In the latest version of the popular movie Father of the Bride, Andy Garcia plays a Cuban-born father who mumbles, "LatinX. I don't even know what that means." Neither do another 97% of Hispanics if polls are to be believed. However, there seemed to be no shortage of stereotypical tropes in a speech the first lady gave in San Antonio this week. Doing her darndest to pander at a LatinX IncluXion luncheon, Dr. Jill Biden mispronounced the common word "bodega." Then she went on to celebrate those great Americans who eat a breakfast taco.
Breakfast Taco Screws Up the Free Lunch
Somewhere in Washington, there must be a speechwriter looking for work. While prominent political figures are rarely expected to pen their own speeches, it is presumed they will read them over and remove anything deemed inappropriate. Given this apparent slip, it is assumed Dr. Jill believed the comment would go over well with the "LatinX" crowd. And at the luncheon, it did as one could hear the audience mildly laugh following the remark. But in the Twitterverse, the first lady's comment about street food quickly became satirical fodder, with Republicans taking the lead:
Matt Walsh: "'We celebrate our Asian brothers and sisters, who are as bold and vibrant as General Tso's chicken and as dependable as pork fried rice' -- Dr. Jill Biden, speaking to the Asian American Federation of New York."
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX): "Personally I'm a chorizo, egg & cheese."
Rep. Mayra Flores (R-TX): "The Hispanic community is so much more and unique than breakfast tacos!! P.S. Latina > Latinx."
Danielle Alvarez (RNC): "We are not Tacos."
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ): "No wonder Hispanics are fleeing the Democratic Party!"
The representative from Arizona may have put his finger on the problem. The Democratic Party has been losing its grip and bleeding Hispanic voters of late. A recent New York Times/Siena College survey revealed that 63% of all Hispanic voters are not fans of President Joe Biden. "Southern Texas, a heavily Hispanic region along the American border with Mexico, was once a Democratic stronghold as reliable as any urban core. But it now appears to be crumbling," according to a recent article in The Economist. The piece articulated the dilemma using a recent Texas election: "Last month a special election was held to pick the next representative for the state's 34th congressional district, which snakes 250 miles (400km) down from the San Antonio exurbs to the border city of Brownsville and the southernmost tip of the state. Some parts of the district have been represented continuously by Democrats since 1870. Barack Obama carried it by 23 percentage points in 2012. Yet it was a Republican, Mayra Flores, who triumphed."
In political parlance, one might say, "Houston, we have a problem."
Jill Biden (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
In April, a Quinnipiac poll demonstrated a "critical situation" for "Democrats when it comes to Hispanic voters." The survey showed Biden and his Democratic satraps registering only a 26% approval rating among Latin voters. Historically, Democrats have had a lock on the Hispanic electorate, much like they enjoyed in the black community. But times, they are a changin', and Dr. Jill's faux pas is not helping matters.
On July 12, the first lady issued a public apology through her spokesman Michael LaRosa. "The first lady apologizes that her words conveyed anything but pure admiration and love for the Latino community," he asserted. But the clean-up on aisle 10 appears to be too little, too late. The breakfast taco has taken on a life of its own and will live in the annals of Biden gaffes for years to come.
Former speechwriter and Liberty Nation National Correspondent Sarah Cowgill was generous in giving the author of Dr. Jill’s script the benefit of the doubt: “Electeds tend to believe they know best. And the elected's wife, Dr. Biden, likely went off-script unless she has the worst, woke, pandering speechwriter of all time. For the love of all that's holy, just read your remarks and try not to ingratiate yourself with food. And now I want a taco. Good grief."
One thing is for sure, the breakfast taco will live in infamy even as the first lady downs a hefty helping of crow.
