Puerto Rican artist Nicky Jam walked back his endorsement for presidential candidate Donald J. Trump on Wednesday.
In a video uploaded to Jam’s Instagram, the reggaeton star is seen sitting in a luxury car where he explains he no longer supports Trump following the racist remarks made by Tony Hinchcliffe at a Trump rally over the weekend. Hinchliffe, who appeared as a speaker for a Trump rally in New York’s Madison Square Garden on Oct. 27, made derogatory comments about Latinos and their children. He also called Puerto Rico “a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean.”
Jam’s reasoning for supporting Trump was because “I believed it was what’s best for the economy in the United States, where a lot of Latinos live… a lot of immigrants that are suffering over the state of the economy,” he explained in Spanish. “With [Trump] being a businessman, I felt it was the right movement.”
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Jam appeared as part of a Trump rally himself, resulting in widespread criticism after the former president mistakenly introduced him as a “hot” woman, indicating he knew very little about Jam as an entertainer.
The 42 year-old artist is known for global urban and reggaeton hits like “Te Bote,” a song he shares with Bad Bunny and Ozuna, among others. His highest-charting album in the United States was 2018’s “Fenix” that included collaborations with J Balvin, Sean Paul, Daddy Yankee, Enrique Iglesias and more. He has been nominated for 12 Latin Grammys and has his own scholarship program with the Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation.
Jam said he “never in his life” thought that just a month after his endorsement of Trump, “a comedian would appear to criticize and talk badly about my country,” he said. “That’s why I’m renouncing my support for Donald Trump and stepping away from any political conversation. Puerto Rico deserves respect.”
The starkly racist comments made by Hinchliffe stirred outrage among prominent Puerto Ricans and many others in media and entertainment including Bad Bunny, Don Omar, Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin.
Jam never commented on the misgendering, and was relatively quiet about his participation at the rally until Wednesday’s update.
See Jam’s post below.
