Sen. Ted Cruz, the first Republican to announce a run for the presidency in 2016, was forced to endure a series of questions from a journalist who apparently wanted to find out from the candidate: Just how Hispanic are you, anyway?
Mark Halperin from Bloomberg said the questions were aimed at determining if Cruz possesses “an affinity for or a connection to [his] Cuban past,” the Daily Caller reported.
Among the questions: What’s your favorite Cuban meal? What’s your favorite Cuban singer? And finally, could you please welcome Sen. Bernie Sanders to the race in Spanish?
As one San Jose Mercury News writer opined on the interview: “As a journalist, I felt embarrassed for Halperin. As a Hispanic, I felt like I was watching a college fraternity have fun with racial stereotypes, like when staging a ‘border party’ where people show up in serapes and fake mustaches. … There was nothing respectful about the line of questioning.”
The opinion piece continues: “The host asked a series of questions intended to establish his guest’s Hispanic bona fides. … I kept waiting for Halperin to ask Cruz to play the conga drums like Desi Arnez while dancing salsa and sipping cafe con leche, all to prove the Republican is really Cuban.”
