Republican officials are panicking after a comedian made racist jokes about Latinos and the territory of Puerto Rico during a rally for former President Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night, fearing it could cost them votes in swing states.

Since making gains among Latino voters in 2020, the Trump campaign has invested heavily in reaching the Latino community and voters of color in general. Polls show this appears to be helping him, especially among Latino men, who are evenly split between support for him and Vice President Kamala Harris. It is not yet clear to what extent the comments at the meeting could undo these efforts, but in swing states where the margin of victory is expected to be small, even small shifts in support could have major consequences.

During the meeting, Texas-based comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a “floating island of trash” and said Latinos “like to make babies,” adding, “There is no retreat. They don’t. They are coming in, just like they did to our country.”

The backlash came quickly. The Trump campaign released a statement saying Hinchcliffe’s comments did not reflect Trump’s thinking. Republicans in heavily Puerto Rican districts have condemned the comments: Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) said they “disgusted” her and “did not reflect GOP values.” Shortly after the backlash, Puerto Rican musician Bad Bunny posted a video of Vice President Kamala Harris to his Instagram, a post that was reportedly an endorsement of Harris.

Trump has made racist comments about Latino immigrants during his campaign; for example, they claim that they are “poisoning the blood of the country.” But Hinchcliffe’s comments went a step further in attacking Latin American citizens, some of whom may not feel personally discredited when Trump talks about immigrant populations.

“This guy was talking broadly about the entire island (Puerto Rico),” said Mike Madrid, a Latino GOP strategist who is backing Harris. “To equate this with just Trump’s past immigrant comments misses the broader point. This man attacked Latino Americans by birth.

How the fallout from the rally could impact swing states

Puerto Rican voters make up a significant portion of the electorate in swing states, especially Pennsylvania, where their population was approximately 456,600, according to the 2020 U.S. Census. According to FiveThirtyEight’s polling average, the state’s polls are nearly tied.

There are also approximately 115,000 Puerto Ricans in North Carolina, 65,000 in Wisconsin and 50,000 in Michigan. Overall, Latino voters represent a larger share of the vote than the likely margin of victory in all seven battlegrounds.

Much of Trump’s gains among Latino voters in 2020 came from Puerto Ricans and Mexican Americans, once solidly blue voting blocs. This could be surprising given Trump’s record on Puerto Rico during his time in office. He blocked aid to Puerto Rico after the devastating Hurricane Maria in 2017, and he reportedly joked about U.S. trading Puerto Rico for Greenland.

He has since been able to appeal to Puerto Rican voters on his economic messages, as many continue to suffer from the pressure of higher prices even as inflation has fallen significantly from its 2022 peak. But there is more hesitation among these voters toward Trump than other voters. GOP figures, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, suggest the former president’s renewed support may be weak.

The question is to what extent the comments during the meeting move the needle. With the election just days away, voters are paying attention. Whether Trump regrets it or not, this is part of his closing argument.

“I think what may have happened here is that the Trump campaign finally did what the Harris campaign has not been able to do, which is lower Trump support for Latino voters, especially in Pennsylvania,” Madrid said. “I guess the question is: how much?”