Geraldo Rivera tears up MAGA after Donald Trump's Madison Square Garden rally

Geraldo Rivera, a former close friend of Donald Trump, issued a stark warning to Latino men who may be considering voting for the Republican candidate in the upcoming presidential election.

“F–k these racists,” former Fox News host posted until X late Sunday. “Latino men of good will, be proud of yourself and your ancestors. A vote for Trump is a vote against self-respect.” In addition to a series of fascist Trump comments from recent weeks, Rivera's post made particular reference to remarks made by podcaster Tony Hinchliffe, who described Puerto Rico at a Trump rally in New York City on Sunday “a floating island of garbage”.

Rivera's own father was a Puerto Rican immigrant He traveled to the United States and lived with his grandparents in Puerto Rico for a time as a teenager. In 2008, he published a book based on his father's story titled His Panic: Why Americans Fear Hispanics in the US

“It is a story that is similar to so many tens of millions before and after us,” Rivera said said the year after its publication. “All my father ever wanted was for us to grow up and assimilate, to be Americans, real American.”

His scathing post warning Latino voters about the former president comes on the heels of Rivera – a longtime Republican who has otherwise stood by Trump's side in a litany of controversies over the years – recently publicly endorsed Kamala Harris described Trump as “a sore loser who cannot be trusted to respect the Constitution.”

Hinchcliffe's jokes also referenced an offensive stereotype about blacks and slandered Latinos in crude terms as people who “love having babies.”

Bad Bunny, the Puerto Rican musical superstar, shared a video from Harris' Instagram account to his own story shortly after Hinchcliffe delivered his remarks. The clip of Harris attacking Trump's handling of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017 amounted to an announcement that Bad Bunny was supporting Harris, a source close to the musician said The Washington Post.

“I will never forget what Donald Trump did and didn’t do when Puerto Rico needed a caring and competent leader,” Harris says in the footage. “He has abandoned the island, tried to block aid after successive devastating hurricanes, and offered nothing but paper towels and insults.”

Fellow Puerto Rican artists Ricky Martin and Jennifer Lopez also shared the footage of Harris with their followers. Martin separately shared a clip of Hinchcliffe's offensive comments, adding a caption in Spanish: “This is what they think about us.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY), who is also of Puerto Rican descent, also condemned the comments in a Twitch stream alongside Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee. “If there's anyone who calls Puerto Rico 'floating trash,' know that they think the same about you,” the congresswoman said on stream.

Hinchcliffe responded to Ocasio-Cortez's comments, claiming she had “no sense of humor” and claiming it was wild of Walz to “take time out of his 'busy schedule' to analyze a joke that came from the “The context was taken out of context to make him appear racist.”

“I love Puerto Rico and vacationing there,” Hinchcliffe added. “I made fun of everyone…look at the whole set. I’m a comedian, Tim…maybe it’s time to change your tampon.”

“You don’t love Puerto Rico,” Ocasio-Cortez said strike back. “You like drinking piña coladas. There is a difference.”

Danielle Alvarez, a senior adviser to Trump's campaign, said in a statement to the Post: “This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.”