I’m not here to hate on Eva Longoria!! I know some of you will hate on her though, and so be it. Eva Longoria has been a long-time Democrat and a long-time Dem fundraiser. She’s worked on Latina-outreach for years and years. She’s not a Johnny-come-lately to any of this. So, as everyone takes stock of what happened in this election and the various demographic breakdowns of Biden-Harris voters, Eva said some sh-t and then she quickly took it back:
Eva Longoria took to social media late on Sunday to clarify comments she had made in an interview on MSNBC that were construed as downplaying the role of Black women in helping Joe Biden win the presidential election.
In an appearance on MSNBC, Longoria was asked by host Ari Melber about the impact Latina women had on the presidential race, the actress and activist replied that “women of color showed up in big ways. Of course, you saw in Georgia what Black women have done but Latina women were the real heroines here, beating men in turnout in every state and voting for Biden-Harris at an average rate of 3:1.”
Some users on Twitter took issue with Longoria’s “real heroines” comments construing them as downplaying the widely reported impact of Black women nationally in the election. She was also accused of erasing the importance of Afro-Latinas.
On Sunday evening, Longoria clarified her remarks and apologized for any misunderstanding, tweeting, “I’m so sorry and sad to hear that my comments on MSNBC could be perceived as taking credit from Black women. When I said that Latinas were heroines in this election, I simply meant that they turned out in greater numbers and voted more progressively than LATINO MEN.”
She added, “My wording was not clear and I deeply regret that. There is such a history in our community of anti-Blackness in our community and I would never want to contribute to that, so let me be very clear: Black women have long been the backbone of the Democratic Party, something we have seen played out in this election as well as previous ones. Finally, Black women don’t have to do it alone any longer. Latinas (many who identify as Afro-Latina), indigenous women, AAPI women and other women of color are standing with them so we can grow our collective voice and power. Together, we are unstoppable! Nothing but love and support for Black women everywhere! You deserve a standing ovation!!!!”
Actress Kerry Washington, who has worked closely with Longoria on a number of events and fundraisers for the Democrats, tweeted her support for her friend, writing, “I know Eva like a sister. We have been in many trenches together. She is a fighter for all women. Read below. This is what she meant. This is how she truly feels.”
Yeah, I think Eva deserved to be criticized for what she said on MSNBC, because – AT BEST – it was very poorly worded. But I also think Eva has shown us who she is for decades: a real ally who is willing to do the work and willing to put her time and money into the Democratic Party. She deserves the benefit of the doubt here – maybe she was honestly trying to call out Latino men and not trying to minimize the contributions of Black women. But it was super-unclear in the initial interview:
Eva Longoria to @AriMelber on the impact of Latina women: “That spirit and perseverance that Latinas use in their daily life, the struggle to pay their bills and the struggle to show up to their jobs … that’s the same perseverance and spirit they used to show up to the polls,” pic.twitter.com/BiATbXbaeG
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) November 9, 2020
Please read 👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽 pic.twitter.com/KO80U2yarD
— Eva Longoria Baston (@EvaLongoria) November 9, 2020
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
I caught that interview and I literally flinched when she said that because I was “oooh, they gonna come for you babe!” Though I don’t believe her intention was to take credit from any other group. I think it was a slip of wording. She was happy and proud of the Latina votes and according to the numbers that she quoted she should be. I could see how it was taken, but also do personally believe she was tryin to slight any other groups.
I think it was intentional and it garnered the attention she was looking for. She quoted those incorrect stats with her whole chest and calls herself an ‘activist’. She knows what she was doing and it worked. She is trending world wide today. She literally took the shine off Stacey Abrams and the Senate Race.
I also believe that there is some saltiness here connected with AOC, although if I’m honest I always pegged Eva more as a Republican?
She straight up pulled a Gina Rodriguez. It was an unnecessary fumble that was easy not to make but Eva managed to make it.
Eva had to pull out a notes apology cause her initial explanation on twitter last night wasn’t cutting it.
I get so tired of misogynoir being easily forgiven or excuses being made for to absolve the person doing it. Too many folks are quick to rob Black women of their joy and their flowers.
I also think it was intentional. I think her intent was to center herself in the victory and that’s where the *but* came from. No, this moment belongs to black women.
I’m not happy that the conversation has already turned to placating and drawing in people who seem on the fence about supporting Democrats when we haven’t even had the conversation about how the Biden/Harris administration is going to support the black community, specifically black women, who did show up for them.
It would be nice if Indigenous women was capitalized along with Latino and Black women…not being picky after all we’ve had fun on Twitter with the CNN designation of “something else” I have long suspected I am something else….♥️
I absolutely agree. Indigenous people helped flip AZ blue! <3
97% of the Navajo Nation in Arizona voted for Biden. If you look at that map, all the democratic areas are also reservation lands. They deserve all credit and respect.
Yeah, I believe it was a slip of the tongue. Her following statement was well-worded and I don’t think she intended to slight any group other than latino men. It does matter to me also what Kerry Washington thinks of this misstep. She knows Eva as a friend and a colleague so her backing Eva does mean something to me.
Kerry can defend who she wants, but I wish she hadn’t said a word. She’s getting dragged now too. I don’t like when black women jump in the line of fire especially when a lot of the time, it isn’t reciprocated.
The wording and timing. Like a hold my beer moment. There’s enough shine to go around, no need to interfere with someone else’s minute…
So MANY things to unpick here.
And even that ‘apology’ was abysmal and insulting.
Eva wanted attention and she got it. Why do celebs always use black women as a means for their controversy? It’s so disgusting.
FACT check: 28% of Latina women voted for Trump and 36% of Latina Men voted for Trump. I understand that the mainstay of that vote were Cuban and Mexican American’s but still…. she got her facts wrong.
How was her apology abysmal and insulting?
Saying “I wasn’t coming for black women, I was coming for Latino men” was a miss. She could have focused on the deserved props to the Lantina community & not put down another group to prop herself up.
Please stop generalizing us, Cuban-Americans in Florida were the ones who voted for Dump. I’m an immigrant from Mexico, and I voted for Biden. And yes, what she said pissed me off, because for a long time a lot of these “Latinos” never acknowledged us, until it was cool to be a Latino. Stacy Abrams was the mastermind in GA and thank you to all you beautiful women who voted for Biden. Not you 54% white women though!
Sadly, my family in the US is bitterly divided. The whiter, “assimilated” (as in they forget they are Mexican and their children hardly know their heritage) part of my family on one side of my family, , their mom took them to the US and vote republican, with a the exception of two of my sisters. Being ultra religious for some of them is the tipping point. I am scared of visiting one of my nephews because they are gun-toting and have 12 kids all, homeschooled. I fear I’d say the wrong thing, like tuck frump or something.
One of my female relatives even used to bitterly berate Michelle Obama in SM, and attack new immigrants. I am not inclined to visit her either, she even forgo her very mexican name and changed it “because people could not pronounce it”.
The other side of my family, and my friends who know and remember who they are, voted Biden.
I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt. Bringing up GA but not AZ and NV where Latinos DID show up was a mistake. Joe and Kamala thanked black women and the black community for a reason.
But in Arizona, the Navajo Nation voted 97% for Biden. They were absolutely critical in flipping the state to him.
At least she used the word “heroines”. Too often we write the male-centred term even when we speak of women. Be your own *heroine*. Wonder Woman is a super *heroine*. Words have power, so we should choose them carefully.
If she had only use the word and instead of but, she would’ve missed all that smoke. From what I see on Twitter, the apology is not accepted because it doesn’t address what she actually said.
how very Gina Rodriguez
I am sure if I was a celebrity that I will be getting called out a lot because I am terrible at communicating clearly, lol. Nice of her to clarify
Just proof that the total disenfranchisement of Black women isn’t only limited to white people.
That was a terrible and ignorant thing to say, and the spin she’s trying to put on it now with her “apology” (just barely rising above the “I’m sorry if YOU were offended or misunderstood me non-apology) is a really bad look. Dismissing the contribution of one group doesn’t make you look better.
“Just proof that the total disenfranchisement of Black women isn’t only limited to white people.”
This all day. As a black woman, I see it all the time and it gets brushed under the rug.
Yes to all of this which is POC is such an empty term. There is a lot of anti blackness in other communities of colour and it has everything to do with those communities wanting to define themselves against blackness to achieve proximity to whiteness. Also this isn’t her first slip up of this nature.
Anti blackness in the Latina and Asian communities is rife – EVERYWHERE.
It’s such a terrible thing to see and so soon after a victory. Some people really love to knock the happiness out of others! There are people in this world that would see you rejoicing/happy, and they’ll be so quick in putting you back in your place. I’m happy Eva showed up for the party and for the role of the Latina community, but we can praise one group without bringing down another.
This isn’t the first time Longoria has made her anti-blackness creep to the surface.
Her past remarks are peppered with such tropes.
Yes. She was Gina Rodriguez before Gina was Gina Rodriguez.
@ Jegede
She used to be married to Tony Parker who played for the San Antonio Spurs who was biracial. (I believe his Mom is Dutch) so I am surprised at her comment.
(having said that I also don’t really pay any attention to Eva Longoria)
Marrying someone biracial doesn’t mean anything. Plus, he’s Belgian-born and French-raised. Even though his dad is African-American, his relationship to Blackness as a European multiracial person may be quite different than someone raised in the U.S. And people can even have biracial kids and still be racist af. Racists find ways to side-step it i.e. “you’re different” “you’re not like the others” “you’re part white so…” etc etc ad nauseum And colorism still holds sway. She could marry him but not necessarily embrace the parts of him that are most identifiably Black. 🙁
…I think she knew what she was doing. She could have easily corrected herself in the moment and didn’t. I’ll say this from personal experience (so take this with a grain of salt since I’m a celebrity nor do I have that amount of media scrutiny on me) I made a mistake during an interview and quickly corrected myself because I heard what I said right there and then.
We all make mistakes I get it. It took her three hours or so to put out that apology. I’m not willing to cancel her over it, but also don’t fault anyone for taking issue with what she said or the apology she made. Personally, I didn’t care for it and I think she tried to save herself from the smoke that was blowing her way.
I also feel like she has made some questionable comments in the past that got brushed under the rug but maybe I’m misremembering.
I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt. But got damn, that was cringey af. Black women are the backbone of the Democratic Party.
I’m Mexican-American and I can’t figure out what the actual f*ck is wrong with la raza. Me and my immediate family are all dems, including my dad, who’s from Mexico. He became a citizen 12 years ago so he can vote now. But there are so many Mexican-Americans in Texas who supported and voted for trump. I don’t get it! I read this quote this morning and it’s true, “The whole idea of Latinos for Trump is counterintuitive, like chickens for Colonel Sanders.”
they want to be white, or liked by whites, maybe?
Not that. Regardless of political beliefs, most Mexican-Americans are proud of the heritage and ancestry.
Ding ding ding. They want to be accepted by White Americans, so they shit on their own people. All the while,, these same White people couldn’t give two $h!ts about them or that stupid piece of paper that says they are “citizens”.
It actually is about proximity to whiteness. With Mexico in particular, we have a whole history of a caste system that the Spaniards put into play. Like in many countries, the system was created to elevate whiteness as the golden standard. This has then been reinforced in our novelas, in catholicism, in our economic and social structures, and in the home. Those ideas of whiteness as the ideal are ingrained in our society well before our families migrate to the US. Also what can sometimes make it hard to notice is that it is in fact possible to be proud of your culture and and heritage while at the same time internalizing the idea of white superiority.
Also another reason Eva’s statement is problematic is because it completely ignores the fact that Black women can also be Latinas/Latinx. Eva does do a lot of great work and at the same time there is room for growth. She can and should work on unlearning alot of what nonBlack Latinx folks have internalized when it comes to anti-Blackness.
@Kari, now that, I can agree with. You nailed it! I’m moreno like my dad and I’m so thankful he never acted like his skin color was a bad thing. Now some of los güeros in my family… that’s another story.
“Chickens for colonel sanders” lol!
Her mistake was saying it in the same breath as Georgia. She absolutely should not have made a comparison between Black and Latina women, especially in the midst of an incredibly proud and historic moment for all women….especially Black women…but in reference to NV and AZ she’s correct and if she could have just focused on that she’d have every right to be proud AF. I’m not Latina but I worked my ASS off and gave more money than I could easily spare and I’m gonna shout it from the rooftops that I helped. If there’s anything life and career have taught me, white men have no problem demanding respect and acknowledgement even when they haven’t earned it. YTF shouldn’t the rest of us when we have earned it?
Eva,
As The Beatles said “Come Together”
I’m glad to see Biden win. End of Trump.
Also, everyone who is eligible to vote SHOULD vote, in every election, including mid terms and local. I thank everyone for voting, it is our right to elect our politicans. I Thank those Biden voters 2x. lol
Have an excellent week, everybody!
I’m latin and I flinch every time a latino/a stand by Trump, let alone vote for him. I just don’t get it. We represent everything him and his nutty voters hate, regardless of the colour of our skin, hair, and eyes.
It’s time Latin-Americans*, Asian-Americans, Native Americans, every other SOMETHING-Americans join African-Americans into standing up to White Supremacy and Racism. We might be different in so many ways but have one very important thing in common – the system is rigged against us by people who hate us and view us as inferior in every single way.
*not the region but Americans descending from latin americans.
Agreed. But wanna give a special shoutout to our Native American brethren and sistren , due to American genocide, there’s not many of them, but they show up with black folks and did this election. Arizona and New Mexico for example.
Yes this needs to be stated and repeated widely because due to how small the group, they are overlooked, but they showed up for Biden/Harris and need to be recognized.
Cee…So much this. The system.literally is rigged. The electoral college gives more weight to small predominantly white states. The Senate disproportionately represents small, predominantly white states. Biden-Harris was an important win in the face of fascism, but the battle is far from over. The electoral college is near impossible to abolish but we can extend Congressional representation to D.C. (who voted 94% for Biden) and expand the Supreme Court. There’s more but that’s what can be done in the first Biden term *if* the Georgia run-off elections give the Dems a fighting chance in the Senate. Even if both seats turn Blue, it’s still not a majority but Madam VP becomes the tie breaker. If the issues of unequal representation are not addressed this term, the system will continue to favor those 70 million neo nazis. It’s maddening that it’s this hard for the other 250 million of us to get an equal footing, but that’s literally by design.
Exactly. They want to retain the power of being gatekeepers and will fight dirty to ensure they do. This is why everyone who is not a neo nazi needs to come together and fight for a better system. There is power in numbers.
100% im hoping this election woke all minority groups up to truly understand that we are all in this together and United we stand.!
I for one am excited about this prospect cos the burden is getting to be too much on black people and a lot of us are getting disillusioned (see: % increase in our support of trump).
The anti blackness jumped out which happens a lot when people see black women being centred- it’s like a reflex. Talking about black women & then saying ‘but Latinas were the real heroines’ was also dismissive of Afro Latinas as well as inaccurate on the poll numbers. What a shame and her apology/ clarification sucked too.
Yes. Thank you for saying this cause it seems like Black women being centered does trigger some people to make some statements to diminish Black women. It’s tedious and it gets glossed over far too often.
I talked to someone last night about the Afrolatina erasure in her comment too.
Yup! Afrolatinas are erased all too often.
This. Always. So sick of it. Black women and Indigenous communities saved this election. End of story.
I’ve found Eva Longoria kind of problematic for a while because this is not the first time that her comments have shown that she doesn’t seek to empower women or even minority women; she is interested in empowering Latina women, period. This is great, don’t get me wrong, because all women of color need champions and representation. But this whole “but we deserve more credit” is divisive AF and problematic and it shows where her head is really at. This is the same BS that got Gina Rodriguez in trouble. It’s not a competition and both of these women are great examples of people who seem to be trying to turn this into one, which behooves no one.
There is no competition for minority women about who “the real heroines” are. To me, this shows that her interests are very self serving. The Latin community has a deep underlying issue where they’re often very dismissive of black people, and when confronted they act as if it’s impossible for them to be racist and they start talking about Afro-Latinos, but the reality is that issues with darkness are rampant in every Latin country. Comments like Eva’s only perpetuate this issue and show how deeply ingrained it is in some Latinos thought process.
This was such an unnecessary comment for her to make. That apology was WEAK and she needs to correct her mind on this issue because the fact that she even said this just shows that her head is not in the right place AT ALL when it comes to this issue.
I think she did it intentionally. As a black woman, I notice a lot that we can never be acknowledged or congratulated without either a white woman or other minority women coming in to lessen the impact that we contributed. Also, it should be said in Arizona and Wisconsin a large number of Native American people came out to vote and that also helped Biden win.
Not enough people are talking about the impact Indigenous played in this election. Especially the Najo nation where 97% of them voted for Biden. And the Rural Utah Project work who did the groundwork and registered over 4000 Indigenous people to vote in Arizona.
@madamnoir24, I agree with you. The Indigenous people’s vote in Arizona was and is so important to Biden’s win. I read somewhere that Indigenous turnout (the article mentioned the Navajo people in particular although I’m sure there are other tribes as well) was really high in Arizona, and VERY overwhelmingly for Biden (like in the 90th percentiles).
Vice news also recently did a special on this. Actually a week before the election and it was incredible seeing the their work being manifested like these past few days. A lot of it also had to do with the native communities in Arizona being so decimated by Covid, they recognized they needed to mobilize. Sad that yet again their communities had to be decimated by a disease the govt didn’t care to contain.
@MadamNoir24 Absolutely agree. Thank you.
How were Latina women the heroines of this election when so many of them uphold white supremacy? It was such an unfortunate comparison
OK, I like Eva and I’ve never heard she was problematic before. I knew Gina R. is, but never heard anything bad reported about Eva regarding race relations with the Black community. For now I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt because of her record, to my knowledge has been good and I believe she misspoke in her excitement. I don’t wish to throw away an ally for women and the Democratic party and I believe that Eva is an ally who made a mistake here.
I think it’s acceptable – and important – to point out the casual or unintentional racism inherent to some discussion. Saying, “hey, this removes the focus of the narrative off black America, who absolutely won this election for Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Georgia” is 100% fine. We all make mistakes or have hidden blind spots we don’t see in ourselves. I just feel like it’s easy to get caught up in a loop of hyperfocusing on mistakes instead of moving past it, telling the person how to inform themselves better, and refocusing the anger on the real targets. I’m just as guilty as anyone else about it at times, but I’m trying to be more cautious about it because the next decade of political fighting is going to be rough.
I agree and in not being cautious sometimes and piling on it leaves room for Democrats to be exploited by the right wing. They deliberately go after certain weak areas that shouldn’t matter in a fight to distract the group while they take advantage of that distraction to do so many awful things.
Yeah, I don’t want to be mistaken for enabling this kind of dumbassery because we all do it and should be called out for it, and she definitely needed to apologize, but having done a lot of on the ground canvassing when I was younger…you’d be shocked at how alienating and even dangerous that blunt approach can be. Sometimes, it actively works against you because people get their defensive hackles up and instead of having space to think, “Okay, here’s where I screwed up and maybe need to work on things,” it pushes them further to the hard right…where you they find people perfectly happy to embrace them into their fold and erase any desire in them to do better. It sucks because it just puts an unfair burden on the person reaching out to combat things like racism, sexism, etc. to be careful and unduly patient with incredibly dumbass, prejudiced shit. (Trust me, as an LGBT+ woman, I’ve had some FUN conversations walking family through issues pertaining through that community.)
It’s easy to forget we’re up against decades of propaganda that sanitized American history and fed people a narrative that didn’t exist unless they were actively experiencing the opposite. It’s insidiously instilled in a lot of us. I think a lot about my mother in this regard. My mother was always the kind of person who supported liberal causes and voted Democrat, but she had the kind of unrealized subconscious prejudice a lot of white women have that they don’t even see. We used to get into fights about it a lot when I was younger and less savvy at navigating those arguments with her. But after witnessing what the Obama administration went through, she went to the effort to educating herself better about black history and has gone from passive to more actively and vocally supportive of movements like BLM and Fair Fight. A decade ago, she worried if having a black president would drum up more hostility in race relations in our state; yesterday, she turned to me and said black women were the future of America and liberal white women needed to start propping up their voices better. Like, the change can happen, but one of the best skills activists can hone is determining when to go full throttle attack and when to say, “Okay, you f*cked up, but let’s fix this and move foward.”
Oof. I can’t imagine looking at what Black voters just did (saved the country) and thinking that, let alone saying it on national television. I’m glad she apologized quickly, and I know she’s been a Dem activist for a long time, but FFS, we need to be a united front right now, not picking apart who did what and who deserves more credit.
Also, it wasn’t just Georgia. Black organizers and activists worked tirelessly all around the country to make this happen. The Dem leader in Wisconsin has already credited Abrams for helping their state too, and look at Philadelphia and Detroit and what their turn out did for their states.
See also Salma Hayek speaking over Jessica Williams at Sundance, denigrating Jessica’s experiences as a black woman.
She apologized and clarified; it’s done. Liberals need to beware tearing each other part over minor semantic stuff like this and recognizing when it’s not bad players being intentionally divisive. Trust me, we’re going to need each other over the long haul of the next couple of years.
This being said, those numbers coming out of the polls should be an early red alarm for Democrats. They have to stop treating racial and ethnic minorities like a monolith they just assume will vote for them. They need to start having honest conversations with those demographics; at this point, they’re more or less the future of the country population wise.
Read this last week and it definitely speaks to your last paragraph and not assuming that minorities will just automatically vote Dem.
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/trump-vote-rising-among-blacks-hispanics-despite-conventional-wisdom-ncna1245787
Is she crazy? Hmm no, latinas did not saved this election…it was the work of activist like Stacy Adams that did…she tripping and deserves the dragging she is getting ( in my most annoyed New Yorker voice and accent)
I find it funny how giving black women there due is always met with, “well so and so also did things, not just you guys!” Or then you have people who suddenly care about other groups getting their recognition (they don’t but it is a good cover for anti-blackness).
Any other group and be celebrated for accomplishments and many other things, but with black people and especially black women, it is immediately a problem/divisive. It just goes to show where we are in the pecking order.
Always @Mia It just doesn’t seem possible for Black women to be rightfully praised without some bullshit coming up. People hate to see Black women win. White people and those seeking white proximity just can’t stand it. That’s why I continue to celebrate loudly and also celebrate myself as a Black woman.
She apologized and did not double down, I think her past record speaks for itself, she has been an activist for almost two decades. I’m not saying I accept her apology as it’s not mine to accept.
Never been a fan of her and Gina Rodriques. Loathe them both and their undercover racist crap. Enough.
Maybe Eva goofed but it’s hard to give the benefit of any doubt to a community that routinely spouts anti-blackness and misogynoir like this all the time. Slip or not it has it’s roots in that same encultured misogynoir and anti-blackness, and it will get the perennial side-eye it deserves because of that culture of colourism and racism never seems to get questioned.
Also, why do black folk feel the need to keep caping for groups and people who would never reciprocate if the shoe was on the other foot? Sometimes they can make it just fine out of the hole they dug for themselves without you, and they might just learn something doing it.
She generalized, you are doing that too.
The reason trump won Florida overwhelmingly is south Florida. 200 000 more Latinos (mostly Cubanos) voted for him. I like Eva Longoria, but keeping it factual to learn from it- he won the Latino vote in Florida and Texas.
Guess what? 97% of indigenous women voted for Biden in Arizona she was right to bring attention to brown women too, they literally are categorized as “something else” in polls calm down your faux outrage and see the implicit bias. Also thank brown people for feeding ALL races during this pandemic. Not even one Latina can give us props without the whole world freaking out about it #SitDown
No one said anything about Arizona- and we were discussing Latinos specifically. True, he won Arizona. I was stating about the many articles online discussing the shock that trump won the Latino Cuban vote overwhelmingly in Florida- and way more than 2016. For some reason, facts bother people, but we must find out how and learn from it since Florida is such an important state with heavy electoral votes.
Can we progressives and liberals agree to wait until January 21,2020 at 1:24pm EST before we start eating one another? Until then can we just cherish this win…and then work on how we win over the 47% who voted for a corrupt racist serial sex-offender who owes some unknown folks $420millionUSD
If you look at the exit polls based on race, it’s actually black women who came out in droves for Biden (like 91%) followed by black men (at 81%). We owe them a huge debt of gratitude. Like big time, bigly. Georgia would have never turned blue without their support.
White women and white men on the majority went for Trump (big shocker), something like 67%/72% respectively. This really pisses me off and to be honest I have no scruples at calling these people Chads and Karens when they are exactly that. I’m white myself and I am so sick of these people and their hatred. We can’t move forward if these folks hang onto their privilege and don’t think beyond themselves.
What I found interesting was the huge amount of Cuban voters for Trump in Florida. I remember the mass exodus from Cuba in the 70’s and 80’s when peeps were turning up in crafts that barely survived the 90 miles that separates Florida from Cuba. They were in dire straights back then, not unlike the migrants of today. I would have thought they’d think back on the days when they were escaping from Fidel and have a little sympathy. I guess not.
Cubanos shy away from any type of government control due to their history under Fidel Castro who was a socialist. Democrats are more socialist leaning then republicans and the more left they lean (defunding police or controlling restauraunts) whether correct or not ~ it is an alarm bell in the heads of those who fled Fidel. Trump also put sanctions back on Cuba that Obama lifted and they want that.