Salazar Mocks Walz's 'Socialism' Comment, Says Latinos 'Cringe' at the Word

Vice President Kamala Harris's running mate, Governor Tim Walz (D-MN), recently came under fire for saying, "One person's socialism is another person's neighborliness," drawing ire and mockery from Republicans. Representative Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL) discussed the comment in a recent appearance on Fox Business's Mornings with Maria, saying it would cost the Harris-Walz ticket the Latino vote as "when we hear those words, we cringe."

Additionally, Rep. Salazar said this was why Florida, "specifically South Florida, is full of people who have fled socialism. The problem with socialism is that now it is in fashion among our youth because socialists claim the moral ground. You know, they are the moral [ones], they are the fair ones, they are the ones that bring justice, and we, the conservatives or the Republicans, we are the people that do not. We are not the moral ones."

The Florida Congresswoman further chastised American socialists as naive, as "they are blessed that they can be romantic about socialism living in the United States."

Similarly, a recent Axios article suggested that support for the Harris-Walz ticket among Latinos sits at 50%. Still, Democrats, on average, lose when they do not capture 64% of the Latino vote.

"Good," said Rep. Salazar, "because we are not socialists. Most Latinos come from the Western Hemisphere [and] most of the Latinos who are in this country have come from those failed socialist policies, either in Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua or in Central America. Those people know what it looks like. They want to live in the United States under the American agenda."

Moreover, Salazar suggested Latinos "are tired of hearing promises that are never fulfilled, and now they are hearing socialism, and that is nefarious for them."

As a result, she suggested the Republican Party should expand its outreach among these dissatisfied voters because "the more we speak to the Hispanics, the better we are conveying that we are God-fearing, law-abiding taxpayers, small government, let you decide for yourself what you want to do with your life or your money, not a bureaucrat."