Category Archives: us news

Tony Hinchcliffe Apologises ‘To Absolutely Nobody’ For Trump Rally Puerto Rico Joke

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Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe is apologising “to absolutely nobody” for his controversial joke about Puerto Rico, which he likened last month to “a floating island of garbage” while endorsing Donald Trump for president with a stand-up set at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.

In the latest episode of his Kill Tony podcast, which was recorded the day after the rally but debuted on Monday, Hinchcliffe said the set was “about free speech” and rued being “under attack” by the pundits, celebrities and social media users who deemed the joke racist.

“I referenced Puerto Rico, which currently has a landfill problem in which all of their landfills are filled to the brim,” said Hinchcliffe on the podcast, which was recorded at Joe Rogan’s comedy club in Austin, Texas. “I am the only person who knew about this, unfortunately.”

Environmentalist bloggers and regional outlets have noted that Puerto Rico does have an actual problem regarding its garbage, and that a goal set in 1992 to increase the recycling rate to 35% has reportedly only reached between 9% and 14%.

“With that said, I just want to say that I love Puerto Ricans, they’re very smart people — they’re smart, they’re street smart, they’re smart enough to know when they’re being used as political fodder,” said Hinchcliffe on the podcast. “Right now that is happening.”

Hinchcliffe had set his joke up by welcoming migrants “with open arms,” before laughingly using those arms to wave said migrants away. He then noted “there’s a lot going on,” like “a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean,” and delivered the vexing punchline: “I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”

“I apologise to absolutely nobody,” Hinchcliffe said on the podcast. “Not to the Puerto Ricans, not to the whites, not to the Blacks, not to the Palestinians, not to the Jews, and not to my own mother, who I made fun of during the set. Nobody clipped that.”

“No headlines about me making fun of my own mother,” he continued.

Hinchcliffe said Tuesday that “perhaps that ... wasn’t the best fucking place to do this set at.”
Hinchcliffe said Tuesday that “perhaps that … wasn’t the best fucking place to do this set at.”

Evan Vucci/Associated Press

The backlash was certainly substantial, as a lot of coverage suggested Hinchcliffe had killed any remaining chance Trump had at the presidency, and celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, Aubrey Plaza and Bad Bunny publicly denounced the joke — or Hinchcliffe himself.

Even Rogan, while certainly supportive of his arguable protégé, argued in the aftermath of the outrage that his stand-up should only be performed at comedy venues — and not at political rallies — but that Hinchcliffe merely delivered the crass humor he’s known for.

The native Ohioan is best known for his podcast, which had packed Madison Square Garden for two nights of sold-out shows in a row the month before Trump’s rally, but also broke a Netflix viewing record with “The Roast of Tom Brady” earlier this year.

“Perhaps that venue at that time wasn’t the best fucking place to do this set at,” said Hinchcliffe during the podcast. “But in any matter, to the mainstream media and to anybody trying to slander me online: That’s what I do, and that’s never going to change.”

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Priti Patel Ties Herself In Knots Defending Her Past Criticism Of Trump

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Priti Patel defended her past criticisms of Donald Trump on Sunday, telling Laura Kuenssberg that “times have moved on”.

The shadow foreign secretary began her interview with the BBC presenter by slamming the Labour Party for previously insulting the president-elect on social media.

However, Kuenssberg quickly reminded Patel how, the day after the January 6 2021 riots on the US Capitol, the Conservative MP said the scenes were “horrendous” at the “heart of democracy”.

At the time, Patel said: ”[Trump’s] comments of being associated with that violence, and he has failed to condemn that violence, and I think that is completely wrong. People have died.”

“There is no justification for it,” the then-home secretary said, adding that there is “clearly more he could have done and should have done.”

So on Sunday, Kuenssberg said: “I just wonder, after the Capitol riots – back in January 6 [2021] those famous days – you yourself said that Donald Trump’s comments directly led to violence and he did very little to de-escalate the situation.

“Do you want to apologise to him for saying that, as you’re urging Labour politicians to do?”

Patel replied: “That was a major situation, I was home secretary at the time and I was obviously working with our US counterparts on security issues.

“No one wants to see violence after elections.”

Kuenssberg asked again if she stood by her comments, but Patel just repeated that it was a “serious situation” at the time.

“You clearly pointed the finger at Donald Trump for stoking that situation,” the presenter reminded her.

“Well, times have moved on,” Patel said, while saying that the riots “undermined democracy”.

“Do you stand by that? You were clearly very worried about democracy,” Kuenssberg pushed.

Patel replied: “We were absolutely worried at the time, I think those comments – in light of what happened – were absolutely right and fair and relevant.”

She then deflected back to Labour, saying: “The previous comments of our chief diplomat [David Lammy] were much more personal, much more personal and undiplomatic to the president-elect of the US.”

The current foreign secretary David Lammy called him “neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath” during Trump’s first administration – although he has since dismissed those comments as “old news”.

Patel also told the BBC that that she had a “very strong working relationship” with the US in the past, and one that is built on “trust and respect” – and claimed this government will have to work “harder” to earn that.

“Any violence of that scale is unacceptable,” she said. “Within that context, those comments were absolutely right and appropriate.”

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Nigel Farage’s Latest US Trip To Visit Trump Has Got 1 Word Trending Online

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Nigel Farage’s latest stateside visit has everyone on social media asking the same question: what is he doing there, and not in his constituency?

The Reform party leader and MP for Clacton is in the US, again, supporting Donald Trump as Americans head to the polls today.

The neck and neck race between the Republican nominee and his Democrat rival, vice-president Kamala Harris, is almost over after a long and turbulent campaign from both sides.

However, Farage is not a US citizen nor is he on Trump’s team (even though he briefly considered supporting it in the summer).

In the end, he actually decided to run as the Reform candidate in Clacton-on-Sea – and won.

That was a major victory for both his party, which only had one Tory defector in parliament during the last term, and for Farage personally, considering his seven previous unsuccessful attempts to get a seat in the Commons.

But the Clacton MP – who initially refused to hold face-to-face surgeries in his constituency, claiming he would be targeted – has just made his third trip to the States in four months.

So, naturally, his critics were quick to call him out.

In fact so many people started to comment on Farage’s trip, they soon got the word “Clacton” trending on X…

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It’s just been announced Nigel Farage is once again in the USA on another jolly. The good people of Clacton however are still waiting for their MP to set up a constituency office, to agree times and places for a surgery or even establish an email address or phone number. pic.twitter.com/W7pb4cfjEQ

— RS Archer (@archer_rs) November 4, 2024

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The good people of Clacton however are still waiting for their MP to set up a constituency office, to agree times and places for a surgery or even establish an email address or phone number. pic.twitter.com/W7pb4cfjEQ— RS Archer (@archer_rs) November 4, 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":"RS Archer on Twitter / X","type":"rich","url":"https://twitter.com/archer_rs/status/1853469572705239123","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"desktop","editionInfo":{"id":"uk","name":"U.K.","link":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk","locale":"en_GB"},"originalEdition":"uk","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"672a39e8e4b0ffe83cf1a7a1","entryPermalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/farages-latest-us-trip-to-visit-trump-has-got-1-word-trending_uk_672a39e8e4b0ffe83cf1a7a1","entryTagsList":"us-news,nigel-farage,reform-uk,clacton","sectionSlug":"politics","deptSlug":null,"sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"uk.politics","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc140cf94592c45d7390c","disabledWithMapiEntries":false,"overrides":{"all":"60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4"},"whitelisted":["56c5f12ee4b03a39c93c9439","56c6056ee4b01f2b7e1b5f35","59bfee7f9e451049f87f550b","5acccbaac269d609ef44c529","570278d2e4b070ff77b98217","57027b4be4b070ff77b98d5c","56fe95c4e4b0041c4242016b","570279cfe4b06d08e3629954","5ba9e8821c2e65639162ccf1","5bcd9904821576674bc55ced","5d076ca127f25f504327c72e","5b35266b158f855373e28256","5ebac2e8abddfb04f877dff2","60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4","60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","60d0d8e09340d7032ad0fb1a","60d0d90f9340d7032ad0fbeb","60d0d9949340d7032ad0fed3","60d0d9f99340d7032ad10113","60d0daa69340d7032ad104cf","60d0de02b627221e9d819408"],"playlists":{"default":"57bc306888d2ff1a7f6b5579","news":"56c6dbcee4b04edee8beb49c","politics":"56c6dbcee4b04edee8beb49c","entertainment":"56c6e7f2e4b0983aa64c60fc","tech":"56c6f70ae4b043c5bdcaebf9","parents":"56cc65c2e4b0239099455b42","lifestyle":"56cc66a9e4b01f81ef94e98c"},"playerUpdates":{"56c6056ee4b01f2b7e1b5f35":"60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4","56c5f12ee4b03a39c93c9439":"60d0d8e09340d7032ad0fb1a","59bfee7f9e451049f87f550b":"60d0d90f9340d7032ad0fbeb","5acccbaac269d609ef44c529":"60d0d9949340d7032ad0fed3","5bcd9904821576674bc55ced":"60d0d9f99340d7032ad10113","5d076ca127f25f504327c72e":"60d0daa69340d7032ad104cf","5ebac2e8abddfb04f877dff2":"60d0de02b627221e9d819408"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"8b034f64-513c-4987-b16f-42d6008f7feb","clickToPlayPlayer":"5a777b9b-81fe-41a6-8302-59e9953ee8a2","videoPagePlayer":"19654b65-409c-4b38-90db-80cbdea02cf4"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mNkYAAAAAYAAjCB0C8AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","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":13},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":0},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"672a39e8e4b0ffe83cf1a7a1","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"desktop","page_edition":"en-uk"},"tags":[{"name":"us news","slug":"us-news","links":{"relativeLink":"news/us-news","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/us-news","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/us-news"},"relegenceSubjectId":981465,"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/us-news/"},{"name":"nigel farage","slug":"nigel-farage","links":{"relativeLink":"news/nigel-farage","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/nigel-farage","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/nigel-farage"},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/nigel-farage/"},{"name":"reform uk","slug":"reform-uk","links":{"relativeLink":"news/reform-uk","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/reform-uk","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/reform-uk"},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/reform-uk/"},{"name":"Clacton","slug":"clacton","links":{"relativeLink":"news/clacton","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/clacton","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/clacton"},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/clacton/"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

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It’s just been announced Nigel Farage is once again in the USA on another jolly. The good people of Clacton however are still waiting for their MP to set up a constituency office, to agree times and places for a surgery or even establish an email address or phone number. pic.twitter.com/W7pb4cfjEQ

— RS Archer (@archer_rs) November 4, 2024

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Nigel, doing his bit for Clacton by hanging out with a group of demented lunatics who from tomorrow will never wield much influence over anything of consequence, ever again. pic.twitter.com/6tY96kPYbu

— Brendan May (@bmay) November 4, 2024

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Nigel, doing his bit for Clacton by hanging out with a group of demented lunatics who from tomorrow will never wield much influence over anything of consequence, ever again. pic.twitter.com/6tY96kPYbu

— Brendan May (@bmay) November 4, 2024