Congresswoman Mayra Flores revealed on Monday Congressman Vicente González paid a local blogger who writes posts degrading the freshman representative as "Miss Frijoles 2022" or beans.
Flores will be facing González in November in a district with redrawn district lines. The outcome of the race will showcase how far Latinos are willing to buck the Democratic party, who had a stronghold in the Rio Grande Valley for decades. González is running in the 34th District after his current district, the 15th, was drawn up to be more favorable for Republicans.
My far left opponent, Vincent Gonzalez, hired a local blogger to run hateful & racist ads against me!
— Mayra Flores (@MayraFlores2022) July 18, 2022
But, I love frijoles & I grew up eating frijoles. I am not embarrassed of my upbringings & frijoles w/tortillas de harina is simply the best. Here's to Miss Frijoles 2022 #TX34 pic.twitter.com/7z5SRGCfUv
NBC News reported González’s campaign wrote a $1,200 check to The McHale Report blog June 24 for "advertising services." The post comparing Flores to beans appeared on July 4. In total, the blog made the comparison over 20 times. González and the blog owner say the timing of the payment and the posts are coincidental. The blog also contains posts that have the N-word and derogatory references to women's private parts, including Flores’ body.
"Of course, the congressman is against referring to Rep. Flores as ‘Miss Frijoles’ or a ‘cotton-picking liar’," Collin Steele, González’s campaign manager told NBC News.
It's not looking good for Democrat Rep Vincent Gonzalez when NBC News is running articles about his hateful and racist comments towards us!!
— Mayra Flores (@MayraFlores2022) July 19, 2022
We will remind you come election time!!
https://t.co/bH0gLrKwdk
McHale defended the comparison because Flores is a Republican.
"I don’t see it as a racist remark," he said. "It’s just about food. It’s just satire. It’s just me making fun of her. When does political correctness go overboard?"