This is truly remarkable and baffling, even coming from Representative Louie Gohmert who has a history of saying remarkable and baffling things.
According to The Gohmert, the true path to winning the hearts and minds of Hispanic voters is to scuttle immigration reform and give them time to realize that they were wrong all along.
Video via RightWingWatch
Gohmert: We could possibly pay in the polls in the short term, but just as you’ve had more and more African Americans realizing ‘Wow, we have one party that’s pandered to us, doled out government benefits, kept us from reaching our god-given potential.’ And you have another, this Republican party, like for example with Hispanics, a Republican party that basically says we want you to learn English. Because we want you not to be a ditch digger because you can’t communicate, we know you are smart enough to be president of this company and to be president of this country if you’re born here.
So we want you to reach your god-given potential. And that’s why we want to educate you and bring out the best. We don’t want to keep you in schools that are failing you and failing America. We want the schools to be better and we want you to reach your potential. And if we don’t communicate that message we could pay for it. And I think we could in the short term, but in the long term I think you will see people start waking up and go ‘Wow. I’m Hispanic. These Republicans really like me.’ We share — this is general speaking — so many general speaking have a faith in god, a devotion to family much more than you find in America now. And also a hard work ethic. Things that made America great. And you find that general speaking in Hispanic culture.
I want more of that coming back in. I think it can help America. But we need to assimilate. We need to speak English. And I think when people start to see that ‘Wow, this Republican really wants me, really does want me to do well. That’s the party I ought to be in.’ And we have more and more Hispanics starting to realize that.
I don’t expect Louie Gohmert to know this, but immigrants are not ditch diggers because they can’t communicate. They’re ditch diggers, fruit pickers, and line cooks because they can be hired for less money than people who you deem to be acceptably fluent in English. And in many cases, they may be far more capable of communicating than Louie Gohmert is. I regularly have a hard time transcribing his folksy, broken thoughts.
I also don’t expect Gohmert to realize how offensive it is to claim that African Americans have been voting for Democrats because they’ve been pandered to and given government benefits. It’s possible that some do, but it’s also possible that white seniors have traditionally voted for Republicans for pandering to them and doling out government benefits such as unpaid drug programs.
As for the idea that Hispanic voters may one day wake up and realize that Republicans really do love them after immigration reform has been effectively killed — what can I say other than keep going? You’re doing great! Because I have no doubt that even if reform does not pass under this session of Congress, it will under a proceeding Congress. If immigration reform is not passed now, it will be the campaign issue of 2016. That should scare the shit out of Republican campaign operatives who will be unable to mask the raging xenophobia of the Lunatic Base in an election year or the inevitable gaffes of down-ticket Republicans who are primed for their own “legitimate rape” moment.
As always, this is a fairly accurate depiction of my reaction to Louie Gohmert: