Hispanic GOP candidates slam Jill Biden’s ‘taco’ remark as ‘grossly offensive,’ ‘beyond the pale’

Hispanic Republican candidates fired back Tuesday after first lady Jill Biden said that the Hispanic community was “unique” as “breakfast tacos.” They also attacked her for speaking at a conference entitled “LatinX Incluxion.”

Biden made the remarks at the 2022 UnidosUS Annnual Conference while speaking about UnidosUS President Raul Yzaguirre’s work. Her press secretary issued an apology for the remark Tuesday.

“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,” the first lady said.

After a great deal of backlash, Biden’s press secretary, Michael LaRosa, tweeted, “The First Lady apologizes that her words conveyed anything but pure admiration and love for the Latino community.”

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“As a Hispanic woman who has a rich culture filled with ancestors who struggled against all manner of obstacles and poverty, it’s grossly offensive to compare my people to tacos,” Alexis Martinez Johnson, the GOP nominee for New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional District, told Fox News Digital Tuesday.

“Even by going to an event called ‘LatinX Incluxion’, they are erasing our culture, our heritage, and mi gente’s beautiful language,” Martinez Johnson added. “Joe Biden and the Democrats continue to show that they don’t care about minority communities, whether it’s saying ‘you ain’t black’ to African American Republicans or comparing Hispanic Americans unique history to a literal breakfast food. Shame on them.”

Jose Castillo, a Disney employee and candidate for Florida’s 9th Congressional District, compared Jill Biden to a Democratic former first lady.

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“This is reminiscent of 2016 when Hillary Clinton was lambasted by Hispanics across the nation for her out-of-touch ‘abuela’ pandering,” he told Fox News Digital, referencing a Latina Clinton staffer’s viral 2016 blog post comparing the then-presidential candidate to “your abuela.” 

“Now we’ve gone from ‘not my abuela’ to ‘not a taco,’” Castillo quipped. “It’s just astounding that Democrats think they can run on a radical woke agenda and disastrous economy that is hurting families, but then win our votes with breakfast tacos.”

He warned that Democrats’ “using words like ‘Latinx’ that no one I know use and reducing cultures to food stereotypes is not going to turn back the tide of Hispanic Americans moving away from failed Democrat policies.” Multiple Hispanic organizations have condemned the use of the term “Latinx” as a form of pandering to “rich white progressives.”

Rene Lopez, a Hispanic candidate in Arizona’s 4th Congressional District, told Fox News Digital that his personal history shines light on why Hispanics are abandoning the Democratic Party.

“With my extensive heritage history in Arizona, including family who live in border towns, and having co-found an organization that helps victims of sex trafficking, I have a firsthand perspective on the horrific ramifications the policies of Joe Biden and his administration have on Hispanic families and communities,” Lopez said. “Add to that the crippling burden placed on all of us by his failed economic policies, it is clear why so many Hispanics are moving to the Republican Party.”

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“Jill Biden would do better to answer for these failures by her husband and her party than to appeal to us through offensive and tone-deaf comparisons such as this,” he added. “This is indicative of the current elitist leadership in DC and how it’s reduced our heritage and culture to a taco.”

Tina Ramirez, Virginia chair of the conservative women’s political action committee Maggie’s List and a candidate for state senate, also condemned the first lady’s remarks.

“Jill Biden’s use of a taco as a stand-in to describe Hispanics is completely absurd and really beyond the pale,” Ramirez told Fox News Digital. “This shows how clueless Democrats are when it comes to understanding what people across the country are dealing with right now as a result of their far left progressive policies.”

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“At Maggie’s List, we’re seeing the results of this already: Mayra Flores winning her special election in a majority Hispanic District was a huge indicator of where we are headed. Here in Virginia, we just saw Yesli Vega win her Congressional primary,” Ramirez said. “Across the country, we are seeing people push back against the liberal elite and their constant condescension and failed policies.”