NEW YORK — Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny has signaled his support for Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday, sharing a clip on social media of the vice president’s plans for the island, moments after a speaker made an offensive joke at Donald TrumpNew York rally, sparking outrage.

The move comes as both the Harris and Trump campaigns have competed for the Puerto Rican vote, particularly in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, home to about 500,000 Puerto Ricans. Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, known as Bad Bunny, shared the campaign clip to more than 45 million followers on Instagram.

“I will never forget what Donald Trump did and didn’t do when Puerto Rico needed a thoughtful and competent leader,” Harris says in the video, which Bad Bunny has reposted several times, focusing on Trump . “He abandoned the island, tried to block aid after back-to-back devastating hurricanes and offered nothing but paper towels and insults.”

Thousands of people in Puerto Rico died as a result of Hurricane Maria in 2017 – shortly after Hurricane Irma caused mass power outages across the island. While surveying Puerto Rican damage after Hurricane Maria, then-President Trump sparked backlash after dropping supplies, including paper towels, on the island’s residents.

Bad Bunny’s post on Sunday was the first indication of the artist’s support as the Harris campaign seeks to shore up celebrity endorsements. And it came as outrage built on remarks made by Tony Hinchcliffe, a comedian and podcast host, who attacked Puerto Rico at Trump’s rally in Madison Square Garden.

“There’s a lot going on, like, I don’t know if you know this, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. Yeah. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” he said. Puerto Rico is a US territory.

Hinchcliffe is also facing a growing backlash from Republicans, including the Trump campaign, after his comment about Puerto Rico.

“This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” senior Trump campaign adviser Danielle Alvarez wrote in a statement to ABC News.

Senate Republican Rick Scott — who has long supported statehood for Puerto Rico — also wrote on X that the joke was not funny and “bombed for a reason,” while House Republican Maria Salazar said on the platform that she is “disgusted” by Hinchcliffe’s rhetoric. , which “does not reflect GOP values.”

The Republican Party of Puerto Rico also denounced Tony Hinchcliffe’s comments in a Sunday statementwith party president Angel Cintrón writing that they are “unfortunate, ignorant and completely condemned”.

He added that the comments do not represent the values ​​of any Puerto Rican, Democrat or Republican, on the island or across the United States.

Harris campaign officials had a conversation with Bad Bunny’s team, according to a source familiar with the matter, in hopes of getting him to support his vice-presidential plan for Puerto Rico.

“This was a careful and deliberate problem-focused approach,” the source said.

A representative for Bad Bunny told CNN that his reposting of Harris’ video on Instagram was “not an endorsement” but that he “supports” Harris. “Benito’s political focus has always been on Puerto Rico,” his representative told CNN. His rep has not indicated whether an official endorsement from the musician will come before the election.

An endorsement from Bad Bunny has been at the top of the Harris campaign’s wish list of celebrity endorsements for months, according to a source familiar with the campaign’s Hollywood outreach. The campaign understands Bad Bunny’s reach in the Latino community and believes his endorsement could help sway young Latino voters — a demographic that has gravitated toward Trump.

The campaign also celebrated Bad Bunny, along with Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin, sharing the vice president’s message on social media.

“Despacito” singer Luis Fonsi also joined the chorus of Puerto Rican stars who shared their support for Harris, posting a video of Hinchcliffe joking at the Trump rally with the caption: “Are you serious?” to 16 million followers on Instagram.

“It’s okay to have different opinions and I respect those who think differently than me… but to go down this racist path, isn’t it,” Fonsi posted on his Instagram story, along with emojis that they were signaling they were voting for Harris.

Earlier on Sunday, Harris visited Freddy & Tony’s Restaurant, a Puerto Rican restaurant in North Philadelphia, where he spoke about the challenges in Puerto Rico and discussed his policies focused on the island.

“I’m going to create an economic opportunity task force for Puerto Rico,” she said, adding that she wants to focus on two things: building economic opportunities for the island and improving the power grid.

Notably, while Puerto Rico does not vote for president in general elections because it is a U.S. territory, the Republican Party of Puerto Rico held a primary in April as part of its presidential nominating process. Those primaries were won by Donald Trump, who swept the territory’s delegates.

Hinchcliffe has yet to issue an official response as the GOP distances itself from him.

Still, he quickly hit back at Tim Walz when Minnesota’s Democratic governor called him a “jackwad,” writing on X: “These people have no sense of humor. Crazy that a vice presidential candidate would take time out of his “busy.” program’ to analyze a joke taken out of context to make it seem racist’.

Hinchcliffe continued: “I love Puerto Rico and vacationing there. I made fun of everyone… look at the whole set. I’m a comedian Tim… might be time to change your tampon”.

The controversy is not a first for Hinchcliffe, who has a history of making racially charged jokes.

In 2021, he came under fire after calling fellow comedian Peng Dang racist names in a mocking Chinese accent. It was during a Big Laugh Comedy show in Austin, Texas, where Dang had just introduced Hinchcliffe on stage after making a series of #StopAsianHate jokes. During filming, Hinchcliffe also made racist jokes against the Chinese.

After the incident, Hinchcliffe was fired from his agency, WME, and removed from a scheduled episode of Joe Rogan’s podcast. He’s also reportedly been forced to cancel some upcoming shows.

CNN and ABC News contributed to this report.