Keller mayor says Latinos care about policies, not ‘some bad joke’ about Puerto Rico
Keller Mayor Armin Mizani said he wasn’t anticipating his post on X going viral when he wrote that Latinos are more concerned about policies impacting them than a joke referring to Puerto Rico as “a floating island of garbage.”
Mizani, who lived in Puerto Rico until he was 9, said his post was picked up by Elon Musk and Donald Trump Jr. Mizani was also a guest on the Glen Beck podcast on Wednesday.
Mizani wrote in his post, “As one of the few Mayors in this country who is actually Puerto Rican (born and raised), lets get real for a moment and let me offer an explanation as to why @realDonaldTrump and @JDVance are surging in the polls amongst Latinos and why they’ll continue to do so through election day. For Latinos, faith, family, and economic opportunity motivates us - not some bad joke by a comedian.”
The controversy erupted during former President Trump’s campaign rally Sunday at Madison Square Garden where comedian Tony Hinchcliffe told the joke about Puerto Rico.
Trump has denied knowing the comedian.
Mizani said in an interview that he did not like the joke, but people have to look beyond it.
“I personally did not like the joke, but I think we can live in a world where people can like a joke or dislike a joke but they can be motivated by the policies impacting them,” he said.
Mizani talked about how under Trump, the border was secure and there was no inflation, a contrast to the Biden Harris administration, he said.
He said he was in Puerto Rico a couple of months ago and that people are worried about whether they will have electricity. They are also concerned about corruption and failing infrastructure.
“There are potholes and sink holes where they shouldn’t be,” he said.