In North Philadelphia’s Fairhill neighborhood, signs of Puerto Rico are never far away. The red, white and blue flag of the U.S. island territory adorns homes and businesses, and the sounds of salsa and reggaetón blare from cars and restaurants selling fried plantains and spit-roasted pork.

The area is the beating heart of Philadelphia’s more than 90,000-strong Puerto Rican population and is a key part of Pennsylvania’s Latino community, which both Democrats and Republicans have sought to court ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

But on Monday morning, many locals were seething over a joke made the night before at Donald Trump’s rally in New York, in which comedian Tony Hinchcliffe described Puerto Rico as a “garbage island.”

The joke, some said, could come back to haunt the Republicans in key condition that Democrats won by a slim margin of 1.17% – about 82,000 votes – in 2020.

“The campaign has gotten so hurt. It’s crazy to me,” said Ivonne Torres Miranda, a local resident who said she remains disappointed in both candidates – Republican Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris – at eight days only of the campaign.

“Even if he (Mr Hinchcliffe) was joking, you don’t joke like that.

“We are Puerto Ricans. We have dignity and pride,” she told the BBC, speaking in rapid Spanish with a thick Puerto Rican accent.

“You have to think before you say things.”

The Trump campaign was quick to distance itself from Hinchcliffe’s joke, with a spokesperson saying the remark “does not reflect the views” of Trump or his campaign.

Harris’ campaign jumped on the joke, with the vice president pointing to the comment as a sign that Trump is “stoking the fuel of trying to divide” Americans.

His views were echoed by Puerto Rican celebrities Bad Bunny and Jennifer Lopez, who both supported Harris on Sunday.

A campaign official told CBS, the BBC’s US partner, that the controversy was a political gift to Democrats.

Some Puerto Rican residents agree with this assessment.

“(The joke) just nailed it to us. He literally gave us the victory,” said Jessie Ramos, a Harris supporter. “He has no idea how much the Latino community is going to come together and support Kamala Harris.”

Residents of Puerto Rico – a US island territory in the Caribbean – cannot vote in presidential elections, but the large diaspora in the United States can.

Across Pennsylvania, about 600,000 eligible voters are Latino.

More than 470,000 of them are Puerto Ricans — one of the largest concentrations in the country and a potentially deciding factor in a state where polls show Harris and Trump in an extremely close race.

North Philadelphia, in particular, has been a target for Harris, who made a campaign stop Sunday at Freddy & Tony’s, a Puerto Rican restaurant and community center in Fairhill.

The same day, Harris unveiled a new policy platform for Puerto Rico, promising economic development and improved disaster relief and accusing Trump of “abandoning and insulting” the island during Hurricane Maria in 2017.

Whether or not this will sway Puerto Rican voters remains to be seen.

Freddy & Tony owner Dalma Santiago told the BBC she wasn’t sure the joke made a difference, but thought it had been heard “loud and clear” in Fairhill and across other Puerto Rican communities.

“Everyone has their own opinion,” she told the BBC. “But no one will forget this one.”

Similarly, Moses Santana, a 13-year U.S. Army veteran who works at a harm reduction center in Fairhill, said he wasn’t sure of the impact of the joke.

In an interview with the BBC on a street corner in Fairhill, Mr. Santana said the neighborhood has traditionally been weary of politicians of all stripes, with many believing that both parties have failed to address socio-economic issues. economics, crime and drug addiction.

“People here tend not to get what they ask for,” he added. “Even when they vote.”

On Tuesday, Trump will campaign in Allentown, a city of about 125,000 in central Pennsylvania, where about 33,000 people identify as Puerto Rican.

But even among Trump supporters in Pennsylvania’s Latino community, the joke was poorly received.

That included Republican voter Jessenia Anderson, a Puerto Rican resident of the town of Johnstown, about 240 miles west of Philadelphia.

Ms. Anderson, a military veteran born in New York’s heavily Puerto Rican Lower East Side, frequently attends Trump rallies in Pennsylvania.

She described the joke as “deeply offensive” and said the routine seemed “extremely inappropriate” – and implored her fellow Republicans to engage in “thoughtful and respectful conversations.”

But Ms. Anderson has no plans to change her vote.

“My belief in the party’s potential to have a positive impact remains strong,” she said.

“I hope they approach Latino voters with the respect they deserve.”