Republican strategist Shermichael Singleton said Vice President Kamala Harris has a new “opportunity” to win over voters in the swing state of Pennsylvania following racist comments made at former President Donald Trump’s rally in New York City.

Perhaps the biggest story to come out of Trump’s event at Madison Square Garden was the polarizing statements from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who spoke before Trump and others close to his campaign took the stage Sunday evening. Among the list of statements that sparked a firestorm was Hinchcliffe saying that Puerto Rico is a “floating island of trash.” Hinchcliffe also made vulgar comments about blacks and Hispanics.

Trump’s team has said the joke “does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.” Other Republicans have also denounced Hinchcliffe’s comments.

As much as Trump distances himself from the statements, experts have suggested, however, that Hinchcliffe’s jokes could hurt Trump in some key battleground states, where Puerto Rican voters have the chance to see the results of some of Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris’ closest influence colleagues. fights.

Singleton — who worked on the presidential campaigns for Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney and Ben Carson — said during an appearance on CNN Monday afternoon that the jokes could specifically hurt Trump in Pennsylvania.

“I look at a state like Pennsylvania, a critical state where we know there are over 465,000 Puerto Rican voters,” Singleton said during a panel on The situation room with Wolf Blitzer.

“Now I would say that the Harris campaign has struggled to gain a foothold in Pennsylvania, which I think is a must-win state for both parties,” Singleton continued.

“You have now given the Harris campaign the opportunity to potentially target this demographic with ads, Spanish and English, to be able to place their door knockers and focus on heavy Puerto Rican communities to keep them out,” he continued . “So if you just look at a marginal 1 to 2 percent turnout among Puerto Ricans, that would potentially be enough for the vice president to win that state.”

Newsweek contacted Trump’s campaign via email on Monday for comment.

Harris’ campaign wasted no time in responding to Hinchcliffe’s comments on Sunday, including by re-sharing his jokes about Puerto Rico on his social platforms. The vice president also released a video message on Sunday attacking Trump’s policies toward Puerto Rico and released a detailed plan of how she plans to boost the island’s economy if she is elected in November.

Several Puerto Rican celebrities have also spoken out in support of Harris following Hinchcliffe’s comments. Bad Bunny, who has 45.6 million followers on Instagram, shared Harris’ video message four times on his platform. Songwriter and actor Ricky Martin, who has more than 18.6 million followers on Instagram, posted a clip of Hinchcliffe’s jokes to his account and wrote in Spanish: “This is what they think about us. Vote for Kamala Harris.”

More than 470,000 Puerto Ricans live in Pennsylvania, about 3.69 percent of the state’s total population, according to a map compiled by UCLA’s Department of Social Sciences Computing.

Mark Shanahan, associate professor of political engagement at Britain’s University of Surrey, said Newsweek earlier in the day Monday that Hinchcliffe’s comments “may be the campaign line that will hurt Trump most in the coming week.”

“If Hinchcliffe has caused enough offense to draw voters away from Trump, it could be a joke that ends his career and Trump’s hopes for a return to the White House,” Shanahan said.

According to polling aggregator FiveThirtyEight, Trump is ahead by an average of 0.3 percent in Pennsylvania as of Monday evening, meaning the race is virtually even. The New York Times’ The polling average also shows Trump and Harris tied at 48 percent in polls in Pennsylvania as of Monday.