Politics

Comedian who mocked Puerto Rico at Trump rally gets Netflix deal

Published

1 year ago

March 10, 2025

Tony Hinchcliffe, the comedian whose -appearance at a New York rally for then-candidate Donald Trump drew bipartisan backlash after he made disparaging comments about Puerto Rico, has inked a deal with Netflix, the company announced Monday.

Under the deal, Hinchliffe will helm three live comedy show specials, with the first premiering on April 7, as well as his own stand-up special.

“Myself and our entire crew of Austin comedians, peers, and upcomers are excited for the opportunity to share our chaotic, insane show with a whole new chunk of the globe,” Hinchcliffe said in a statement to the press.

Hinchliffe, whose YouTube channel, Kill Tony, boasts over 2 million subscribers, gained widespread notoriety last year when he opened for Trump at an October Madison Square Garden Rally. His jokes, which assailed Puerto Rico, Latinos and migrants, caused a massive outcry in the following days.

“I don’t know if you guys know this, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now,” Hinchcliffe said to laughter at the rally. “I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”

Trump’s campaign tried to distance itself from Hinchliffe and Puerto Rican celebrities, including Aubrey Plaza, Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny and Nicky Jam, blasted the set. Jam, who had previously appeared at a campaign rally alongside the now-president, said the episode pushed him to retract his earlier endorsement of Trump. Lopez attacked Trump for the set at a campaign rally for Kamala Harris in Las Vegas.

Hinchliffe did not apologize, though he did later acknowledge that “perhaps that venue at that time wasn’t the best fucking place to do this set at.”

Politics

Wes Moore lays out his vision for America

Published

3 hours ago

June 26, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is on an Independence Day collision course with President Donald Trump.

Moore is planning to deliver a sweeping speech on patriotism on July Fourth from the Maryland State House in Annapolis — with the aim of counterprogramming what Trump promised would be the “most spectacular TRUMP RALLY of them all, a ‘TRIBUTE TO AMERICA.’”

In an interview with Blue Light News, Moore said he thinks Trump is going to spend the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding talking about himself — but that America deserves something more.

“The president is incapable of meeting the moment,” Moore said.

In his split-screen remarks, called “The Work of Patriotism,” the former Army captain and Afghanistan veteran is expected to “make the case that Democrats cannot cede patriotism to Donald Trump — and that love of country is not about loyalty to one man, one party, or one political spectacle,” according to Ammar Moussa, Moore’s press secretary.

Moore will “draw a contrast between patriotism and nationalism, making the case that nationalism is about allegiance to a person or a movement, while patriotism is about allegiance to the country and the people who make it worth fighting for,” Moussa said.

“We are a nation of strength because we are a nation of sacrifice,” Moore will say, according to a draft of his remarks.

But Moore insisted he’s not trying to be a foil to the president.

“I’m trying to be a foil to darkness,” Moore said. “I think I’m trying to be a foil to fatalism. I think I’m trying to be a foil to self-serving ideologies. What I want people to know in all this is that I believe strongly that we need a future-facing vision for this nation.”

That’s exactly what someone who’s “not running” for president would say, right? Standard Maryland gubernatorial reelection fare.

The speech follows a pattern of growing visibility for Moore. He’s been on numerous podcasts and in new media. The day after his speech, he’s expected to appear on an episode of Jubilee’s “Surrounded,” a booking that’s becoming routine for prominent Democratic figures such as Pete Buttigieg, Texas Senate candidate James Talarico and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.).

On Saturday, Moore is heading to battleground Michigan, a potential early 2028 primary state, where he’ll stump for gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson in Detroit, Saginaw and Flint — all pivotal locales to win reelection in Maryland, of course.

Moore has said he’s “laser-focused” on his 2026 reelection campaign. Or, as he explained in an interview with POLITICO’s Jonathan Martin: “I’m hungry, but I’m not thirsty.”

The Maryland governor also had his own thoughts about what the progressive victories in New York’s primaries mean, and how that insurgent energy could be harnessed by 2028 Democrats.

“I think harnessing the energy means driving for the results that people are aspiring to,” Moore said, citing primary wins in his own backyard too: “I created an entire slate, the Leave No One Behind slate in Maryland that was wildly successful, and if you look at the candidates that I endorsed and supported, you can’t find an ideological thread in them. We endorsed the progressive legislator from Montgomery County, and we supported the prosecutor in Baltimore County.”

In fact, Moore endorsed some 200 candidates across the state, and his advisers say 93 percent have either won or are in the lead.

“What connects them is a belief that the status quo has got to be disrupted,” Moore said.

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