MSNBC, NYT, Other MSM Ignore Jill Biden Tacos Comment Even After Hispanic Journalists Hit Back

In an address on Monday to a Latino conference, First Lady Jill Biden compared the diversity of the Hispanic community to… tacos.

She also botched the pronunciation of “bodegas” in her speech to the UnidosUS Annual Conference, calling them “bogedas.”

“[Raul Yzaguirre] helped build this organization with the understanding that the diversity of this community, as distinct as the bogedas of The Bronx, as beautiful as the blossoms of Miami, and as unique as the breakfast tacos here in San Antonio, is your strength,” said Biden.

Despite the newsworthy nature of her ham-fisted comments — and the fact that Hispanic journalists slammed her for them — neither MSNBC’s Morning Joe nor CNN’s New Day saw fit to cover it on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Had this gaffe — made in an attempt to pander to the Latino community — been made by a Republican, it would have received blanket coverage from the mainstream media.

Instead, MSNBC, The New York Times, Axios, Vox and a slew of other mainstream media outlets completely ignored the comments and subsequent backlash.

The last time a Republican waded into gaffes of the taco variety, all of those outlets pounced.

Remember when Donald Trump tweeted “I love Hispanics” along with a picture of himself with a taco bowl during the 2016 presidential campaign? MSNBC, The New York Times, Vox and other mainstream outlets covered the tweet exhaustively. (Axios, which launched in 2017, mentioned it in a list of Trump’s past racial controversies.)

Former First Lady Melania Trump was covered excessively during her tenure. Her biggest gaffe came when she wore a jacket that read “I Don’t Care” while visiting migrant children near the U.S.-Mexico border. That controversy — while certainly worse than Jill Biden’s flub — drew obsessive coverage from the media that lasted weeks. One can only imagine the scrutiny Melania Trump would draw if she were the subject of breakfast taco-gate.

Other outlets did cover the Jill Biden comment, albeit quietly. NBC’s Today, ABC’s America This Morning and CBS Mornings covered the gaffe for mere seconds. CNN, the Associated Press and Politico only covered the Tuesday apology from Jill Biden. The Washington Post reprinted the AP’s piece and later printed an article by White House bureau chief Ashley Parker with the headline calling the remark a “minor flap.”

This double standard in media coverage of a Democrat versus a Republican saying or doing something offensive – whether through omission, scant or selective coverage – is yet another in a series of examples demonstrating their inability to cover both sides equally and fairly.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.