Puerto Rican Christian Leaders
Call on Trump to Personally Apologize 

In response to remarks from a speaker at a Trump rally calling  Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage, Puerto Rican Christian leaders are publicly calling on former President Trump to apologize to the Puerto Rican community. 

Each leader represents a significant faith constituency from the Latino electorate voting this presidential election.

Rev. Carlos L. Malave
Puertorican
Lives in Virginia
President
Latino Christian National Network

Nothing is more fundamental to the fabric of our nation and to who we are as Americans than respect for the dignity of every person created in the image of God. The denigrating statement made as a joke at the Donald Trump rally last night was an affront to all Puerto Ricans and Latinos. We strongly repudiate politics that dehumanize Latinos, immigrants, and minorities. We urge all Americans to join us in asking former president Trump for an apology to our community.

Rev. Dr. Elizabeth D. Rios
Puerto Rican
Lives in Florida
Founder
Passion2Plant Church Planting Network

As an Afro-Boricua faith leader who founded the church planting network, Passion2Plant, I am deeply troubled by the divisive and hateful rhetoric displayed at the recent Republican gathering in Madison Square Garden. Remarks directed at Puerto Ricans and Latinos were offensive, diminishing the dignity of millions. Since 2016, we’ve seen a disturbing trend where such harmful language and exclusionary policies move the country further away from greatness. It’s painful to witness a party claiming to fight for 'Christian' principles and the true values of Jesus—values of love, justice, and unity while selectively uplifting one group and dehumanizing others. I urge former President Donald Trump, the event’s central figure, to publicly disavow these remarks and issue an apology to the Latino community. When such hurtful comments are made on a stage that a former president has created and presides over, there is a moral responsibility to respond. Silence in the face of such comments only contributes to division and undermines the values of unity and justice that many faith leaders work tirelessly to advance. As a nation, we can and must do better.

Rev. Dr. Justo L. González, PhD

Cuban
Lives in Georgia
Retired professor, historian, theologian, author

As a Cuban by birth, a Puerto Rican by adoption, an American by nationalization, and a human being by God’s grace, I deplore and condemn the insulting comments about Puerto Rico made recently by a comedian at a political event in New York. I also reject and denounce the hesitation on the part of the candidate presiding over that event to apologize to those who were insulted, as behooves any decent human being.  That hesitancy is a sign of a callousness that seems to stand on the principle that insulting and hurting others is an acceptable means to power and also of a weakness unbecoming one aspiring to preside over the future of this nation.

Emanuel Padilla
Puerto Rican
Chicago, IL
President
World Outspoken 

The recent opening remarks made by Tony Hinchcliffe during the campaign rally for Mr. Trump at Madison Square Garden, in which he referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage in the ocean,” echo the disregard and disrespect on display during the former president’s first trip to the archipelago in 2017 after Hurricane Maria. These remarks make plain the overall belief that Puerto Rican lives are not protected or esteemed. The campaign that employed Mr. Hinchcliffe is now attempting to distance themselves from him, but Mr. Trump has never apologized for his treatment of Boricuas in 2017. Distance is not possible when this is merely a repeated and brazen offense that reflects an ideology with material consequences for our people.

Marlena Graves Ph.D., MDiv
Puerto Rican
Rochester, New York
Seminary Professor, Author, Speaker, Writer

As a social historian, theologian, seminary professor, author, and church leader, mother, and wife, I denounce the joke made at the rally at MSG on October 27, 2024, by comedian Tony Hincliffe about Puerto Rico being a "floating island of garbage." The Trump campaign is seeking to distance itself from the comedy routine. Wonderful. And yet I am wondering, doesn't someone have to vet and sign off on everything uttered at a campaign rally?  If not, why not? And if so, why was it not yanked from the program? This joke is not a joke. Why? It is consistent with the tenor, attitudes, and discourse of the Trump campaign towards Puerto Rico. But not just Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans. All minoritized peoples have been targets, whether they be the Indigenous, Black people, Mexicans, Haitians, women, Africans, those with disabilities, veterans, immigrants, Asians, Muslims, Jews, or the LGBTQ+ community. These people, all made in the image of God, have been mercilessly mocked and degraded. Dehumanized. Such rhetoric and treatment is not the Jesus way. I call on the campaign to repent and make amends. 

Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Conde-Frazier 
Puerto Rican
Michigan
American Baptist Churches, USA 

As a citizen of this nation, a mother of a veteran who has given many years of service, a professor, writer and pastor, I am appalled at the rhetoric of contempt and hate that has come from your campaign, in particular, the jokes and comments which were articulated at the rally in Madison Square Garden in NYC. The dehumanization and denigration of others is not a representation of the values of our democracy or of any religion.  Liberty and justice for all begins with respect, it requires that we truly believe that all persons are worthy of dignity because all persons bear the image of the creator. If we truly believe these things we exercise restraint when it comes to language and actions that may arouse the disparagement of others. To prove that you truly represent the values of dignity for all persons of this America you wish to make great, and that you are the worthy candidate to represent and to advance a vision of freedom and justice, you need to apologize and make a strong statement that will bring peace among citizens at this time.

Bishop José García
Virginia
Church of God of Prophecy
Faith and Community Engagement Consultant

Mr. President, Even when some of your policies resonate with some Christian values, a narrative that tramples on the dignity of different ethnic groups and whole nations will only perpetuate a harmful culture of fear mongering and damage the integrity of our nation. As a leader you are called, “to do what is right, to love mercy” (Micah 6:8).

Eric Rivera, PhD
Puerto Rican
Chicago, IL
Pastor, The Brook Church
Professor of Pastoral Theology, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

I’m angered by the careless and shameful rhetoric directed toward the Puerto Rican people and island by Tony Hinchcliffe at a recent Trump rally. This irresponsible language, leveraged for the sake of “humor,” fails to see people as those made in God’s image with inherent worth and value. Furthermore, it gladly sacrifices human dignity in order to promote one’s own agenda. I denounce such talk as should others. 

Dr.Héctor E. López-Sierra
Puerto Rican
Lives in Carolina, Puerto Rico
Assistant Professor, University of Puerto Rico
Interfaith Spiritual Director

As an Afro-Puerto Rican leader and voice of our spiritual and cultural heritage living in Puerto Rico, I stand firmly against the recent, deeply hurtful rhetoric used to describe Puerto Rico. Calling our beautiful island a ‘garbage island’ is a grave disrespect not only to the land itself but to the dignity and resilience of our people. Our ancestors carried the weight of colonial oppression and injustice, and yet we have kept our traditions, our faith, and our love for our land alive.

Words like these perpetuate harmful stereotypes that have been used to marginalize and undervalue Puerto Ricans for centuries. Puerto Rico is not ‘garbage.’ It is a place of sacred earth, vibrant communities, rich history, and spiritual strength. To anyone who seeks to belittle Puerto Rico, I ask you to look beyond your misconceptions and see the humanity, culture, and contributions of our people. We are a proud and resilient community, deserving of respect and equality. Our island has given much to the world, and we will continue to rise above the harmful rhetoric used against us.

Ish Ruiz, PhD
Puerto Rican
Living in San Francisco, CA
Assistant Professor of Latinx & Queer Decolonial Theology
Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, CA

There is no place in this country or in our world for the harmful rhetoric about Puerto Rico that came out of the Trump rally on October 27. Sadly, the joke made by Mr. Hinchcliffe represents a broader trend of insult, dehumanization, and disrespect that has characterized the Republican presidential candidate’s campaign thus far. At every opportunity, Donald Trump has exhibited erratic, racist, xenophobic, and immoral behavior. This is no longer a question of inclusivity or political correctness, which he has long renounced, it is a matter of national security, international stability, and suitability for the presidency. The very soul of our country is on the ballot. I will not waste my time demanding Trump for an apology that, based on his track record, he is incapable of articulating and unwilling to offer. Instead, I call upon all Latines to remember that, when someone tells you exactly who they are, we need to believe them. 

Rev. Rubén N. Ortiz, MDiv. 
Cuban, lives in Florida and Puerto Rico
Latino Field Ministries Coordinator
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF)

We have watched weeks of intense public debate in which the citizens of the world have seen the moral decay of our great nation through this presidential campaign full of verbal violence and discredit. But more horrifyingly, we watched your closing campaign last Sunday, October 27th at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The execrable language used to denigrate the island of Puerto Rico and its inhabitants has been the last straw for the civil patience of our Latino people. 

As José Marti famously said, ‘Men are divided into two camps: those who love and found, and those who hate and destroy.’ Get on the right side of history, candidate Trump. Make a public apology and contribute to the civic peace so necessary these days. 

Rady Roldán-Figueroa, ThD
Puerto Rican
Professor, Church History
Boston University
Boston, MA

The abusive and xenophobic rhetoric of the Trump campaign is a symptom of a larger problem in American society. Yet, his campaign has exploited every possible racist trope in an effort to appeal to the most base reptilian instincts in the country. It is both shameful and debasing of our democratic system.

MT Dávila, PhD
Associate Professor, Merrimack College
Puerto Rican
Resident of Malden, MA

No human being is trash. The earth and the beauty of creation cannot be trash. That is the essence of the story of Genesis: God made everything and saw that it was all good. In fact, very good. I refer to Genesis because Puerto Rico is considered a “paraiso terrenal”, an earthly paradise, by those who first inhabited her, those who conquered her, those who were enslaved there, and the millions and millions of good people that came from this rich history. Debasing yourself, your campaign, and the entire GOP by allowing crass and insulting comments directed at any person, but especially United States citizens - millions of us in fact, is not just a mistake. It is a deliberate effort to segment off some parts of God’s creation as ‘not good’, as less than what God intended it to be: Divine image and likeness. 

Words have meaning and power. Words spewed from Madison Square Garden in front of a captive audience, and broadcasted widely, have meaning and power. By the loving word of God the universe came into being. But the word and work of some humans spoils and destroys that which God made a paradise. By allowing the comments of Tony Hinchcliffe against Puerto Rico to stand without remorse or apology your campaign joins those who would rather soil and spoil God’s creation. 

Do not let these words continue to hang unaddressed without a retraction and an apology. You and your campaign have the power to make this right with words of apology and conciliation. This would indicate that you are aware that there are boundaries to our human words that should never be crossed and lashed against God’s word.

Daniel Montañez
Puerto Rican & Mexican
Boston, Massachusetts
Director, Mygration Christian Conference
PhD Candidate, Boston University School of Theology 

In a time of political turmoil and uncertainty, the words of Jesus serve as a reminder that, “blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” The comments made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe do not represent the values, virtues, and spirit of the Kingdom of God nor of our American democracy, and have only served to cause further division, discord, and damage to our nation. I urge your administration to denounce this racist and xenophobic rhetoric, and to abstain from any such language moving forward. As a follower of the crucified and resurrected one, it is my greatest hope that your administration would speak life, and not death, into our current political moment, by affirming the dignity of all people, including those on the island who do not yet have the right to vote. 

Rev. Dr. Lydia E. Muñoz
Puerto Rican
Maryland
Executive Director
El Plan for Hispanic/Latino Ministry 
United Methodist Church

At El Plan for Hispanic/Latino Ministry, we are profoundly disturbed by the disrespectful and offensive remarks made during the recent Trump rally in New York City. These comments were not only crude and hurtful but also perpetuated racism and bigotry against brown and black communities. The Gospel of Jesus Christ calls us to be stewards of one another, recognizing the sacred worth of every individual. On behalf of our clergy and lay leaders from the Hispanic/Latino community, particularly those representing the Puerto Rican diaspora, we unequivocally condemn these statements and urge our elected officials to join us in denouncing such divisive and sinful rhetoric.

Rev Dr Orlando Crespo
Puerto Rican
New York City
Executive Leader, Latino Leadership Circle
Author, Being Latino in Christ: Finding Wholeness in Our Ethnic Identity, IVP.

As a Christian minister and leader for the last 37 years in New York City,  I am deeply disturbed at the flippant comment made recently at the Republican Gathering in Madison Square Garden. A deeply racist and offensive comment like that has no place in American politics or in any level of civic engagement. Anyone who has ever stepped foot on the island of Puerto Rico cannot deny the beauty of our island,  our people and our culture, so the joke that was made was laughable—not in its humor but in its stupidity. We are all made in the image of God and have dignity and worth. Any political party that continually undermines the dignity of human beings is anti-Christian and anti-Christ’s teachings. I stand with my Puerto Rican brothers and sisters in demanding an apology from the Republican Party.