Republican group falsely calls Latino congressman 'illegal immigrant'
The National Republican Congressional Committee is facing backlash after falsely referring to Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., as an "illegal immigrant."
WASHINGTON — The National Republican Congressional Committee is facing backlash after falsely referring to Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., as an "illegal immigrant."
Espaillat, a Dominican American, has been open about his family having overstayed their visas in the U.S. when he was a child, before they obtained green cards and he later became a citizen.
The New York lawmaker delivered Democrats' Spanish-language response to President Donald Trump's joint address on Tuesday night.
"Democrats literally chose an illegal immigrant to give their response to President Trump’s address," the NRCC wrote in a post to X on Wednesday with a clip of Espaillat's remarks. "Predictably, this radical called Trump’s presidency a 'reign of terror.' Democrats couldn’t be more disconnected from the American people."
Espaillat responded to the NRCC's post, telling reporters on Thursday that the Republican Party was “invaded by xenophobes that think that anybody that doesn’t look like them is an illegal.”
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