While speaking to a group of Latino students on the virtues of America as a melting pot, Republican Nevada Senate candidate Sharron Angle said that some of the students looked Asian to her.
As Jon Ralston reports:
“So that’s what we want is a secure and sovereign nation and, you know, I don’t know that all of you are Latino. Some of you look a little more Asian to me. I don’t know that. [Note: it’s the Hispanic Student Union. The whole room is Hispanic teenagers.] What we know, what we know about ourselves is that we are a melting pot in this country. My grandchildren are evidence of that. I’m evidence of that. I’ve been called the first Asian legislator in our Nevada State Assembly.”
That last comment, about her being called the first Asian legislator? I have no idea what she is talking about.
I’m honestly not sure whether this particular gaffe qualifies as being racist, or just clueless.
This occurred at the same event where Angle said that the Latinos labeled as “illegal aliens” in her ads might not be Latinos at all, but terrorists sneaking in from the Canadian border.
[TPM SLIDESHOW - ‘Showdown In Searchlight’: Tea Partiers Rally To Boot Harry Reid]
Note: On Angle’s reference to her grandchildren as evidence of the melting pot, she has a Latina daughter-in-law. But as for that segue to her being the “first Asian legislator” in Nevada, I’m as clueless as the rest of us.
To watch the video, click here.
The TPM Poll Average of the Nevada Senate race gives Angle a lead of 48.5%-47.4%
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.
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