'Political correctness' has made it impossible to pander to ethnic groups: Watters
'The Five' react to first lady Jill Biden facing criticism for comparing Latinos to 'breakfast tacos' and butchering the term 'bodegas.'
First Lady Jill Biden is weathering blowback for what critics saw as pandering gone wrong to the Hispanic community during a speech in Texas.
Mrs. Biden spoke about the "diversity" of the ethnic group, butchering the pronunciation of the word "bodegas" and at one point calling Hispanic Americans "as unique as the breakfast tacos here in San Antonio."
While speaking about the "distinct" bodegas of New York City, Biden mispronounced the word, making it sound similar to Bogota, the capital of Colombia. The remarks came one year after she was criticized for also mispronouncing the slogan "Si Se Puede" during a speech referencing workers' rights activist Cesar Chavez.
On "The Five," host Judge Jeanine Pirro noted President Biden's popularity among Hispanics has cratered since the beginning of his term, arguing they are upset with his open border policies and like most Americans, are feeling the effects of inflation.
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President Biden and first lady Jill Biden speak with the NORAD Tracks Santa Operations Center on Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., via teleconference in the South Court Auditorium on the White House campus in Washington, Friday, Dec. 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
"He isn't in favor of protecting the safety and security of the American people as it relates to crime. He's not fighting for gas prices," she said. "Hispanics are no different than the rest of us: They're people. They want to make sure that they've got money in the bank or money at least to pay their bills. And they want food for their kids. They want their kids to be safe."
Pirro said some of the Bidens' "pandering… is bigoted," adding she will not unfairly criticize first lady Jill Biden the same way Melania Trump was.
"They destroyed [Mrs. Trump] her before she even showed up," Pirro said.
She added however, that racially-tinged gaffes are not unprecedented among the first couple, pointing to Joe Biden's history of making racially-insensitive or pandering remarks, pointing to a prior example:
In 2006, during his previous run for president, Biden was captured by a C-SPAN camera boasting of support from Indian-Americans, remarking that in his home state of Delaware, there is a large Indian-American community.
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"You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent -- I'm not joking," Biden said at the time.
Pirro also pointed to a 2020 incident in which Biden declared to a New York radio show that if African-Americans weren't sure whether to support him or Donald Trump, "you ain't Black."
While on the campaign trail in 2012. then-Vice President Biden appeared at a gathering near Martinsville, Va., where he warned the partially African-American crowd that the opposition ticket of then-former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., would "put you all back in chains."
"Look at what they value… Romney wants – he said in the first 100 days he's going to let the big banks write their own rules – ‘unchain Wall Street’ – they're going to put you all back in chains," Biden said at the time.
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