At a recent Donald Trump rally in Madison Square Garden, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, whom I was made aware of entirely against my will, referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage,” initiating a wave of backlash from Latinos and progressives mere days before the presidential election. For Republicans, the escándalo couldn’t have come at a worse time, as it threatens recent inroads into a voting bloc that has historically voted blue, votes they absolutely need if they’re going to capture swing states in a tight race against Democrat Kamala Harris. In response, Trump pushed the Hispanic Panic button: He dusted off a Spanish-language campaign ad from 2020 and posted it on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday.
The video, which features Trump-Pence signs (the two have since had a rather famous falling out) and an original song by “Los 3 de la Habana,” was hugely popular when it first came out, but it’s unclear if it will work as damage control here in 2024. What is clear is that it’s a textbook example of “Hispandering,” a category of corny behavior exhibited by politicians in a desperate bid to hunt down that elusive cryptid known as “the Latino vote.” Such behavior can take many forms.
Most commonly, it’s speaking in an accent, or making use of high school Spanish vocabulary lessons to make vaguely affirmative statements that typically incorporate the words “juntos ” or “vamos.” It’s fascinating to observe, like watching Amy Adams in .