First lady apologizes for ‘tacos’ remark
First lady Jill Biden offered an apology Tuesday morning for her comments about breakfast tacos in San Antonio, according to a spokesperson who said Biden “apologizes that her words conveyed anything but pure admiration and love for the Latino community.”
The brouhaha began Monday, when Biden said during her speech at an advocacy conference that the Latino community is “as distinct as the bodegas of the Bronx, as beautiful as the blossoms of Miami, and as unique as the breakfast tacos here in San Antonio.”
Almost instantly, Texas Republicans pounced.
“Jill Biden just said Hispanics are as ‘unique’ as tacos,” tweeted Steve Guest, an adviser to Sen. Ted Cruz. “Which White House speechwriter just won a bet for getting the first lady to say something like this?”
“Personally, I’m a chorizo, egg & cheese,” wrote Cruz, who is of Cuban descent.
Said U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Houston: “Jill Biden’s speech writer hates her so much.”
Biden was in San Antonio to attend a Democratic fundraiser, where she called for more unity in her party. She spoke afterward at UnidosUS, a Latino civil rights and advocacy group.
She made the taco remark as she praised Raul Yzaguirre, a longtime leader of the group: “Raul helped build this organization with the understanding that the diversity of this community — as distinct as the bodegas of the Bronx, as beautiful as the blossoms of Miami, and as unique as the breakfast tacos here in San Antonio — is your
strength.”
Republicans also mocked the term “Latinx” in the event’s title — it’s a term that is supposed to be inclusive of nonbinary Latinos, one that research has shown many Latinos either haven’t heard or don’t like.
“If Jill Biden is going to compare Hispanic Americans to breakfast tacos, then she could at least use more inclusive language:
It’s ‘TacX,’ Jill,” Crenshaw said on Twitter.
Biden’s comments echoed a similarly clumsy, taco-related comment from Donald Trump in 2016, when he posted a photo of himself eating a taco bowl at his Las Vegas hotel.
“Happy #CincoDeMayo! The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics!” Trump wrote.
Although most of the backlash at Jill Biden came from conservatives, it wasn’t exclusive to them. The National Association of Hispanic Journalists posted a statement on its social media saying: “We are not tacos.”
It continues: “Our heritage as Latinos is shaped by a variety of diasporas, cultures and food traditions and should not be reduced to a stereotype,” encouraging Biden “to take the time in the future to better understand the complexities of our people and our communities.”
In recent weeks, members of the Biden administration have also been plagued by a series of speech gaffes.
President Joe Biden read aloud teleprompter instructions that said “end of quote. Repeat the line,” garnering widespread mockery.
Two meandering interview responses from Vice President Kamala Harris also went viral.
Asked about Democrats surprised by the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Harris said: “I think that, to be very honest with you, I do believe that we should have rightly believed, but we certainly believe that certain issues are just settled.”
And this, at the scene of the July 4 mass shooting at Highland Park in Illinois: “We have to take this stuff seriously, as seriously as you are because you have been forced to take this seriously.”
In one viral post garnering more than 100,000 likes, a Twitter user joked, “Today is my last day as the guy who spins Kamala Harris around 25 times before pushing her into the room for her interviews. It has been an incredible opportunity and I’m sad to leave it.”