Raul helped build this organization with the understanding
that the diversity of this community is as distinct as
the Bogota's of the Bronx as beautiful as the blossoms of Miami and
as unique as the breakfast tacos.
Here in San Antonio is your strength.
>> Perhaps that is their strength, but speaking appears to not be hers,
that was just terrible.
That's Jill Biden of course.
First lady, hardly the worst person in the country, but
apparently someone who could use a little bit of sensitivity training, a little
bit of education about not comparing entire communities of people to food.
What a Bogota is?
I don't know, I've always been a fan of Bogota cats.
I follow a few Instagram accounts of them, but anyway, that look was her
trying to put a spotlight on this progressive organization.
So that's fine.
And look, she's not the president, let's be clear about that, but
that certainly doesn't look good.
And I don't think it does a lot to reassure people whether they're Latin X or
otherwise that this administration is like really seriously considering them and
their concerns when this appears to be the best they can do rhetorically.
What do you think?
>> Yeah, of course, the intention is more important than your effect,
whatever, blah.
But still, people should be held accountable for the things that they say.
And Bogota's, I'm sorry, is unforgivable.
It reminds me of when [LAUGH] Andrew Yang was running.
And he's in like the nicest grocery store.
And he's like I'm here in this Bodega.
And it's like dude you're running for mayor of New York City,
you need to know what a proper Bodega is.
But it's like tell me you've never lived in a diverse community without telling
me you've never lived in a diverse community.
I mean 2.2 Tacos and Bodegas and flowers,
like there are actually people in those communities.
And the people have culture and they have perspectives and their own language and
their own music and yeah the food is good.
But let's talk about the people and how great it is being in a community of
diverse people but of course, that's not what she's going to talk about here.
I don't forget that she's married to a guy that was really calling for
segregation in the late 70s.
Like I pulled a quote from Joe Biden.
Where he said unless we do something about this, this being segregation,
my children are going to grow up in a jungle.
The jungle being a racial jungle.
Like she married that guy.
Like yes, times have changed, Biden has changed but maybe we should run candidates
who at that point in time we're fighting to end segregation or
maybe candidates who weren't even around then.
>> I had forgotten that quote but he says it'll be a jungle.
Sorry, I don't mean a literal one.
I mean a racial jungle.
That's not better.
You insane backwards racist.
>> You didn't think about the tacos though.
You should have thought about the tacos.
>> Look, food obviously is an important part of culture.
It's a part of the cultural contributions of a variety of different groups.
That doesn't mean you should be in the habit of casually comparing people to
their food.
I'm part Italian don't call me a spicy meatball.
You can say that you enjoy Italian food.
I'm not manicotti.
Okay, I'm a man, not manicotti.
And that's I think a minimum bar for
speaking about people don't compare people's culture to food.
Don't compare people's skin color to food.
People are people and food is food.
With the way American capitalism is going, I don't doubt that at some point
people will be food, we will be forced to consume each other but
we're not there yet and let's act like it.
Now, in response to those comments, the National Association of
Hispanic Journalists put out a statement encouraging FLOTUS and her communications
team to take time to better understand the complexities of our people and
communities.
We are not tacos.
Our heritage as Latinos is shaped by various diasporas, cultures and
food traditions do not reduce us to stereotypes.
Do not force people who might otherwise be allies of
yours to have to state we are not tacos.
That's a bad point in a presidency.
That already wasn't going well.
And it opens you up to attacks from the other side too.
So, Representative Andy Biggs, a Republican tweeted Jill Biden says
Hispanics are as unique as tacos and calls bodegas, bodigas.
No wonder Hispanics are fleeing the Democratic party.
And look, I think there's a natural impulse that even I feel to say, well I
don't think Representative Andy Biggs had a big problem with Donald Trump's.
I love Hispanics tweets about taco bowls and all that.
But at least in that case Trump was just weirdly making it about taco bowls.
He didn't literally say that people are taco bowls.
Don't be worse than Trump, would be my advice.
And look she's put out an apology through an intermediary
saying The First Lady apologizes that her words conveyed anything but
pure admiration and love for the Latino community.
And okay, you can do that and maybe that will repair a little bit of the damage.
But is what the Biden administration needs right now damage control for new damage.
They've got enough on their plate already.
>> Yeah.
Even the speechwriter here.
If there was a speechwriter,
which I assumed there was even they didn't do their due diligence here.
I think a better apology would have just been like.
Jill Biden reading the definition of a bodega in Merriam Webster,
like holding up the dictionary and reading it aloud anything.
Even her just like making a video posting it to social media addressing it
directly as the person who made the stand statements.
The lack of accountability here and the ability for politicians to be accountable
to the public through intermediaries is a huge problem.
This is supposed to be a democracy.
We elected president Biden, this is his wife, she's the first lady.
She should address this herself.
And having these intermediaries just keeps them more disconnected from the public,
which they're supposed to serve.
>> Yeah, maybe she will, maybe they're planning to have her say something or
maybe they're worried that were she to come out like unless it's very tightly
scripted and run past some people assuming that there is diversity in the room of her
speech writers that maybe she would make it worse somehow.
I don't know.
She also it's not like she, constantly gives public appearances, but
I would say maybe you could pack her schedule a little bit in response to this,
it's certainly not helping.
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