Liberals aren’t the only ones livid over Mitt Romney’s comment that President Obama won last week’s election because of “gifts” to Latinos and other minority voters.
GOP strategist Ana Navarro, an advisor on Latino issues for the John McCain and Jon Huntsman presidential campaigns, blasted Romney in a series of tweets for portraying Hispanics as looking for a government handout.
(Check out Ana Navarro’s Twitter rant in the slideshow above)
Romney said in a Wednesday conference call to campaign donors that he lost because Obama offered Latinos policy “gifts,” like access to healthcare and the promise of immigration reform. “[W]ith Hispanic voters, free health care was a big plus. But in addition with regards to Hispanic voters, the amnesty for children of illegals, the so-called Dream Act kids, was a huge plus for that voting group,” Romney said, according to the New York Times.
It wasn’t the first time Navarro had lashed out at Romney for his clumsiness dealing with the Hispanic community and his tone-deafness on the immigration issue. Back in June, Navarro wrote on Twitter “I confess, as a Republican Hispanic, trying to put positive spin on Romney immigration (non)statements, well, let’s just say it ain’t easy.”
Other conservatives, like Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, , an Indian-American, bashed Romney’s comments, calling them divisive:
If we’re going to continue to be a competitive party and win elections on the national stage and continue to fight for our conservative principles, we need two messages to get out loudly and clearly: One, we are fighting for 100 percent of the votes, and secondly, our policies benefit every American who wants to pursue the American dream, period.
Politico’s Mike Allen, who spoke with several prominent Republicans about the Romney comments, writes: “Republicans tell us these comments convinced them that Romney just doesn’t get it, and that “47 percent” was no slip of the tongue.”