Bad Bunny supports Kamala Harris and shares campaign video on Puerto Rico

The international reggaeton star Bad Bunny is throwing his support behind Kamala Harris in the US presidential race, sharing a video of the Democratic presidential nominee to his more than 45 million followers on Instagram.

Bad Bunny, whose official name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, is one of the most famous artists of the moment. His support could be a boost for the Harris campaign as it tries to bolster its support with Latino and Puerto Rican voters, among whom Donald Trump has been working to gain ground.

His endorsement came on the same day that a comedian who spoke at the opening of the former president’s rally at Madison Square Garden called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage”.

Bad Bunny has won three Grammy awards and was the most streamed artist on Spotify in 2020, 2021 and 2022, only surpassed by Taylor Swift in 2023. He was named artist of the year by Apple Music in 2022.

The artist has increasingly waded into politics, especially in his native Puerto Rico, where he purchased billboards in protest of the pro-statehood New Progressive party and has been critical of the electric system, which was leveled by Hurricane Mario.

The video shared by the artist on Sunday shows Harris saying: “There’s so much at stake in this election for Puerto Rican voters and for Puerto Rico.”

He then shared another part of the clip where Harris says: “I will never forget what Donald Trump did and what he did not do when Puerto Rico needed a caring and a competent leader,” she says.

In her message on Sunday, Harris said she would create an “opportunity economy taskforce” in efforts to foster economic growth in the Caribbean archipelago by creating more jobs.

She also recognized the need to urgently rebuild Puerto Rico’s energy grid: “I will cut red tape to ensure disaster recovery funds are used quickly and effectively, and work with leaders across the island to ensure all Puerto Ricans have access to reliable, affordable electricity,” she said.

A year after the storm, public health experts estimated that nearly 3,000 perished because of the effects of Hurricane Maria.

But Trump, whose efforts to help the island territory recover have been persistently criticized, repeatedly questioned that number saying it rose “like magic”.

His visit to the island after the hurricane elicited controversy such as when he tossed paper towels. His administration released $13bn in assistance years later, just weeks before the 2020 presidential election. And a federal government watchdog found that officials hampered an investigation into delays in aid delivery.

Bad Bunny also shared a part of the clip showing Harris saying that Trump “abandoned the island, tried to block aid after back-to-back devastating hurricanes and offered nothing more than paper towels and insults”.

A representative for the artist confirmed his endorsement.