In 2015, Jaime Rodríguez Calderón a.k.a “El Bronco” won the hearts of Nuevo Leon voters with his straight-shooting, populist ranchero persona. He ran for governor as an independent on an anti-narco campaign, vowing to take on Los Zetas and corrupt government elites in what were often unvarnished, expletive-laden tirades.
And while his sin pelos en la lengua approach won him the election in a historic landslide, his frank approach also has its downsides – for instance, accidentally ruining Christmas for children.
At a recent Christmas event for the families of police officers, El Bronco took it upon himself to inform all the kids in attendance that Santa doesn’t actually exist. Grabbing the mic, and urged them to “Hug your dad when you get a chance. Tell him you love him very much. Because your dad is Santa Claus. Did you know that?”
The general reaction went a little something like this:
After getting jeered by some parents, Rodríguez then tried to salvage the situation by pretending he meant something else entirely. “No, I mean, I say Santa Claus because your dads bring happiness to many people,” he fumbled.
But it was too late – the Grinching had been Grinched. Of course, it wasn’t long before Twitter chimed in with the jokes: