When Rep. Tony Cárdenas – who is of Mexican descent – waited to speak on the House floor during a vote to reopen the government on Thursday, a fellow lawmaker shouted “Go back to Puerto Rico!” While it was initially unclear who had made the comment, Jason Smith – a Republican from Missouri – eventually fessed up to it, apologized, and said the comment wasn’t meant to be malicious.
“Was speaking to all the Democrats who were down vacationing in Puerto Rico last weekend during the shutdown, not any individual member,” Smith told The Hill.
But Cárdenas didn’t seem to buy the comment. “It just so happens I was in the well on the floor of the people’s House when he screamed that out very loud,” he said. “I responded by asking who said it and there was about 50 mostly male Republicans staring at me, and no one would admit that they said it. I asked several times but no one owned up to the fact that they said it.”
After the incident, Cárdenas revealed that the comment felt like it was someone telling him to go back where he came from. “Since I was a little boy, I’ve heard that blurted at me many times, but it’s sad that anything even remotely close to that would be said to me on the floor of the House,” he said.
Eventually, Smith did call Cárdenas to apologize. Tony accepted the apology.