JD Vance Says Hes So Over Being Offended By Racist Jokes

Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) said Monday that he hadnt heard the offensive remark about Puerto Rico a comedian made at former President Donald Trump s rally on Sunday, but he said even if was a stupid racist joke, he was so over people getting offended at every little thing.

Trumps presidential campaign is facing outrage after far-right comedian Tony Hinchcliffe opened the rally at New York Citys Madison Square Garden with an offensive set that veered into racist tropes about Latinos and Jews. At one point, Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean and joked that Black people carved watermelons instead of pumpkins on Halloween.

The remarks drew fierce criticism from Puerto Rican megastars such as Bad Bunny and Ricky Martin and condemnation from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, including many Republicans in Florida. The Trump campaign distanced itself from Hinchcliffes remarks within hours of the set, saying the joke did not reflect the views of the former president.

Vance, Trumps running mate, responded to several questions on the campaign trail Monday about whether the campaign was worried how the remarks would go over with voters as some are casting early ballots now while others prepare to go to the polls next week.

Ive heard about the joke; I havent actually seen the joke, Vance said at a rally in Wisconsin. I think that its telling that Kamala Harris closing message is essentially that all of Donald Trumps voters are Nazis and you should get really pissed off about a comedian telling a joke.

Vance: I have heard about the joke Maybe it's a stupid, racist joke.. Maybe it is not. But we have to stop getting so offended at every little thing can a United States of America. Im so over it pic.twitter.com/I93s68plT8

Acyn (@Acyn) October 28, 2024","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Acyn","author_url":"https://twitter.com/Acyn","cache_age":86400,"description":"Vance: I have heard about the joke Maybe it's a stupid, racist joke.. Maybe it is not. But we have to stop getting so offended at every little thing can a United States of America. Im so over it pic.twitter.com/I93s68plT8 Acyn (@Acyn) October 28, 2024\n\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Acyn on Twitter / X","type":"rich","url":"https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1850987695629353302","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"mobile","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://action.news","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"67203fd6e4b0a55cb4cdfdc5","entryPermalink":"https://action.news/entry/jd-vance-puerto-rico-racist-joke_n_67203fd6e4b0a55cb4cdfdc5","entryTagsList":"donald-trump,2024-elections,puerto-rico,jd-vance,@us_huffpost_now","sectionSlug":"politics","deptSlug":"politics-news","sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"us-news","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.politics","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayerON":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"https://img.connatix.com/cbf348dd-a587-4c7d-8712-864b9a38a39d/1_th.jpg?crop=480:270,smart&width=480&height=270&format=jpeg&quality=60&fit=crop","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":8},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"67203fd6e4b0a55cb4cdfdc5","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"mobile","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/donald-trump","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/donald-trump","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/donald-trump"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/donald-trump"},{"name":"2024 elections","slug":"2024-elections","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/2024-elections","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/2024-elections","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/2024-elections"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"2024 Elections","slug":"2024-elections","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/2024-elections"},{"name":"Puerto Rico","slug":"puerto-rico","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/puerto-rico","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/puerto-rico","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/puerto-rico"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"U.S. News","slug":"us-news"},"topic":{"title":"Puerto Rico","slug":"puerto-rico","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/puerto-rico"},{"name":"j.d. vance","slug":"jd-vance","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/jd-vance","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/jd-vance","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/jd-vance"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"JD Vance","slug":"jd-vance","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/jd-vance"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}">

Vance: I have heard about the joke Maybe it's a stupid, racist joke.. Maybe it is not. But we have to stop getting so offended at every little thing can a United States of America. Im so over it pic.twitter.com/I93s68plT8
Acyn (@Acyn) October 28, 2024

My own view on this is look, again, I havent seen the joke maybe its a stupid racist joke, as youve said, maybe its not. I havent seen it, he went on. Im not going to comment on the specifics of the joke, But I think we have to stop getting so offended at every little thing in the United States of America. Im so over it.

He told a reporter earlier in the day that he wasnt worried about a remark from a comedian who has no affiliation with Donald Trumps campaign.

Were going to look past the fact that we cant afford groceries because somebody made a joke that we dont like, Vance added.

There are signs of concern about how the remark might affect the votes of the many Puerto Ricans living in swing states, particularly in a presidential race that polls indicate is essentially tied. Politico reported Monday that a nonpartisan Puerto Rican group had drafted a letter urging members to oppose Trump , and a prominent archbishop in San Juan has demanded an apology from Trump .

Your Support Has Never Been More Critical

Other news outlets have retreated behind paywalls. At HuffPost, we believe journalism should be free for everyone.

Would you help us provide essential information to our readers during this critical time? We can't do it without you.

Can't afford to contribute? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.

You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest we could use your help again . We view our mission to provide free, fair news as critically important in this crucial moment, and we can't do it without you.

Whether you give once or many more times, we appreciate your contribution to keeping our journalism free for all.

Whether you give just one more time or sign up again to contribute regularly, we appreciate you playing a part in keeping our journalism free for all.

Support HuffPost

Vice President Kamala Harris campaign has seized on the Madison Square Garden event as further evidence of Trumps tactics of anger and division, warning a second presidency would only embolden him. Harris released an ad featuring Hinchcliffes remarks on Monday, with plans to air it in swing states until Election Day.