Veterans suffer flashbacks after watching comedian bomb
NEW YORK — Outrage erupted this week after a turbulent comedy set at Madison Square Garden left attendees, particularly military veterans, rattled in more ways than one.
The event, part of former President Donald Trump’s weekend rally, quickly spiraled when a comedian took the stage and launched what has been widely referred to as a “verbal airstrike” targeting Puerto Ricans, Black Americans, and Democratic leaders.
“I swear to god I thought I was doing route clearance in Helmand province again,” said Robert Hayes, an Operation Enduring Freedom veteran from Queens who attended the event. “I’ve been through some rough nights and seen my fair share of shit, but I have never seen a bombing that catastrophic before.”
Hayes, who served multiple tours overseas, reported vivid flashbacks after the night’s performance, describing the onslaught of offensive jibes as “comedic IEDs.”
“I was just starting to get good sleep again, and now I have to deal with this?” he added. “From this coked-out Ratatouille-Pinky-and-the-Brain-looking motherfucker?”
The fallout was swift as leaders from both sides of the aisle condemned the incendiary jokes, especially one aimed at Puerto Rico, which the comedian referred to as a “floating island of garbage.”
Disabled Army veteran Carlos Jiminez, a native of Puerto Rico who was also in attendance, expressed frustration with the remarks.
“It’s funny that he can call my homeland an island of garbage because I lost my legs defending his,” Jiminez said. “They say you should never punch down, but I guess this is what comedy is in America nowadays.”
Republicans are now scrambling to distance themselves, with Florida Rep. Byron Donalds downplaying the entire affair, claiming, “It wasn’t a bombing. It was simply… tactical miscommunication.”
Even the Trump campaign, which generally stands by incendiary remarks made without any sense of remorse, scrambled to address the explosive fallout.
“This joke does not reflect the President’s views,” a spokesperson assured reporters while noting the remarks were indeed on a teleprompter. “Well, most of the joke. He should have just called it a shithole. That's what we have been going with for years.”
Trump has even tried to distance himself from the comedian, saying, “I don’t know him, someone put him up there. I don’t know who he is.”
The former president used the same tactic following the public’s backlash to Project 2025, an ultra-conservative policy document drafted by the Heritage Foundation that Trump has claimed to “know nothing about” despite being mentioned in the document 312 times.
Other attendees of the MSG event described the set as reminiscent of “comedy guerrilla warfare” as the comedian cycled through every demographic he could target.
“I mean, they had another guy who literally said ‘we need to slaughter’ these people,” said another attendee. “And all people are talking about is how bad that dude bombed.”
“It’s rare to see someone self-destruct on such a grand scale,” said another. “And I once saw a member of the Taliban detonate himself.”
As Hayes and fellow veterans attempt to shake off Sunday night’s reverberations, others remain on edge, wondering if such displays of “comedy” are the new normal.
“I came to support America and my conservative principles and left with PTSD,” Hayes said. “It felt like coming home from Afghanistan all over again.”