Jill Biden Apologizes After Comparing Latino Community To 'Breakfast Tacos'
"We are not tacos."
Spike Johnson / Shutterstock.com While giving a speech at the 2022 UnidosUS Annual Conference, First Lady Jill Biden, made a remark about the people of San Antonio, Texas, that many found offensive to Latino culture.
Titled "Siempre Adelante: Our Quest for Equity," the conference was supposed to be about “Always Moving Forward” — something that was put on hold by Biden’s comparison.
First Lady Jill Biden said the Latinos of San Antonio were as “unique” as “breakfast tacos.”
In her speech, she was at the point where she was trying to convey compliments to UnidosUS President Raul Yzaguirre’s work with the organization.
UnidosUS is a Latino civil rights and advocacy group that was formerly known as the National Council of La Raza, and now, the 2022 UnidosUs conference is said to be one of the largest gatherings of Hispanic advocates, KENS reported.
"Each year the UnidosUS Annual Conference is the premier event devoted to the diverse Hispanic community that is moving our country forward," the conference describes on its website.
Just last week, President Joe Biden awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Yzaguirre, so it seemed like things were moving forward.
That was, however, before Jill’s speech.
"Raul helped build this organization with the understanding that the diversity of this community,” she said, “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.”
Not only did she make the comparison to breakfast tacos, but she also mispronounced “bodegas,” a small store that specializes in Latino food, as “bogedas.”
The audience, for lack of time to process the statement, cheered on the comparison, only to go on social media after realizing the harm that comparing a group of people to a breakfast taco does.
This also comes at a time when President Biden’s approval rating is at the lowest that it’s ever been, especially with Latino voters — a mere 24% of Latino voters approve in a June Quinnipiac Poll.
The National Association of Hispanic Journalists echoed the offense of thousands on Twitter, tweeting that “We are not tacos.”
“Using breakfast tacos to try to demonstrate the uniqueness of Latinos in San Antonio demonstrates a lack of cultural knowledge and sensitivity to the diversity of Latinos in the region,” they said.
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They urged the First Lady and her communications team to do better in the future and leave out potentially offensive language when it comes to addressing the Latino community.
This “breakfast taco” mishap has people on social media remembering the time that Joe strangely played the 2017 hit song “Despacito” at a Hispanic Heritage Month event in 2020.
Fortunately, Jill’s team rapidly issued an apology for the statement that was made.
“The first lady apologizes that her words conveyed anything but pure admiration and love for the Latino community,” tweeted Jill’s spokesperson, Michael LaRosa.
Hopefully, the FLOTUS and POTUS learn from these mistakes and this upcoming Hispanic Heritage Month doesn’t come with any surprises from two of the most important government officials in the nation.
Isaac Serna-Diez is an Assistant Editor who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Since graduating from Rutgers University, he spends most of his free time gaming or playing a fictional sport. Keep up with his rants about current events on his Twitter.