Rep. Mayra Flores, the first Republican Latina ever elected to Congress from Texas, and she is also the first female Mexican-born member of the House of Representatives. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
MSNBC opinion columnist Julio Ricardo Varela warned that the Democratic Party needs to "stop being smug" about their grip on the Hispanic voter base because they could lose more of it to the GOP.
In his Thursday opinion column, Varela wrote about the smear of Representative Mayra Flores, R-Texas, at the hands of a blogger paid by her political opponent and claimed that example, along with others, showed that Democrats were blowing it with Latino voters.
As Varela recounted, a blogger paid by Congressman Vicente González’s, D-Tex., congressional campaign "has been attacking Flores by repeatedly calling her ‘Miss Frijoles’ and describing her as a ‘cotton-pickin’ liar.’"
Flores, who is facing Gonzáles in a South Texas congressional race, responded by calling the paid writer a "creepy blogger" who attacked "my Mexican heritage and sexually degraded me." Varela acknowledged that since the incident, "González and his team have been distancing themselves from the blogger they paid $1,200, and according to that blogger, the campaign has demanded a refund."
The columnist claimed, "The attack is an example of how sexism, racism and just plain hatred of Latina members of Congress are still very real in 2022."
Varela also brought up the recent tone-deaf speech from First Lady Jill Biden, who remarked that the Hispanic community is as diverse as San Antonio, Texas’ "breakfast taco" lineup. The attack on Flores "comes on the heels of a breakfast taco gaffe last week in San Antonio that led to an apology from first lady Jill Biden," Varela wrote.
These smears and Mrs. Biden’s gaffer elicited a warning from the column’s author, who claimed, "It’s time for Democrats and so-called liberals to stop being smug when it comes to Latino voters and instead start earning the respect of an electorate that will play a key role in who wins and who loses in the 2022 midterms and beyond."
The columnist reiterated that the Latino vote, especially in South Texas, cannot be taken for granted by Democrats. "South Texas has been a solidly Democratic region, but this border region is changing and it’s becoming more obvious that Democratic votes are not a given and that they need to be earned."
First Lady Jill Biden apologized for her recent comments comparing Latinos to "breakfast tacos" at a Hispanic conference in San Antonio, Texas. (REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz)
Considering the previous examples of disrespect towards Flores by the Democratic Party, Varela added, "Democrats are busy providing a crash course of what not to do when it comes to Latino voters. It makes no sense for the González campaign to think that sending money to a local political blog was an effective strategy."
Though he claimed that "Flores has promoted QAnon theories and is solidly in the camp that goes after what she calls the ‘woke’ radical left on the daily," Varela acknowledged before adding, "she is still a formidable Latina Republican who continues to garner national attention, in large part because of blunders from Democrats such as González."
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The columnist asserted that there are "many indications that Latino voters are feeling like Democrats take them for granted," and as such "Flores’s message that she is being harassed as a Mexican-born woman will appeal to those who place community over political party."
"’Miss Frijoles’ could be the new calling cry for the Latino right, and that could lead to another loss for a Democrat in South Texas but Democrats as a whole," he concluded.
RNC made shirts after Jill Biden compared Latino's to 'breakfast tacos'. (Courtesy of RNC)