Yahoo News Marc Anthony urges Puerto Ricans to back Biden in new ad, even though they can’t vote in US elections
Puerto Rican-American singer Marc Anthony criticised the president’s handling of natural disasters and the coronavirus pandemic on the island in a new advert from the Lincoln Project, a group of anti-Trump Republicans.
A vote for Joe Biden is a vote for Puerto Rico. We must never forget Donald Trump's inactions led to the loss of over 3000 American lives.
Thank you, @MarcAnthony for being a voice for the Puerto Rican community and a #LincolnLatino. pic.twitter.com/rGzZUeiJEL— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) October 30, 2020
“Our island and our people have suffered from natural disasters, Covid, and a wrecked economy,” Mr Anthony says. “We have also suffered from another disaster, a president who treats Puerto Ricans with insults and contempt, who withholds aid and laughs at our suffering,” he adds, with the advert playing clips of Donald Trump tossing paper towels to Puerto Ricans like he’s shooting a basketball and claiming he’s the “best thing that ever happened to Puerto Rico.”
Hurricane Maria killed as many as 4,000 people in the US territory in 2017 and left the island without a fully functioning electrical grid for nearly a year. Since then protesters and leaders like San Juan’s mayor Carmel Yulín Cruz and Puerto Rico’s former governor Ricardo Roselló have criticised how the president responded to these crises.
The President’s botched efforts after Hurricanes Irma and Maria cost the lives of approximately 3,000 Puerto Ricans. He then put the debt before the dead. He is doing it again with his botched efforts in handling the COVID crisis & again it will cost thousands of lives.
— Carmen Yulín Cruz (@CarmenYulinCruz) March 25, 2020
Mr. President: STOP spreading misinformation! #PuertoRico has not received $91b (only 300M in permanent work). It's not "us" vs "them". It's about Americans in need. https://t.co/00CqevN5T7
— Ricardo Rosselló (@ricardorossello) April 2, 2019
Mr Anthony echoed their critiques in official ads for the Biden campaign in September.
Both campaigns are pushing to win over Puerto Ricans, even though those who live on the island itself exist in a quasi-colonial status where they are US citizens but can’t vote in presidential elections and don’t have true congressional representation.
The hope is to reach Puerto Ricans in the island’s diaspora communities in places like Florida, a key swing state where 37 per cent of voting-age Hispanics are Puerto Ricans. Puerto Rico’s governor endorsed President Trump earlier this month.
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