Nicky Jam, a Puerto Rican musician who endorsed former President Donald J. Trump last month, withdrew that endorsement just days after racist remarks against Puerto Rico and Latinos made by a speaker at Mr. Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday drew widespread outrage.
The reggaeton star had stood by Mr. Trump’s side at a campaign event in Las Vegas in September as he endorsed the former president. Before Nicky Jam took the stage, Mr. Trump praised the musician’s looks, apparently believing him to be a woman. “Do you know Nicky?” he asked the crowd. “She’s hot. Where is Nicky?”
When Nicky Jam came to take the stage, Mr. Trump looked a bit befuddled.
In a video posted on social media on Wednesday, Nicky Jam said he had supported Mr. Trump because he believed that he would be best for the economy.
“Never in my life did I think that a month later, there would come a comedian to criticize my country,” he said in Spanish.
Nicky Jam’s disavowal of Mr. Trump reflects the damage that the remarks at the Madison Square Garden rally could inflict on the Trump campaign’s efforts to court Latino voters. The star was just one of the Black and Latino musicians whom Mr. Trump has featured at campaign rallies in an effort to recruit new surrogates who can sway younger men of color, an important demographic in a race that may be decided by the slimmest of margins.
Other prominent Puerto Rican celebrities — including Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin and the pop phenomenon Bad Bunny — have used social media to condemn the rally remarks and to show support for Vice President Kamala Harris to their tens of millions of followers. Ms Harris had announced a plan to bring economic opportunities to Puerto Rico hours before the rally at Madison Square Garden.
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