Jill Biden apologizes for calling Hispanic community as ‘unique’ as ‘breakfast tacos’
First lady Jill Biden apologized on Tuesday after saying the Hispanic community was as “unique” as “breakfast tacos” during a speech on Monday.
“The First Lady apologizes that her words conveyed anything but pure admiration and love for the Latino community,” tweeted Michael LaRosa, Biden’s press secretary.
Biden’s comments on Monday came during a speech at the 2022 UnidosUS Annual Conference in San Antonio titled “Siempre Adelante: Our Quest for Equity.”
The first lady had made the remark while commending the work of former UnidosUS President Raul Yzaguirre, whom President Biden awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom earlier this month.
She said the group’s president “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.”
The comment was quickly met with pushback from the right.
Conservatives such as Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) highlighted the moment as an example of why some Hispanics have moved towards the Republican Party.
“No wonder Hispanics are fleeing the Democratic Party!” Biggs tweeted
The National Association of Hispanic Journalists also criticized Biden’s remark.
“We are not tacos,” it said in a statement.
–Updated on July 12 at 11:11 a.m.
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