The Madison Square Garden rally referenced by Biden – during which Hinchcliffe and others sparked offence with a range of comments – has now been defended by Trump as a “love fest”.
He acknowledged that “somebody said some bad things” but said he did not think it was “a big deal”.
He stopped short of issuing an apology demanded by prominent figures from the island itself, which is a US territory. A number of Republicans – including from neighbourhoods with strong Latino populations – were outraged.
In Philadelphia, in the key swing state of Pennsylvania, members of the 90,000-strong Puerto Rican population told the BBC they would not forget the joke.
Residents of Puerto Rico – a US island territory in the Caribbean – are unable to vote in presidential elections, but the large diaspora in the US can.
Hinchcliffe himself has defended his material, saying his critics “have no sense of humour”.
Biden’s comments on the furore threatened to overshadow a rally on Tuesday evening by Kamala Harris, who is running for the White House as the Democratic nominee after Biden pulled out earlier in the contest.
Harris delivered what her campaign has called her “closing argument” in Washington DC – at the spot from which Trump spoke shortly before a riot by his supporters at the US Capitol building on 6 January 2021.
She urged voters to “turn the page on the drama and the conflict” in American politics.