De Blasio Tries His Hand at Spanish, Now He's Apologizing for Blurting Out Offensive Phrase
New York City mayor and presidential hopeful Bill de Blasio isn’t known for always being smart.
He also wasn’t always known for being Bill de Blasio — his name used to be William Wilhelm, but that’s a story for another day.
Back to the not-smart thing. Recently, de Blasio was speaking to some airport workers on strike. With all of the motivational quotes and speakers at his disposal, de Blasio decided to go with a Spanish selection.
So, he rolled up his sleeves, raised his finger into the air and screamed, “Hasta la victoria siempre!”
There is only one problem. Well, that’s not true. There are several problems — let me count the ways.
First, de Blasio’s statement was an infamous quote from the murderous and evil Che Guevara.
Second, de Blasio blurted his statement out in Miami, a city full of Cuban refugees who know firsthand the tyranny of Guevara’s violence.
Third, many of the people to whom de Blasio was speaking were in fact Latin Americans. Notice the language on the signs not three feet from de Blasio’s face.
Bill de Blasio quotes Che Guevara in Miami: “hasta la victoria siempre”https://t.co/OONmP7rVlA pic.twitter.com/gNpj7YHoSl
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 27, 2019
Video of the snafu quickly spread and the reaction was exactly what it should have been. De Blasio was blasted from every corner for quoting Guevara and for being so predictable ignorant. In fact, the response was so severe that de Blasio tweeted an apology.
“I did not know the phrase I used in Miami today was associated with Che Guevara & I did not mean to offend anyone who heard it that way,” de Blasio wrote. “I certainly apologize for not understanding that history. I only meant it as a literal message to the striking airport workers that I believed they would be victorious in their strike- BdB.”
I only meant it as a literal message to the striking airport workers that I believed they would be victorious in their strike- BdB. (2/2)
— Bill de Blasio (@BilldeBlasio) June 27, 2019
(De Blasio put his initials in his tweet in case his Twitter followers are such morons they couldn’t figure that out on their own.)
One would think that would be the end of the story, but that is incorrect. Because as doltish as de Blasio is, even his apology didn’t pass the smell test.
Marco Rubio took one look at the tweet and decided that he didn’t like the cut of its jib. “De Blasio studied Latin American politics in college, was a very active supporter of the Sandinistas in #Nicaragua & even honeymooned in #Cuba in violation of U.S. law,” Rubio said, laying the groundwork for his sarcastic conclusion. “But he had NO IDEA he was quoting Che Guevara today. It was all just an incredible coincidence.”
Rubio also tweeted that “History, not just Cuban exiles, considers Che Guevara a murderous sociopath who executed hundreds after unfair show trials & during missile crisis wanted Cuba to ‘sacrifice itself to nuclear arms, that its ashes might serve as a basis for new societies.'”
African-American conservative powerhouse commentator Larry Elder also didn’t take too kindly to de Blasio’s Guevara reference.
“The Negro is indolent and spends his money on frivolities…the European is forward-looking, organized and intelligent.”
–Che GuevaraYo, @BilldeBlasio,
What would “Che” say about a white man marrying a black woman and having a child with her?#UsefulIdiot pic.twitter.com/61F4DWtuis
— Larry Elder (@larryelder) June 28, 2019
Elder responded to de Blasio’s story by quoting Guevara’s incredible racist view on blacks. “The Negro is indolent and spends his money on frivolities…the European is forward-looking, organized and intelligent,” Guevara once said, as quoted by Elder.
While de Blasio may be too busy banning plastic straws to get his Spanish quotes in order, he may want to take the time to avoid — unwittingly or not — paying homage to a tyrant so evil that he’s been called a psychopath who reveled in “the artistry of taking lives.”
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