President Joe Biden isn’t the only “gaffe machine” inside the White House.
First Lady Jill Biden made headlines Monday when she spoke at the “Latinx IncluXion luncheon” — a gender-neutral butchery of the word Latino that Hispanic voters almost universally hate.
And that was just the beginning of the first lady’s problems.
During her speech, Jill said the strength of the Latino community was “the diversity of this community” and said it was “as distinct as the bodegas of the Bronx, as beautiful as the blossoms of Miami, and as unique as the breakfast tacos here in San Antonio.”
The National Association of Hispanic Journalists didn’t appreciate Latino voters being compared to “breakfast tacos” and blasted the first lady’s comments.
NAHJ encourages @FLOTUS & her communications team to take time to better understand the complexities of our people & communities.
We are not tacos.
Our heritage as Latinos is shaped by various diasporas, cultures & food traditions.
Do not reduce us to stereotypes. pic.twitter.com/KQIq5gwsht
— NAHJ (@NAHJ) July 12, 2022
The Republican National Committee also slammed her speech.
“Jill Biden’s attendance to the ‘LatinX InclusXion’ luncheon is yet another slap in the face to Hispanics. Although very on brand for the Biden administration, they continue to forget that Hispanics overwhelmingly do not identify with the term ‘LatinX,’ which is one of many reasons that Hispanics are moving away from out of touch Democrats and towards the GOP,” RNC spokeswoman Macarena Martinez said in a statement.
At a "Latinx IncluXion" conference, Jill Biden says the Hispanic community is as "unique" as tacos.pic.twitter.com/Vb5wJyYGWB
— RNC Latinos (@RNCLatinos) July 11, 2022
It’s just the latest controversy to surround the first lady, a position that is typically above partisan politics.
A retired three-star Army general was suspended from his duties as an adviser to active-duty officers, an Army spokeswoman said, after his social media account criticized Jill Biden.
Retired Lt. Gen. Gary Volesky was serving as an HQE-SM, a highly qualified expert-senior mentor, when he was suspended by Lt. Gen. Theodore Martin, commanding general of the Combined Arms Center, according to a statement from Army spokeswoman Cynthia O. Smith.
She did not give a reason for the suspension, which is pending the outcome of an inquiry. No other details have been provided.
USA Today reported that a Twitter account under Volesky’s name carried a reply to a statement by the first lady following the Supreme Court’s action last month overturning the abortion rights decision Roe v. Wade.
“For nearly 50 years, women have had the right to make our own decisions about our bodies. Today, that right was stolen from us,” Biden said.
The newspaper reported that the tweet under Volesky’s name stated: “Glad to see you finally know what a woman is.” The tweet was later deleted.
The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article