Do you guys remember the story we did on Miami politician Bettina Rodriguez Aguilera? She’s a Republican who ran unsuccessfully in the primary to replace Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen who retired this year. Her story was rather unique because the Miami Herald endorsed her over other Republicans even though she believes she was abducted by aliens as a child.
This quirk in her biography was not a problem for the Herald, and since we’re told over and over again how important local journalism is, it really shouldn’t matter, right? From the paper’s endorsement:
We realize that Rodriguez Aguilera is an unusual candidate. Last year, she told the Miami Herald — and several Spanish-language media outlets — that she believes in extra-terrestrials. She says when she was 7, she was taken aboard a spaceship and, throughout her life, she has communicated telepathically with the beings, which remind her of the concrete Christ in Brazil. There you have it.
“This is a non-issue,” she told the Board. We agree. Her bona fides as a former elected official, and now a businesswoman who spends time in other countries training women to run for office are solid.
But not for Chuck Todd. You see, the “Meet the Press” host decided he could have a little fun with this story and used Rodriquez Aguilera’s past statement on aliens as a way to mock her daughter, Bettina Inclán, who was just hired by NASA:
ICYMI: “BEAM ME UP!”
For NASA's newest hire, space runs in the family #MTPDaily pic.twitter.com/WLY4LVwLqI
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) December 19, 2018
What a total a**:
I’m filing this under why more conservative women don’t run for office.
They mock and shame us to silence us.
They attack our families to provoke us.
Then they ask why we are always so angry and can’t take a joke. https://t.co/9xwN0Usqqz
— Lyndsey Fifield (@lyndseyfifield) December 20, 2018
Welcome to the world of D.C. politics, Bettina
That was ridiculous. Here’s someone amazing, who got a great new job, now let’s make fun of her mother?
— Karol Markowicz (@karol) December 20, 2018
It’s “absolutely disgraceful” is what it is:
This is absolutely disgusting from @chucktodd. @BettinaInclan is a successful Hispanic American with a long track record in communications who is well qualified for this job, and you are dragging her for things her mother said?
Is she responsible for her mother’s statements? https://t.co/C8GILiC0Ia
— The Reagan Battalion (@ReaganBattalion) December 20, 2018
Notice how Todd didn’t really call out the Miami Herald for endorsing Rodriguez Aguilera in the first place, like we did back in August. No. Todd waited on it until the story popped up with this new angle that he could use just as Bettina starts her new job:
Also if you come for @BettinaInclan you’re going to be met with an army of very angry, very well-dressed women whose shoes and bags double as very effective weapons.
— Lyndsey Fifield (@lyndseyfifield) December 20, 2018
It’s a pattern with them, isn’t it?
Bettina is problematic for something her *mom* said, and DOJ spox @Kerri_Kupec is problematic because …wait for it… she graduated from LIBERTY law school. @ShannonBream covered it at 26:30 here-https://t.co/9WH6FwrjFk
— Kelsey Harkness (@kelseyjharkness) December 20, 2018
***
Related:
Local JOKE-alism at work: Miami Herald endorses Republican who *squints* believes she was abducted by extraterrestrials https://t.co/vw2XCgCiDN
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) August 19, 2018
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