Coming to NJ: Tony Hinchcliffe, offensive comedian at Trump MSG rally
🔴 Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe appears at Trump's Madison Square Garden event
🔴 Hinchcliffe defends offensive jokes after criticism
🔴 Tickets available for show in Atlantic City
ATLANTIC CITY — Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who is going viral for his controversial set at Donald Trump's Madison Square Garden rally, is set to perform in New Jersey.
Of the nearly 30 speakers who warmed up the crowd for Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe got the most attention.
Hinchcliffe, a stand-up comedian, created a firestorm online with his set.
“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. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” he said, later including lewd and racist comments about Latinos, Jewish and Black people.
Democratic vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz called Hinchcliffe a “jack-wad” and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., a Democrat with Puerto Rican roots, called it “super-upsetting.”
Even the Trump campaign distanced itself from the comments.
“This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” senior adviser Danielle Alvarez said in a statement.
Hinchcliffe defends offensive jokes at MSG rally
Hinchcliffe said on X that the jokes were taken out of context and that his critics have no sense of humor.
"I love Puerto Rico and vacation there. I made fun of everyone... watch the whole set. I'm a comedian," said Hinchcliffe.
Ocasio-Cortez said Hinchcliffe doesn't love Puerto Rico — he likes drinking piña coladas.
"Can’t get over this dude telling someone else to change tampons when he’s the one s****ing bricks in his Depends after realizing opening for a Trump rally and feeding red-meat racism alongside a throng of other bigots to a frothing crowd does, unironically, make you one of them," said Ocasio-Cortez.
Tony Hinchcliffe performing at Ocean Casino Resort
For fans of the comedian's crude style, Hinchcliffe will perform in Atlantic City at the Ocean Casino Resort next year.
RELATED: Trump Madison Square Garden event features crude, racist insults
He's scheduled to headline at the resort's Ovation Hall on Saturday, March 1 at 8 p.m.
Tickets are available through Ticketmaster starting at $32 and can be purchased by clicking here.
Who is Tony Hinchcliffe?
Hinchcliffe has written and appeared on eight Comedy Central Roasts, including ones for Snoop Dogg and Tom Brady.
Even fellow comedians aren't immune. At the Snoop Dogg roast, Hinchcliffe made a joke referencing comedian Luenell, who is Black, being on the Underground Railroad. Of the honoree, he said: “Snoop, you look like the California Raisin that got hooked on heroin.”
He had a Netflix special in 2016 — “Tony Hinchcliffe: One Shot” — which was filmed in one continuous take. But he's perhaps most famous for hosting the Kill Tony podcast since 2013, which involves both professional and amateur comedians performing for a panel of judges for 60 seconds and then enduring their criticisms.
He began opening for comics like Joe Rogan, who did a three-hour interview with Trump on his podcast last week, and Jeff Ross and is credited with writing Martha Stewart’s raunchy zingers for a roast of Justin Bieber.
He has faced backlash before, especially after he used a racial slur in 2021 about fellow comedian and Asian American Peng Dang during a gig in Austin, Texas. Hinchcliffe was dropped by his talent agency, WME, and several of his scheduled gigs were canceled. He never apologized.
“I knew that what I had done was not wrong. It wasn’t even the worst thing I did that week,” he told Variety earlier this year. “It was so dumbfounding to me because it was a joke, and my stance is that comedians should never apologize for a joke, should never stop working if everyone comes after them and should never slow down.”
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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