborn boy.
“Never mind that his dad has spent time serving his country or that his mom is an immigrant who’s contributed more than she’s taken. To some, it doesn’t matter and will never be enough.”
Close on the heels of the New York City rally, Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny posted his endorsement of Kamala Harris on Instagram, joining Bruce Springsteen, Beyoncé, and Taylor Swift among the musical superstars backing the vice president in her battle against Trump.
“I will never forget what Donald Trump did and what he did not do when Puerto Rico needed a caring and competent leader,” said Harris in the video.
“He abandoned the island, tried to block aid after back-to-back devastating hurricanes, and offered nothing more than paper towels and insults.”
Molina, 82, who was shot in the head by a sniper while serving in the Marines in Vietnam in 1965, said America deserves better than Trump.
“We are not garbage. We are patriotic citizens who love this country. We must have respect for each other,” he said. “This is one of the worst insults I have heard in my entire life.”
