“This joke does not reflect the views of president Trump or the campaign,” senior adviser Danielle Alvarez said in a statement.
Pop star Ricky Martin, one of Puerto Rico’s most famous sons, told his fans: “This is what they think of us”, and urged them to vote for Kamala Harris.
There are around 36 million Hispanic voters eligible to vote this year, according to the Pew Research centre.
Normally, they would be considered a safe bet for the Democrats, but Trump has managed to carve out some of that support.
Florida Republican Senator Rick Scott, who is up for re-election this year in a state heavily populated with Puerto Ricans, wrote on social media that the “joke bombed for a reason,” and “Puerto Ricans are amazing people and amazing Americans!”
Left-wing Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, who is of Puerto Rican descent, accused Hinchcliffe of “feeding red-meat racism alongside a throng of other bigots to a frothing crowd”.