Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 06:10 pm
The Hillary Clinton campaign came down hard on Jeb Bush after the Republican defended the use of the slur “anchor babies.”
Hillary For America Latino Outreach Director, Lorella Praeli, pulled no punches in a statement:
During a press conference today, Jeb Bush tried to outdo Donald Trump and other Republican presidential candidates by doubling down on the hateful term ‘anchor baby’ when referring to the U.S. born children of immigrants.
It’s a disgrace to see these candidates attack a group of American citizens who not only have the same rights as everybody else in this country but also represent the very values this country was built on.
If Republicans continue to wonder how to label these children, Hillary has already made it clear to them: They are not ‘anchor babies.’ They are babies. They are our neighbors. They are our families. They are part of our communities. They are American citizens. Period.
Bush was asked by reporters if he regretted using the term anchor babies during a recent radio interview, and he snapped at the reporter, “You give me a better term and I’ll use it.”
Jeb Bush knew that the term was offensive because as co-chair of the Hispanic Leadership Network, he signed off on a memo that warned conservatives that the term anchor baby could be viewed as offensive.
The biggest indicator that anchor baby is an offensive slur is that Latinos have reacted to Bush’s comments with outrage. Rep. Linda Sanchez, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus said, “From the depths of my heart, I look at someone like Jeb Bush, who really should know better and that all I can think of is the Spanish term, sirvengüenza, which means somebody who is completely without shame to attack children this way.”
The Clinton campaign was correct. Jeb Bush’s use of the slur was a disgraceful bit of shameless political pandering in a desperate attempt to out do Donald Trump’s racism. Jeb Bush was trying to reassure Republican voters that he is a racist bigot too.
The people that Bush, Trump, and their fellow Republicans are demonizing are children. Innocent children who did not get to choose where they were born. These kids are also legal citizens of the United States of America. Republican cruelty to children is the GOP’s new family value.
Republicans can resist. They are giving in to their racist impulses and throwing away any chance that they once had of winning in 2016. The only anchor that Republicans should be talking about is the anchor of racism that is sinking their party.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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