Four days after a comedian at Donald Trump's rally made a joke about Puerto Rico being an “island of garbage” and set off a political firestorm, Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign seized on the racist comments in a digital ad targeting Latino voters.

What You Need To Know

  • Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign launched a new ad targeting Latino voters after a comedian at Donald Trump's rally made a joke about Puerto Rico being an “island of garbage”

  • The 30-second Spanish -language spot speaks directly to Puerto Ricans, saying: "We are not trash. We are more than that"

  • After showing Puerto Ricans proudly flying their flag and rallying for Harris, the ad cuts to Trump throwing paper towels to Puerto Ricans at a relief center in 2017, after Hurricane Maria devastated the U.S. territory, and closes with: "On Nov. 5, Trump will learn that some people’s trash is someone else’s treasure"

  • The ad is the latest in the fallout from the Madison Square Garden rally, which also featured crude and sexist remarks from Hinchcliffe and other speakers

The 30-second, Spanish-language spot speaks directly to Puerto Ricans, saying, “It was supposed to be a joke. It doesn’t matter. We’ve been called worse,” the ad says as it flashes pictures of GOP candidate Donald Trump and his vice-presidential running mate, JD Vance.

“What we really are is a group of scientists, poets, educators, stars and heroes,” the ad then says as it transitions to a montage of famous Puerto Ricans, including the global superstar Bad Bunny, who endorsed Harris following the comedian’s comment, and Major League Baseball hall-of-famer Roberto Clemente. “We are not trash. We are more than that.”

After showing Puerto Ricans proudly flying their flag and rallying for Harris, the ad cuts to Trump throwing paper towels to Puerto Ricans at a relief center in 2017, after Hurricane Maria devastated the U.S. territory.

“Get out,” the ad says about Trump, before cutting to various shots of Harris campaigning with Latinos — a coveted constituency she and Trump have both been targeting in their final days on the campaign trail.

“On Nov. 5, Trump will learn that some people’s trash is someone else’s treasure,” it says before urging viewers to vote for Harris on or before Election Day.

The ad is the latest in the fallout from the Madison Square Garden rally, which also featured crude and sexist remarks from Hinchcliffe and other speakers. 

El Nuevo Día, the island territory’s largest newspaper, endorsed Harris in a scathing front page editorial calling the rally “a repugnant display of hate that evokes memories of the speeches of Nazism and Fascism, which aimed to eliminate minorities.” The paper’s longtime editor and parent company CEO María Luisa Ferré Rangel wrote Trump’s behavior is “erratic and narcissistic” and that the former president “suffers from psychopathic elements that he evidences by lying repeatedly.”

“Today, the hearts of all of us who love this beautiful Garden of America, and of the world, clench with rage and pain. Puerto Ricans are a noble and peaceful people, who deeply love their island,” she wrote. “On Sunday, continuing a pattern of contempt and misinformation that Donald Trump has maintained for years against the eight million of us American citizens who are Puerto Ricans, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe insulted us during a Republican Party event by referring to Puerto Rico as” a floating island of garbage.

“Is that what Trump and the Republican Party think about Puerto Ricans? Politics is not a joke and hiding behind a comedian is cowardly,” she added.

Separately, in an open letter published on Monday, the Catholic archbishop of San Juan told Trump he was “dismayed and appalled” by Hinchcliffe’s remarks and said he wrote the letter demanding a personal apology from the former president after consulting with his fellow bishops in Puerto Rico. 

“I enjoy a good joke. However, humor has its limits. It should not insult or denigrate the dignity and sacredness of people. Hinchcliffe’s remarks do not only provoke sinister laugher, but hatred,” Archbishop Roberto O. González Nieves wrote. “I call upon you, Mr. Trump, to disavow these comments as reflecting in any way your personal or political viewpoints.”

Trump’s campaign and many Republicans disavowed the remark, but the candidate himself has yet to do so, claiming in remarks at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Tuesday that his Sunday rally was a “love fest.” At an event in the Philadelphia suburbs later on Tuesday, Trump boasted “no president has done more for Puerto Rico than I have.”

A slew of Puerto Rican officials and celebrities have denounced Hinchcliffe and many have endorsed Harris in the days since the rally. Jennifer Lopez, one of the most famous Puerto Rican celebrities in the U.S. said she will campaign with Harris in Las Vegas Halloween night. 

Reggaeton star Nicky Jam, who previously endorsed Trump and appeared with him at a rally, pulled his endorsement on Wednesday.

"Never in my life did I think that one month later there would be a comedian who would criticize my country and speak poorly of my country," Nicky Jam, whose real name is Nick Rivera Caminero, said in Spanish in a video posted to his Instagram page. "For that I withdraw my support of Donald Trump. Puerto Rico should be respected."

A number of other celebrities of Puerto Rican descent expressed support for Harris in the days after the rally, including music superstars Bad Bunny and Ricky Martin, former Fox News personality Geraldo Rivera and actor John Leguizamo.

Spectrum News' Joseph Konig and Justin Tasolides contributed to this report.