Mayra Flores says it will take more than Jill Biden's apology for 'tacos' comments to win Hispanic votes

Texas Republican Rep. Mayra Flores blasted President Joe Biden's failures on the economy and the border and accused Democrats of taking Latino voters "for granted" Wednesday and rebuked first lady Jill Biden's recent ham-fisted and cringe-worthy comparison of Hispanics to tacos.

In an interview on Fox News, Flores predicted that Democrats are in for a rude awakening in the upcoming midterm elections, when she says they will find out they don't "own" the Hispanic vote.

"We're going to teach them a strong lesson in November that they do not own our votes and that they need to bring back the good economy that we had prior to the Biden administration," she told anchors Sandra Smith and Bill Hemmer.

Flores, who defeated an incumbent Democrat in a special election last month, said rising costs caused by inflation and the border crisis are responsible for Biden's record low poll numbers.

She criticized the president, who recently met with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, for failing to listen to to the concerns raised by Obrador, saying that Biden was "half-asleep" during the meeting.

"People are going through a dangerous journey, increasing child sex trafficking, alarming rates. This is something that we should all come together and work for the safety of immigrants and, of course, innocent children that are being dragged into child sex trafficking. That's a reality. And I think that conversation wasn't had," Flores told Fox News.

After noting Biden's flailing poll numbers with Hispanics, Hemmer asked Flores to respond to Jill Biden's Tuesday morning apology after she compared Hispanics to "bodegas" and "breakfast tacos" in a speech at a Latino diversity conference.

"The diversity of this community as distinct at the bogedas of the Bronx, as beautiful as the blossoms of Miami, and as unique as the breakfast tacos here in San Antonio, is your strength" the first lady said, butchering the pronunciation of the word "bodega."

Biden was roundly criticized for her comments. The National Association of Hispanic Journalists called on her "to take time to better understand the complexities of our people & communities."

"We are not tacos," the group tweeted Monday.

The first lady's spokesman Michael LaRosa issued an apology Tuesday morning after the backlash. "The first lady apologizes that her words conveyed anything but pure admiration and love for the Latino community," LaRosa said.

Flores said Jill Biden's clumsy comments and subsequent apology demonstrated how Democrats use Hispanic voters but don't care about them.

"They don't see us as Americans, they see us as tacos. That's exactly how they see us. And we're proud Americans and they are only doing this to get our vote and they think that by giving us tacos and playing Latin music that that's all it's gonna take for us to vote for them in November," Flores said.

"It's going to take a lot more than that. We want gas, rent and groceries to come down. We want more money in our pockets, and they're only making our lives more miserable."

She doubted the sincerity of Biden's apology.

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