When Cesar Chavez’s son-in-law, David Villarino, introduced Bernie Sanders in Bakersfield, California this weekend, he said something that just didn’t sit right with the labor leader’s son, Paul Chavez. Villarino claimed that for Chavez, Sanders would be the obvious choice in the 2016 elections. However, Paul has struck back and said that Villarino is mistaken. “The fact of the matter is most of us in the family that continue to work closely in the movement that my father began strongly support the candidacy of Hillary,” Paul told BuzzFeed News.
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He added that his mother, 88-year-old Helen Chavez, has thrown her support behind Hillary, and said that if she weren’t fighting an infection, she’d be stumping for Clinton. Helen has even asked her daughter to run PSAs encouraging people to vote for Hillary. In the meantime, she does what she can. “She’s always talking to people, ‘Are you registered to vote? You gotta vote for Hillary, we gotta stop Trump,’” he said.
Dolores Huerta, who worked closely with Chavez, has been very vocal about her support for Clinton – even if at times it has gotten her in trouble. For example, in February, Dolores accused Bernie’s supporters of yelling “English only” at her at a Las Vegas caucus. However, Susan Sarandon and video footage weakened Huerta’s story. The Washington Post later reported that neither side quite got the facts right. Since then, she’s criticized Bernie through a personal essay and continued to stand by Hillary.
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Others have, meanwhile, accused Huerta of falling behind the times. In a forceful letter to Huerta, Rosario Dawson said, “Dolores, I am surprised, dismayed, and concerned that you would do your legacy such a disservice by becoming an instrument of the establishment, rather than joining this movement to create a better America like you once inspired us to do.”
As for Paul, he strongly believes that his father’s beliefs align with Hillary’s, citing her work with farmworkers in California and with young Latinos as proof. “He believed this country was big enough and great enough to offer its share of bounty to all of us, but he also knew you had to go to work everyday and provide results on a daily basis,” Paul said. “When I think about that and the work and track record of Hillary there is no question in my mind who my father would support.”