NAZIS IN THE BARRIOS:... ......Democratic Congressman Vicente Gonzalez Calls RGV Mexicans In Republican Fold "Jews For Hitler"...Stunningly Restrained, Ardent Opponent Mayra Flores Merely Murmurs "Shame On Vicente"...

 

By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

BROWNSVILLE, Texas |...I mean there are plenty of Mexican Jews, so that cannot be the knock in this one. No, Congressman Vicente Gonzalez, a 3-term Democrat, was going a bit farther in damning his fellow Mexicans for chasing the Donald Trump stench.

He equates them to those doomed "Jews for Hitler" of the 1930s - all actually hated by the Nazis, many to the point of gassing.

But we're into the November Election campaign and Gonzalez wants to keep his job. Losing to a Mexican Republican is not his idea of a good day at the office. His opponent, fleshy Mayra Flores hated the comparison, but we know she's heard similar characterizations before - like likely this morning.

The excitable Flores didn't even come close to beating Gonzalez in the 2022 election, losing by more than 10,000 votes. That brief taste of Washington, D.C., earned in winning a Special Election the summer of that same year, saw her spend 6 months in congress, the loftiest political status she has had as a woman.

Oddsmakers say Gonzalez will whip her silly again.      

This from a report at newrepublic.com: [ U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, a Democrat from McAllen, compared Hispanic Trump supporters to "Jews for Hitler," prompting fierce backlash from Republicans as he runs for reelection in a mostly Hispanic South Texas district.

In an interview published Monday, Gonzalez warned that Democrats could soon lose support among socially conservative Hispanic voters in South Texas as Republicans increasingly invest in the area. He said Hispanic voters are largely turned off by the anti-immigrant rhetoric coming from the top of the Republican ticket, including Donald Trump casting Mexican immigrants as "rapists."

"If they didn’t have that racist, divisive element within their party, they would have a lot of Latinos, but they can’t seem to shake that off," Gonzalez told the magazine. "The rhetoric you hear from the Republican Party is shameful and disgraceful for Latinos. And you know, when you see 'Latinos for Trump,' to me it is like seeing 'Jews for Hitler,' almost, you know?"

Republicans are pouring money into unseating Gonzalez in the 34th congressional district, which is based in the lower Rio Grande Valley and includes Brownsville and Harlingen. Former U.S. Representative Mayra Flores (shown in photo at right) is again running for the seat.

Flores acknowledges being a vocal Trump supporter and blasted Gonzalez for comparing Latino Trump supporters to Jewish Nazis.

"Shame on Vicente Gonzalez for referring to conservative Latinos in this manner. He forgets they are his constituents, too," Flores said on social media. "We need to elect new leadership in November, and that's exactly what the Rio Grande Valley will do." ]

Mayra Flores may as well be cutie Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz in this one. She's going nowhere. "Tontos," she will say, "...I've a feeling we're not in Burgos (Mexico) anymore." Or something like that. Pick your sample; she's more a cartoon than a positive candidate for public service. (BTW, Burgos, Tamaulipas, Mexico is her hometown)

If she were to win, well, we know she'd just be out to do Trump's bidding and to Hell with the Rio Grande Valley. It's what we're seen in her and what we keep hearing from the 38-year-old mother of three these days.

Gonzalez, sadly, has it right.

Mexicans do not belong in the Republican Party, not in Trump's ever-racist MAGA version, which is dominating the Grand Old Party (GOP).

But if this is the kick-off salvo, well, it is a more-than-clear signal that this race will, indeed, be a wild, vicious, fire and brimstone campaign for the 34th Congressional District seat - from here to Election Day come November 5th.

Vicente Gonzalez could be excused for proceeding with his dead-on denigrations, perhaps next calling Mexican Republicans idiots in their own language: Pendejos...

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