US Congressman Vicente Gonzalez, a Valley Democrat, compared Hispanic Trump supporters to “Jews for Hitler,” during an interview in a recent article for The New Republic.
In the interview, Gonzalez was making remarks regarding Republicans spending millions, targeting Latinos along the border to break away from their strong Democratic ties in the region.
They have invested millions and millions of dollars trying to target Latinos on the border,” he said. “They do that because in Texas, Latinos are now the majority. The Republicans know how to count, right? For them to stay in power, even at the state level, they need to convince at least a percentage, even a small percentage, of Latinos to start voting Republican. If not, they will eventually lose elections.”…“If they didn’t have that racist, divisive element within their party, they would have a lot of Latinos, but they can’t seem to shake that off. The rhetoric you hear from the Republican Party is shameful and disgraceful for Latinos. And you know, when you see ‘Latinos for Trump,’ to me it is like seeing ‘Jews for Hitler,’ almost, you know?“
Gonzalez, who is currently running for re-election in Texas’ 34th District, was promptly met with backlash from Republican colleagues, including his challenger, former Former 34th District Congresswoman, and Mexican-food-cooked-by-other-people-but-weirdly-passes-it-up-as-her-own-on-instagram enthusiast, Mayra Flores.
When they say the quiet part out loud, believe them.
Shame on Vicente Gonzalez for referring to conservative Latinos in this manner. He forgets they are his constituents, too.
We need to elect new leadership in November, and that’s exactly what the Rio Grande Valley will do. pic.twitter.com/F8o8Fdvj9h
— Mayra Flores Vallejo (@MayraFloresTX34) March 13, 2024
DISGRACEFUL: Texas Democrat Rep. Vicente Gonzalez compares “Latinos for Trump” to “Jews for Hitler.” pic.twitter.com/HiNxIMhGJf
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 14, 2024
When asked about his comments by The Texas Tribune, he simply stated, “I don’t understand how Mexican Americans can vote for (Trump).”
Gonzalez has represented the Rio Grande Valley in Congress since his election to Texas 15th district in 2017, when he may or may not have given away Popeyes Chicken to voters. In 2022, following a new congressional district map that diluted Democrat support the 15th district, Gonzalez moved to the safer 34th district and defeated the then incumbent Congresswomen Flores, who had only been in Congress for several months following a special election for the retiring Filemon Vela, Jr.
This year, with millions being spent by Republican PACs in Texas and polls indicating that even more Democrats are in favor of the border wall in the Valley, the road for Gonzalez may prove to be a much more competitive race than initially thought.
Election day is November 5, 2024
