MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are roughly tied in polling from the swing state of Pennsylvania. Disparaging words about Puerto Rico and Latinos at a Trump rally in New York could be disrupting that balance. Carmen Russell-Sluchansky of WHYY has this report.
CARMEN RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY, BYLINE: It's around 3 p.m., and El Mofongo, a Puerto Rican and Dominican restaurant in Reading, Pennsylvania, is much fuller than it was at noon. It's one of many Latin restaurants in the city of around 95,000 people, where Hispanics make up more than 70% of the population. Of those, Puerto Ricans are the largest group. That's why comments made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe at a Donald Trump rally in New York are a hot topic. Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage. Eva Clemente, a Puerto Rican voter here in Reading, called it personal.
EVA CLEMENTE: He's talking about our ancestors, our families, our parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles. I grew up in Puerto Rico. So to me, it was very hurtful hear him say that about our island.
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: The Democrat said she was already voting for Vice President Harris. Misael Nieves, a Republican, was also offended but still plans to vote for Donald Trump.
MISAEL NIEVES: I do feel like his campaign party should have addressed it immediately. It doesn't take my focus off of the end game, you know, is to get our country back to where it needs to be, financially, you know, security and everything.
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: David DeJesus, however, says he had planned to vote for Trump and still leans that way. But the comment gives him pause now.
DAVID DEJESUS: It just feels offensive, you know? So it's hard to back up somebody when you've been offended on the other side, too, you know? I'm still undecided, but there's still hours left. So...
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: Joseph Nunez is the city's ranking Republican. Voters like DeJesus concern him. Nunez, who is Dominican American, says that the scandal has made it harder as he knocks on doors in the state's fourth-largest city to drum up support for Trump.
JOSEPH NUNEZ: The comment was poor, and it doesn't reflect on who we are at all. We are fighting tooth and nail every day. We're on the ground. We're on the streets. We're talking to people to let them know that we are not racist.
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: Just a mile away, Democrats are looking to capitalize on the scandal by hosting a Hispanic resident-focused event. A few hundred attendees came to listen to music, hold signs that say we are not trash in Spanish and listen to Puerto Rican political leaders and celebrities like Rosie Perez, who's here to campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris. Perez called Hinchcliffe's comments a gift from the Republican Party.
ROSIE PEREZ: And we're capitalizing on it, and so that's why I'm here.
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: Today, Trump will be making his second trip to Reading in a month. Reading Mayor Eddie Moran says it may be an effort to do some damage control.
EDDIE MORAN: I think that he has lost a lot of votes. I think that he just wants to use the venue because it's a good location for neighboring communities to come, but there's not going to be very - a lot of local people supporting him there.
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: Back at El Mofongo, however, DeJesus says he thinks a visit by the former president may help as long as Tony Hinchcliffe stays away.
DEJESUS: If he comes by himself, yeah. But if he brings that guy, no (laughter).
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: Harris is also expected to stop by Reading today after a rally in Allentown, where she will be joined by Puerto Rican performers.
For NPR News, I'm Carmen Russell-Sluchansky in Reading, Pennsylvania. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.