Donald Trump misgenders reggaeton star Nicky Jam at rally: 'She's hot'
Nicky Jam has pledged allegiance to Donald Trump, but the former president seemingly had no idea who the reggaeton star was when introducing him at a Las Vegas rally over the weekend.
"Latin music superstar Nicky Jam. Do you know Nicky? She’s hot," Trump said during the Friday event at The Expo at World Market Center.
Jam, born Nick Rivera Caminero, is male, which Trump acknowledged when the singer known in the Latin community for hits "Travesuras" and "X" (with J Balvin) came to the stage.
"Oh, look, I’m glad he came up," Trump said.
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Donning a red "Make America Great Again" baseball cap, Jam told Trump it was an honor to meet him.
"People that come from where I come from, they don’t meet the president. So, I’m lucky," Jam said. "We need you. We need you back, right? We need you to be the president."
Born in Massachusetts, Jam grew up in Puerto Rico and is among several reggaeton stars who have endorsed Trump’s candidacy for president, including Anuel AA and Justin Quiles, who joined Trump at his rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in August.
Jam on Saturday seemingly dismissed Trump’s misgendering, posting a photo of the two on Instagram with the caption "Nicky jam la potra la bichota" and a string of laughing emojis. The comment translates, loosely, to "the filly, the big shot," the latter a Latin slang term popularized by Colombian singer Karol G in her 2020 song, "Bichota."
The campaign of Kamala Harris used the clip of Trump referring to Jam as "she’s hot" in a post on X.
USA TODAY has reached out to representatives for Jam for comment.
Maná denounces Nicky Jam's Donald Trump endorsement
Jam's endorsement of Trump prompted the Grammy-winning Mexican rock band Maná to pull their 2016 collaboration with Jam, "De Pies a Cabeza” ("From Head to Toe"), off the internet.
The band explained its decision in an Instagram post Sunday along with the heading, in Spanish, "we don't work with racists."
The statement reads: "For the past 30 years, Maná has supported and defended the rights of Latinos around the world. There is no business or promotion that is worth more than the dignity of our people. That is why today Maná decided to remove its collaboration with Nicky Jam 'De Pies a Cabeza' from all digital platforms."
Jam's support of Trump also received mixed reactions from fans in comments on his Facebook page, with some saying he is "on the right side of history" and voting for Trump was "common sense," and others disagreeing with his stance.
"What an insult you are to the Latino population," reads one comment, while another takes issue with Trump’s ignorance of Jam's background: "Trump is a user. He just wants the Hispanic people votes. He did not even take a minute to Google who you were because in fact he really doesn't care."
Trump was equally unacquainted with Anuel AA and Quiles during their appearance with him in Pennsylvania.
According to Rolling Stone, Trump introduced the pair by saying, "Do you know who the hell they are? Come up here fast, fellas, come on, because I don’t think these people know who the hell you are." He added: "But it’s good for the Puerto Rican vote. Every Puerto Rican is going to vote for Trump right now. We’ll take it."