When partisan Dem Jonathan Capehart, a Democrat candidate for the White House, spends more time asking questions than building him up, you know he is not in good shape.
Vicente Gonzalez was guest on Capehart’s MSNBC Sunday ShowThe host repeatedly asked him tough questions about his record, and he was rebuffed twice.
Capehart was the first to mention that Gonzalez paid a blogger to attack Gonzalez’s opponent in the district Republican Congresswoman Mayra Flores (Mexican-born Mayra Flores) as “Miss Frijoles” and “cotton picking’ liar.”
Gonzalez denied any responsibility for the slurs used by the blogger. Gonzalez said, “I have never spoken such things.” My staff and my campaign never mentioned any of these things. These platforms are not paid, just like when we advertise MSNBC. Your content is not under our control.
But NBC News broke the story, and reported in its article that:
“The language first surfaced three days after Gonzalez’s campaign wrote a $1,200 check to The McHale Report blog June 24 for ‘advertising services,’ according to the Democrat’s Federal Election Commission finance report.
But the blog, which has called Flores ‘Miss Frijoles’ 21 times since then, Gonzalez ads have yet to be published.”
Also, Gonzalez wasn’t paying for advertising—he was paying for slurs—and the blogger delivered. NBC reports:
The blog contains many posts that use racist, crude, and bigoted language like this one. use of the N-word and derogatory references to women’s private parts, including Flores’ body.”
Gonzalez was aware of exactly what he was buying.
A while later, Gonzalez was confronted by Capehart because he had voted against the House’s recent ban on assault weapons. Gonzalez stated that he voted no because the proposal “didn’t go far enough.”
This was BS. Gonzalez was among five Dems who voted no to the ban, and all of them were from more conservative districts. While we are grateful for Gonzalez’s vote, it is not his outrageous whopper trying to justify his vote for Capehart.
Capehart also supported Flores’ claim that Democrats had abandoned the Hispanic community and taken it for granted. Capehart said:Does she not have an argument to present? “I mean, she’s a Member in Congress right now.” Ouch!
Without any prodding from Capehart, Gonzalez also made a vicious and ludicrous allegation against Flores, Claim“She voted against interracial marriage and racial equality in marital relationships.”
Gonzalez attacked Flores with sexist remarks that Dems might normally find offensive, he said it was “sad” that she was “confused” and “gibbering.”
Gonzalez was also unimpressive and made many verbal mistakes, including saying: “Republicans [sic!]They are the ones who provided student loans and Pell grants to usThat educated South Texas’ Latino population, which brought us to the middle class. He was sure to mean, Democrats.
The district has been redestricted to be more favorable to Democrats now than last month, when Flores took it by three points. But, even though Gonzalez had that going for it, Capehart seemed less impressed than his colleague Democrat.
Jonathan Capehart asked Vicente Gonzalez, Democrat Congressman, tough questions. He was referring to racist slurs used against Gonzalez by a blogger Gonzalez had paid. Colonial Penn also sponsored Gonzalez’ vote against the ban on “assault arms.”
The transcript is here.
MSNBC
Jonathan Capehart on Sunday’s Show
7/31/22
10:17 am EDTJONATHAN CAPAPEHART: Many political forecasters predict that Republicans will win the majority of the vote, which could lead to some tough races in the United States. The 34th District in Texas is one of the seats Republicans hope to keep. Mayra Flores, the congresswoman in South Texas won a special election in October. This was a major breakthrough for Republicans.
My next guest is another member of Congress who has recently been redistricted and will challenge her for this seat. As my guest, Congressman Vicente Gonzales is the candidate for Texas’s 35th congressional district. We are grateful to Congressman Gonzalez for coming. It is so important for Democrats not to lose their House majority but for you to win that race against congressman Flores.
VICENTE GONAZALEZ (Interview): It is critical, and we will do it. There are many positive things happening in this district. This area has a huge amount of support. This area is a Democratic District. This special election proved to be confusing. I’m sorry, we had less than 17 electoral votes. [sic]They came out. To our $150-200,000 to support the candidate who knew he was only going to be there for six months, they spent $3 million. It was complicated. However, we know that November will bring us back. South Texas should be rid of the Republicans.
. . .
CAPEHART: Now, your opponent’s been arguing that the Democratic party has abandoned and taken the Hispanic community for granted. How do you react to this? That’s what I am referring to. Does she not have an argument to present? She is now a member of Congress.
GONZALEZ Republicans [sic!]They are the ones who provided student loans and Pell grants to usThis was the Latino community in south Texas that taught us how to become a member of the middle-class. . . Consider this my opinion. She’s confused and that’s very sadThese are not actual points made by the Republican Party. We have an South Texas candidate for gibberingThey do not represent the South Texas values and people.
CAPEHARTYour campaign paid a Texas blogger for their advertising services. He attacked Congresswoman Flores and called her racist names including “Miss Frijoles.”
While you condemn these remarks, what do you think of constituents offended that someone uses such derogatory language to describe your opponent?
GONZALEZ These are not things that I ever said. These were never the words of my campaign staff. This is a paid platform, just like when we advertise MSNBC. You don’t have the right to edit your posts. If you leave such comments, however, we will not use your name again. This is the exact same thing.
Her goal is to distract South Texas Democrats and the people of South Texas from votes she’s cast, including when she voted against women’s rights. She voted against interracial marriage and racial equality. This was her vote. Voting against equal marriage.
. . .
CAPEHART, I can hear what you have to say, Congressman Flores, particularly in light of his votes against gun safety legislation. But Correct me if this is incorrect: The assault weapon ban, which the House approved just before weekend, was defeated by you! Why?
GONZALEZ: That’s right. This ban on assault weapons was too restrictiveMagazine capacities were not limited, but that’s how many people die. Guns with large magazine capacities or high caliber capacities were available that weren’t on this list. We also had guns that could be used for bird hunting.
We must fix it, correct it. We also require better laws. It is necessary to conduct more thorough background checks. There should be waiting periods. More red flag laws will be needed, as they can help to prevent another one from happening in Uvalde, and other places in the country.
It is not enough to have some fluff bill that communicates to Americans. This ultimately doesn’t have any chance of passing the Senate and won’t solve the issues that we face.
CAPEHART Thank you, Congressman Vicente Gonzalez from Texas. Sunday Show.
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