Donald Trump went and pissed off pretty much the entire Latinternet after making offensive comments about Mexicans in his clearly improvised, meandering, and predictably offensive candidacy announcement last week. “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists,” he asserted, hastily adding “And some, I assume, are good people.”
Since then, Mexico has threatened to boycott the Miss Universe pageant (which Trump owns), he’s been turned into a piñata, and now, J. Balvin has pulled out of his scheduled performance at the Miss USA pageant. “It was going to be my first performance on national [mainstream] television,” Balvin told Billboard. “But we’re talking about our roots, our culture, our values,” he added. “This isn’t about being punitive, but about showing leadership through social responsibility. His comments weren’t just about Mexicans, but about all Latins in general.”
Balvin went on to praise Mexico as “a Latin powerhouse,” and Mexicans “as hard workers. Here in the U.S., not everybody wants to do those kinds of jobs. I’ve lived. I know what it feels like and what they go through and how families suffer. A comment like that is powerful.”
Watch our interview with Balvin on his recent visit to NYC here.