The left-leaning CNBC economics reporter who asked for “Mexican music” to be played on Tuesday when an image of Sen. Tex Cruz (R-TX), who is partly of Cuban descent, came on the screen apologized “if” his “remarks were insensitive.”
On Wednesday, Steve Liesman also claimed that he only meant to choose music that represented the state of Texas when calling for “Mexican music” to be played on Tuesday’s Squawk Box.
“Regarding my recent remark on Squawk Box regarding Senator Ted Cruz, I first want to deeply and sincerely apologize if my remarks were insensitive,” he wrote on a blog post. “Second, I want to explain that it was not intended to be offensive in any way.”
On the show on Tuesday, Liesman said, “We’re going to call this the Senator Ted Cruz jobs report. These are the jobless claims of Senator Ted Cruz.” After Cruz’s picture came on the screen, he then said: “Can we get some music to go along with that? Some Mexican music, maybe?”
Liesman alleged that when he thought of Texas the first type of music that came to his mind was “Mexican music.”
“I thought of him only as an American senator from Texas, and in an attempt, on the fly, to choose music representing that state, I chose Mexican music,” he claimed. “As a musician for many decades, I’ve played and listened to tons of Texas songs infused with Mexican themes. A better choice would have been Country/Western or Texas Roadhouse Blues – it was a bad reach all the way around.”