In a high-profile South Texas congressional race between Rep. Vicente González, a Democrat, and Rep. Mayra Flores, a Republican, a local blogger who got money from González’s campaign has been attacking Flores by repeatedly calling her “Miss Frijoles” and describing her as a “cotton-pickin’ liar.” The attack is an example of how sexism, racism and just plain hatred of Latina members of Congress are still very real in 2022. It comes on the heels of a breakfast taco gaffe last week in San Antonio that led to an apology from first lady Jill Biden.
Sexism, racism and hatred of Latina members of Congress are still very real in 2022.
Latinos and Latinas from all sides of the political aisle have already called those attacks on Flores insulting and offensive and, in seizing the political moment, Flores and her team have responded in an official campaign statement by associating González with a “creepy blogger” who has attacked “my Mexican heritage and sexually degraded me.” At the same time, 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.
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. Did anyone tell the González campaign that he should not spend advertising money on a local blog because the race is no longer a local slam dunk but a tightening one with national implications?
Jerry McHale, the blogger the González campaign paid, runs The McHale Report, and he said in a Wednesday phone interview that he doesn’t see anything wrong with calling Flores “Miss Frijoles,” comparing the Mexican-born representative to a bowl of menudo or using sexually vulgar language to describe her.
“I’ve been married to three Mexican women. I don’t consider it sexist, I consider it satire,” McHale told me, adding that in his view, “political correctness has gone too far when words like ‘frijoles,’ ‘menudo’ and ‘enchiladas’ are seen as sexist or racist.” He said he has lived in Brownsville, Texas, since 1975 and considers himself an “an old-fashioned gringo of the left.”
He said he sees Flores’ “political persuasion as the problem” and said he is “totally anti-Republican, so the fact that she is Latin means nothing.” He said anyone who is running for political office is fair game when it comes to critiques, and he credited former President Donald Trump with inspiring him to call out things for what they are, no matter how crude or politically incorrect they are.
McHale told me he is in the process of returning the $1,200 the González campaign gave him for “advertising services,” and he added that González has never spoken to him or told him what to write.
Democrats are providing a crash course of what not to do when it comes to Latino voters.
“It was unfortunate. My campaign advertises on all kinds of networks and platforms, and we have no influence on the content,” González told Latino Rebels, the media site I founded.
“I clearly condemn what was said — no different than I condemn Donald Trump for saying that Mexico doesn’t send their best and that they send rapists and murderers,” he added. “It’s just as offensive to me.”








