For a kid who grew up in New England country clubs, Rep. Joe P. Kennedy III speaks excellent Spanish. And during the Democrat rebuttal to the State of the Union, the bilingual Kennedy showed that off.
“To all the Dreamers out there watching tonight, let me be absolutely clear,” Kennedy said. “Ustedes son parte de nuestra historia. Vamos a luchar por ustedes y no nos vamos alejar.”
His accent was perfect. His delivery, effortless. And the comparison between the bilingual Democrat and the podium pounding Republican who spoke just minutes earlier, excellent.
It was also incredibly condescending. Most Dreamers speak English because the Dreamers grew up in the United States. Dreamers were brought here as children. At times their deportation is discussed as undesirable precisely because they don't even speak the language of the country they'd be deported to. They now fall between the ages of 16 and 35, and they could understand the ginger-haired, ivy-league educated, East Coast liberal quite well in English.
The gaffe didn’t go unnoticed, with many liberals dismissing it altogether as a gimmick.
The fact that Mr Kennedy chose to speak Spanish to dreamers comes across as condescending and ignorant. News alert: dreamers speak more English than Spanish. They came here as kids. https://t.co/8Z21WlzRRN— Fr. Jonathan Morris (@fatherjonathan) January 31, 2018
Kennedy should keep all of this in mind. If the rising star has any presidential aspirations like his great uncle, he will think twice before showing off next time.