'Lying Coward': Donald Trump Mocked for Claiming He Doesn't Know Who Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe Is After His Puerto Rico 'Garbage' Comments Went Viral at NYC Rally

Former President Donald Trump has faced a wave of criticism for attempting to distance himself from Tony Hinchcliffe and his joke about Puerto Rico being an "island of garbage."

The Republican nominee for president appeared on Fox News a week before the election to do some damage control after the massive backlash following his heavily ridiculed Madison Square Garden rally.

"I have no idea who he is. Somebody said there was a comedian that joked about Puerto Rico or something, and I have no idea who he is," Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity, attempting to distance himself from Hinchcliffe. "Never saw him, never heard of him, and don't want to hear of him."

"I have no idea. They put a comedian in, which everybody does. You throw comedians in. You don't vet them and go crazy. It's nobody's fault. But somebody said some bad things," the ex-president continued. "Now what they've done is taken somebody that has nothing to do with the party, has nothing to do with us, said something and they try and make a big deal."

He went on to claim he's done more for Puerto Rico than any president in U.S. history.

Clips from Trump's Hannity interview were shared on social media, where several of the former president's loudest critics ridiculed the Republican nominee for claiming he didn't know Hinchcliffe before the rally.

One user on X, formerly known as Twitter, wrote: "This dude uses this exact excuse every time. Crazy the mental gymnastics his supporters have to do to overlook it. Either he’s lying, or he’s so dumb and uninformed that he consistently never knows what’s going on around him."

Another user commentd: "Donald Trump remains a lying coward, he can’t even own his hate and his own campaign decisions because he’s chickens--- and he will always be chickens---."

A third critic pointed out: "If you're too incompetent to know who is speaking at your rallies, then you shouldn't be president. Or, if you're racist as h--- and vet the jokes and let these idiots spew their bile anyway, you shouldn't be President."

Several famous Puerto Ricans, including Bad Bunny, Jennifer Lopez, and Ricky Martin, have publicly expressed their support for Vice President Kamala Harris in response to the joke to their tens of millions of followers on social media.