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Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) was heavily criticized after her comments during a speech outside the Housing and Urban Development Department on Monday, indicating Elon Musk should "go back to South Africa." The remarks were ill-advised on two fronts: 1) She was trying to counter a debunked claim that Musk himself had said Italians should stay in Italy and Japanese people should stay in Japan, and 2) Telling successful immigrants to go back home sure seems xenophobic. "It was interesting yesterday I was watching a video of an interview of Elon Musk with someone where he said that the Italians should stay in Italy and the Chinese should stay in China, my question to Elon Musk is, 'What the hell are you doing here in America?'" Velázquez said. "Go back to South Africa," she concluded. Now, an intrepid reporter, one who might actually want to make a name for themselves in an industry that desperately needs to recalibrate toward the truth, might have a couple of questions come to mind. First and foremost would be, "How is it possible to have watched a video of Musk saying something he never said?" The second would be, "Why do we feel it's okay to demonize a successful African-American?" (The wealthy entrepreneur grew up in South Africa). I mean, that kind of comment would almost assuredly result in 24/7 news coverage if it came from a Republican lawmaker, no? Since we know there aren't many journalists out there interested in holding Democrats accountable, we'll have to look to social media for a valid response to the New York congresswoman's remarks. "These people are stupid," one X user correctly replied, insulting the stupid. Jeremy Carl, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior during the Trump Administration, suggested there was a racial tone to her rhetoric. "Nydia Velázquez has finally found an immigrant she doesn't like," he wrote. "Not the tens of thousands of illegals in her district who live off of our tax dollars-- but America's greatest entrepreneur, a White immigrant." "When the left tells you who they are believe them." Political commentator Dave Rubin quipped that Velázquez had delivered some "old-fashioned anti-African-American racism." Of course, President Donald Trump was pilloried for making vaguely similar comments about the Squad back in 2019. You'll all recall them because the media wouldn't let you forget for a second that he made the remarks. "Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came?" Trump asked at the time. "Then come back and show us how it is done. These places need your help badly, you can’t leave fast enough." "I’m sure that Nancy Pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements!” Will Velázquez be the subject of intense scrutiny for her racist, xenophobic, and nativist rhetoric? The way Trump was? Congresswoman Velázquez previously saw her fair share of embarrassment when she took part in a press conference for an Iraqi immigrant who had been detained in 2017. The media, who had been lying about the president’s ban on immigration from countries harboring terrorists at the time, tried to bait the man into badmouthing Trump. Instead, he told a reporter he "likes" him, to which Velázquez's face became an instant case of the sads. She also threatened conservative activist CJ Pearson when he was a teenager, saying he should be "afraid" of her and "should learn my name." |
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