Eva Longoria apologizes for comments on black female voters

Actress Eva Longoria apologized and clarified controversial remarks she made during an interview with MSNBC after many accused her of downplaying the central role of black women in President-elect Joe’s election victory Biden.

American Latinas are the ‘real heroines’ of Biden and Senator Kamala Harris’ 2020 election victory, Democratic activist Longoria said on cable TV on Sunday, in a one-sentence fragment that seemed to play into the notion burning that black women were erased for their contributions to Biden’s victory.

“Looking back at this I can see it looks like a comparison between Latinas and black women, which I would never do,” Longoria wrote on Instagram on Sunday. “I compared Latinas to their male counterparts, but my wording was not clear and I deeply regret it.

“Black women have long been the backbone of the Democratic Party, which we have seen happen in this election as well as in previous ones. Black women deserve a standing ovation for the work they have done year after year !! … Again, sorry for the confusion and the lack of context on my part.

The “Dora and the Lost City of Gold” star made the statements on Sunday when speaking to MSNBC host Ari Melber. Longoria has spoken widely of the importance of Latino voters in Biden-Harris’ victory.

“Women of color have come forward in remarkable ways,” Longoria said. “Of course you saw in Georgia what black women did, but Latin women were the real heroines here, beating men in every state and voting for Biden-Harris at an average rate of almost 3 to 1. . “

Preliminary exit poll data shows more than 90% of black women voters voted for Biden, while around 70% of Latin voters backed the former vice president. The results highlighted Democrats’ concern over support for Trump among Latinos.

Longoria’s statement seemed to some as if it sidelined the enormous organizational push by figures like Stacey Abrams in the state of Georgia to attract more black voters to the polls. Georgia broke late for Biden in the yet-to-certify vote count, toppling a state Trump won in 2016.

The backlash spread harshly online berating Longoria’s choice of words. Its representatives did not respond to a request for comment.

Longoria had been on media tours to correct the narrative that Latinos were supporting Donald Trump in the election in greater numbers. She drew attention to the Arizona bluing as well as the Latino turnout in Nevada and the major Midwestern states that turned for the Democratic ticket this year, including Michigan and Wisconsin, with help from Latino voters.

“Black and brown communities delivered for Biden. Latinos came out in record numbers in states where it really mattered, ”Longoria said earlier in the MSNBC interview.

The response seemed to metastasize to politics when newly re-elected U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota cryptically tweeted: “Stop erasing the work of black women.” She received more than 8,000 retweets on Monday afternoon, as well as comments criticizing Longoria.

Many on Twitter have made comparisons to similar episodes involving Salma Hayek, Camila Cabello, Dascha Polanco and Gina Rodriguez; the latter has been accused on several occasions of anti-Blackness since he pointed out the lack of Latin representation in Hollywood during the release of “Black Panther”. Several also noted that Longoria’s interview did not recognize black Latinas.

In a statement, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists publicly berated the star on Twitter: “Eva Longoria should apologize for her controversial comment on ‘real heroines’. We must stand up for black women, including black Latinas, who are fighting injustice for all of us. White and dark Latinos need to do more to tackle racism in our newsrooms and beyond. “

See more reactions to the controversy below.

Times editor Christi Carras contributed to this report.