Ohio Gov. John Kasich said Sunday that Latinos play a “critical role in America,” after he appeared last week to indirectly conflate the ethnic group with service-industry workers.
“They occupy jobs from top to bottom, they are so critical to our country, they are God-fearing and they’re hard-working,” said Kasich while speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press” about remarks he made last week.
His made his comments Thursday when he spoke at a luncheon in Irvine, Calif. Kasich said tipping at hotels is a sort of appreciation of Latinos.
“A lot of them do jobs that they’re willing to do and that’s why in the hotel you leave a little tip,” Kasich said when speaking about how to court more Latino voters.
Kasich went on to tell a story about his stay at a hotel in Los Angeles in recent days.
“This lady wrote me in my hotel there in L.A. She wrote this note. It said, ‘I really want you to know that I care about your stay.’ Is that just the greatest thing?” he said. “So, you know, we can learn a lot and she’s Hispanic, ‘cause I didn’t know it at the time, but I met her in the hallway-asked her if I could get a little more soap.
Some Latino activists called the remark stereotypical.
“The comment lacks history, sense of how important immigrants are to our economy, and vision where immigrants are more than just ‘the help,’” said Jorge-Mario Cabrera, communications director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles.
On Sunday, as Kasich sought to clarify the remark, he said that Latinos “hold very important positions.”
“I’ve got a friend right now, he’s a doctor in oncology,” he said.
“To be clear, I believe that from top-to-bottom, Hispanics play a critical role in America, not only today, but going forward.”
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