Mexican Ambassador to the United States Esteban Moctezuma excoriated Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) over a derogatory statement he made at a Senate hearing last week.
While prodding Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Anne Milgram to endorse U.S. military and law enforcement action in Mexico, Kennedy said that “without the people of America, Mexico — figuratively speaking — would be eating cat food out of a can and living under a tent behind an Outback.”
In response, Moctezuma wrote Kennedy a two-page letter.
“I don’t think the people of Louisiana feel represented by the vulgar and racist words you used,” he said.
At the Senate hearing, Kennedy asked Milgram four times whether she believed Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador should invite U.S. military and law enforcement personnel into the country to fight the cartels.
“If President López Obrador invited the American military and or law enforcement personnel to come into Mexico and work with his — we could stop the cartels, couldn’t we?” Kennedy asked in the fourth iteration of his question.
“I believe we can stop the cartels,” replied Millgram.
Kennedy pressed Millgram on whether she had suggested such a deployment to President Biden and segued into a comparison of the two countries’ economic output.
“Our economy is $23 trillion, Mexico’s is $1.3 trillion. Ours is 18 times bigger. We buy $400 billion every year from Mexico,” said Kennedy, before launching into his cat food metaphor.
“As I was listening, my initial reaction was to answer you in the same low, uninformed, and arrogant tone as the one you used,” Moctezuma wrote.
“But it is always better to use your brain instead of your guts, so I recalled the vibrant relationship that exists between Mexico and the United States.”
The ambassador cited figures including the 33 million U.S. tourists who visit Mexico every year and the $800 billion in bilateral trade, as well as the 2 million U.S. citizens who permanently live in Mexico.
“To enlighten you, Louisiana greatly benefits from its relationship with Mexico,” Moctezuma added.
“Last year, it exported to us $40 billion and bought $15 billion, with a surplus balance in favor of Louisiana of $25 billion. Furthermore, the jobs in Louisiana generated by all this trade support 70,000 families in that great state.”
The Hill has reached out to Kennedy’s office for comments.
Moctezuma also praised diversity in Louisiana, and compared Kennedy to his namesake, President John F. Kennedy, who remains a popular figure in Mexico.
“When your racist and xenophobic insults were known in Mexico, people wondered ‘¿How can a Kennedy say that?’ since the image of President John F. Kennedy in Mexico is a beacon that illuminates the path of freedom, democracy, and inclusion.”
“But it didn’t take long to learn that John Neely Kennedy is not from the Kennedy family of Massachusetts,” added Moctezuma.
Moctezuma called on Kennedy to apologize “to your citizens because what you asserted is not worthy of the state of Louisiana, known for being a cultural melting pot.”
“Given the moral standards expressed in your unfortunate statement, we do not expect any reconsideration from you at all,” he added.
Yet the Mexican ambassador expressed “willingness to dialogue objectively and respectfully about drug and arms trafficking, among other challenges that our nations must face together.”