Matthews Claims Latinos ‘natural Republicans’

Matthews Claims Latinos “natural Republicans”

MATTHEWS: When I think of people who have come to this
country from other countries where they speak Spanish — Puerto Rico is not
another country, but it's the commonwealth — hardest-working people, they are
extremely entrepreneurial. If it's just owning a flower shop, it's owning
a small business, a bodega, right? Puerto Ricans come to this country
to start business. Cubans certainly come here to start businesses. The hardest-working
people in the United States are people who just got here from Mexico, the first
day they get here. Everybody knows — they don't want a big social democracy.
They want free enterprise and entrepreneurialism, don't they?

VILLARAIGOSA: I think what they want –

MATTHEWS: They sound like they're natural Republicans
to me.

VILLARAIGOSA: I think what they want is the American
dream, and they're willing to work for it.

Hey, Chris, why don't you just play the soundtrack, pal? WATCH THE VIDEO

Okay, so yesterday, Chris Matthews interviewed LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa,
which happened in the very last segment of the show. Towards the end, Matthews
said that Latinos, being entrepreneurial and hard working, seem to be “natural
Republicans.”

All you needed was a special “Hardball” clip of
“West Side Story” to complete this scene, with Rita Moreno singing,
“I like to be in A-merica! Villaraigosa, who will deliver the Spanish response
to Bush, just stared back at him, while politely answering the questions. Yeesh,
it was appalling.

You'd think Matthews had never met a Latino.

Villaraigosa was calm and polite, but it was a cartoon bubble moment if ever
there was one. I'd like to have known what the mayor was thinking.

It's yet another reason we launched the Open Letter to Chris Matthews.