During a series of San Antonio stops on Sunday, Senate hopeful U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, sought to clarify a controversial remark about Latino voters who push for tough immigration policies — a group she described in a 2024 Vanity Fair article as having a “slave mentality.”
“In the last election, it was clear that we allowed certain forces to divide us,” Crockett said during a press conference at East Side restaurant Tony G’s. “I want to unite us, and we need to be united in our struggle. So, I think if we talk about the history of how Latinos have been treated in this country, and we look at the similarities between the African American community and the Latino community, then I think that people will see that we have more in common than what separates us.”
The Vanity Fair remark came up again during a separate event that afternoon at the New Creation Christian Fellowship in Windcrest. That time, Crockett emphasized that her statement was based on comments shared by other voters.
“There was never an intent to actually offend somebody, because the reality is that I’d had conversations with people that told me things like, ‘You know what, I came over here, and I don’t want certain other people coming over here,’” Crockett said.
During other remarks on her whirlwind San Antonio tour, the congresswoman — known for her sharp-tongued rebukes of the Trump White House — said the U.S. must keep in mind that it’s a “country of immigrants,” even as she said she backs tight border security.
Crockett’s Alamo City visit featured stops at several other churches and a rally hosted by State Rep. Liz Campos at Southtown’s Taco Haven.
The Dallas lawmaker’s ability to appeal to Texas’ Latino voters has become a hot topic early in the campaign, which pits her against another another rising Democrat, Texas Rep. James Talarico, in the primary.
Indeed, Hearst Newspapers political reporter Jeremy Wallace last month posed the question whether Crockett has a “Latino problem” as she vies to make it to the general, where she’d likely face U.S. Sen. John Cornyn or Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
At the same time, Talarico has been working to make inroads with Latino voters, recently gaining the endorsement of Tejano singer-turned-Democratic congressional candidate Bobby Pulido in the Rio Grande Valley.
Although Crockett’s appearances at Tony G’s and the church in Windcrest drew significant turnout from Black voters, Latinos showed up in force at her final event of the day at Taco Haven.
Voters and political analysts can expect to get a better picture of Crockett’s appeal to Latino voters during her highly anticipated debate against Talarico on Saturday, Jan. 24.
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