Leer en Español
A Texas blogger — hired by Democratic Congressman Vincent Gonzalez to perform “advertising services” — has been launching constant racist and sexual attacks against Rep. Mayra Flores amid a heated South Texas election battle.
According to NBC News, The McHale Report blog received a check for $1,200 from the team of Gonzalez, who is Flores’ opponent in the 34th District. The blogger then began systematically attacking the Hispanic congresswoman, calling her a “cotton-pickin’ liar” or using the derogatory reference “Miss Frijoles” on repeated occasions.
Also, according to the report, “the blog is full of posts with racist, crude and bigoted language, like the use of the N-word and derogatory references to women private parts, including Flores’.”
NBC revealed that, despite the fact that the advertising payment was made on June 24, the blog still did not run any ads in Gonzalez’s favor. Instead, Mayra Flores has been called “Miss Frijoles” 21 times on The McHale Report since then, which has led to criticism of Rep. Gonzalez even from within his own party.
For example, Colin Strother, a veteran Texas Democratic consultant, told NBC that politics in South Texas is very rough and dirty, but that the Gonzalez campaign’s attitude surprised him negatively.
“The attitude doesn’t surprise me. The mindset doesn’t surprise me. A Democratic member spending money with someone using that kind of language? Yeah, that surprises me,” Strother commented. “It’s a little outside the bounds. There are other places to spend your money.”
Strother wasn’t the only one surprised by the allegations against the Gonzalez campaign, Gilberto Hinojosa, Texas Democratic chairman, also of Hispanic origin like Flores, rebuked the blog’s tactics in a comment to NBC.
“You’re kidding,” he told the network when the posts against Flores were mentioned. “If it’s true, it’s improper. I don’t know who it is. I don’t know anything about it. I would be surprised if Congressman Gonzalez hid behind bloggers. That’s not his style.”
Blogger McHale defended himself against the accusations against him, arguing that he did not see “racism” in his attacks, and explaining that Gonzalez’s advertising payoff is unrelated to the attacks against Mayra Flores.
Nonetheless, McHale remarked that he will continue to attack Flores because he is “liberal Democrat. And it’s war against the Republican … I’m going to be merciless with her.”
Mayra Flores reacts against Gonzalez campaign
Prior to the NBC News report, it was Mayra Flores herself who denounced McHale’s attacks against her on Twitter. Flores accused the Gonzalez campaign of orchestrating them.
Following the NBC report, several members of the Republican Party came out in support of Mayra Flores.
Michael McAdams, communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said on Twitter that since Mayra Flores’ historic victory in District 34, Rep. Gonzalez has systematically attacked her.
“Democrat Congressman Vicente Gonzalez is paying a liberal blogger thousands of dollars to attack his opponent Mayra Flores’ Hispanic heritage and write about her genitals,” said Republican media strategist Giancarlo Sopo. “Absolutely sick.”
Likewise, Cuban-American Danielle Alvarez, comm director for the Republican Party, commented that the attacks against Mayra Flores are “racist.”
Emmanuel Alejandro Rondón is a journalist at El American specializing in the areas of American politics and media analysis // Emmanuel Alejandro Rondón es periodista de El American especializado en las áreas de política americana y análisis de medios de comunicación.
Contacto: [email protected]