CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King on Tuesday defended first lady Jill Biden as she faces backlash for comparing Hispanics to “breakfast tacos.”
Biden made the remark during her speech before the UnidosUS Annual Conference in San Antonio, Texas, on Monday.
“[UnidosUS President Raul Yzaguirre] helped build this organization with the understanding that the diversity of this community — 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 — is your strength,” she told the audience.
King said that while Biden’s comments “didn’t come out correctly,” they were not an accurate picture of the first lady’s character.
“When you know Jill Biden, that’s not who she is,” the CBS co-host claimed.
The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) issued harsh criticism of Biden’s comments, saying that the first lady and her speech writing team should spend time in the future to “better understand the complexities of our people and communities.”
“We are not tacos,” NAHJ added. “Our heritage as Latinos is shaped by a variety of diasporas, cultures, and food traditions and should not be reduced to a stereotype.”
Additionally, Biden received mockery for her mangled pronunciation of “bodega” — sounding like “BOW-guh-duhs” instead of “bow-DAY-guhs.”
“Once again, Dr. Jill Biden butchers the Spanish language in furtherance of pandering to a client constituency (the org FKA National Council of La Raza),” Media Research Center director Jorge Bonilla wrote on social media. “I hereby bless your timelines with Dr. Jill’s rendering of ‘bodega.’”
Earlier Tuesday, Biden staffer Michael LaRosa said in a brief tweet that the first lady was sorry for her comment.
“The First Lady apologizes that her words conveyed anything but pure admiration and love for the Latino community,” Jill LaRosa wrote.