The debate over Donald Trump’s fascist rally at Madison Square Garden has focused primarily on fallout from insulting Puerto Ricans with a “joke” about the US territory being an “island of garbage.”

“That is the October surprise,” GOP strategist Mike Madrid told Greg Sargent. “Surprise, Donald Trump, you blew yourself up. Yes, it could absolutely bring Pennsylvania into the win column for [Kamala] Harris.”

But something’s missing from the debate. 

Why did this backfire? 

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I mean, Trump hasn’t been campaigning for president so much as leading a vengeance movement against alleged “enemies from within” – ie, anyone who displeases him. He has vowed to purge America of “vermin” who are “poisoning the blood” of the country. Last weekend’s rally was merely a culmination of a year’s worth of prejudice porn. Speakers there assailed immigrants, Jews, Black people and more. 

But somehow Trump seemed to have taken a lot of people by surprise, particularly Puerto Ricans. Puerto Rican celebrities seemed especially revolted. Bad Bunny, Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin endorsed Harris only after the “island of garbage” line blew up. Musician Nicky Jam had actually endorsed Trump, but rescinded his endorsement afterward. 

“I never thought in my life that a month later a comedian would come along and criticize my country [sic], speak poorly of my country [sic], therefore I renounce any support for Donald Trump,” Jam wrote.

How is this possible? 

The answer might be rooted in the complicated nature of Latino identity and the hierarchies within it that have emerged in relation to white-power politics in America. Put plainly, some Puerto Ricans are white or can pass for white. Most of them speak English. Because the island is a US territory, all Puerto Ricans are US citizens who can vote*.

Compared to some Latinos who are not white, who do not speak English and who cannot vote, Puerto Ricans have a lot going for them in a country like ours that’s still shaped largely by the cultural and political preferences of white people. Some Puerto Ricans might have even believed that no matter how bad Trump gets, it won’t affect them much. After all, they have the rights and privileges of citizenship.

I don’t want to undervalue the fact that lots of people just don’t pay attention to politics. Nicky Jam said he had endorsed Trump, because “I thought that was the best for the economy in the US, where many Latinos live, including myself, where many immigrants are suffering because of the economy, and him being a businessman I thought that was the best move.” I would guess that Jam had other things to do.

But I don’t think Jam and others were shocked by “island of garbage” because they were preoccupied. I suspect they were shocked because they realized something profound – that their assumptions were wrong. They presumed that citizenship was an issue of legal status. Once a citizen, always a citizen, no matter how you look. But Trump’s hate-rally undermined that understanding. It revealed that his fascists will not honor the letter of the law, much less the spirit of it. They will target you if you’re illegal. They will target you if you “don’t look legal” – and “don’t look illegal” isn’t a matter of law. It’s a matter of whiteness. 

I don’t mean to suggest Puerto Ricans don’t experience racism. That would be stupid. I do mean to suggest that some, including perhaps Nicky Jam, underestimate what it means when someone says, as Stephen Miller did, that “America is for Americans and Americans only.” It means there’s nothing legally special about being Puerto Ricans. From Miller’s view, they’re all “Mexicans” and all “Mexicans” need to go. If Trump wins, Miller would likely be in charge of executing a massive operation to arrest and detain everyone who doesn’t “look American.” 

That operation is usually described as a “deportation program,” but I don’t see any reason why such an undertaking would be restricted to “illegal immigrants.” The point of the exercise is to purge the “vermin” who are “poisoning the blood” of the country. It is to “cure the disease” and eradicate “the enemies within.” Things like legal status and citizenship won’t stop fascists from pursuing those goals once they have power. Nothing will, not even another white person’s whiteness.

This is why the “island of garbage” line should be profoundly shocking to more than the Puerto Rican population of the United States. It should shake everyone to their core. Its message is as simple as it is horrifying – the rights and privileges of citizenship cannot save you. 

To achieve the goal of dominance and control – of making America for Americans only – fascists in power need only define “American” according to the most restrictive terms possible. But these terms would never be static. They would change according to need. 

So even if you meet the fascist definition of “American,” you might not be white enough or male enough or Christian enough. This is what happened to the GOP. No one could say Mitt Romney wasn’t a Republican, but to the fascists, he would never be Republican enough. He didn’t belong and over time, they purged him from the party.

As it stands, the debate over Trump’s fascist rally is centered on the outrage felt by Puerto Ricans who are now remembering Donald Trump’s treatment of the island after Hurricane Maria ravaged it in 2017. They are remembering that he called them dirty, that he threw paper towels at them, and that he held up scores of millions in relief until the last days of his term. The story now is about how Trump alienated voters he needs to win. The story is about PR payback.

There’s more to the story. If native-born citizens can be dehumanized as “garbage,” anyone can be. If anyone can be, no one is truly safe.

*Clarification: They can vote if they reside in one of the 50 states. They can’t vote in federal elections, however, while residing on the island.