The classic definition of the term "gaffe" as established by liberal pundit Michael Kinsley is "when a politician accidentally tells the truth". On top U.S. Spanish-language network Telemundo, we just witnessed a staggering variant of such an accidental truth, which may even warrant its own separate name and definition.
The latest edition of Enfoque, Telemundo's weekly public affairs program, led with a presidential horse-race segment featuring opposing campaign surrogates going head-to-head. The segment itself was unremarkable, in that it seemed mostly like the usual exchanges in which surrogates get to argue why their candidate is great, the opposing candidate is awful, and then strategically rebut each other - sort of like a game of talking-point chess.
In this instance, Texas Republican Adryana Boyne parried the first question on whether the Lone Star State would turn blue. Democrat Fabián Nuñez, former Speaker of the California Assembly, rebutted with his own set of points. And then this happened after Boyne was asked about immigration:
JOSÉ DÍAZ-BALART, ANCHOR, TELEMUNDO: Fabián, but Donald Trump's position - is it changing?
FABIAN NUÑEZ (D), FORMER SPEAKER, CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY: We've already seen a very large number of important Republicans that have held high posts in this country, that have rejected Donald Trump's candidacy, because they know that he is not a person who has what it takes - temperament, uh, the mentality in order to...
ADRYANA BOYNE, REPUBLICAN ANALYST: Look, Fabián...
FABIAN NUÑEZ (D), FORMER SPEAKER, CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY: ...in order to be the President of this country. And if we can't win this election with racism - with the racism angle - then we will definitely do so with the fact that this is a man who cannot control himself, he's a very emotional person...
It is one thing to arrive at the conclusion that the American Left depends very heavily on class warfare and racial grievance in order to pursue and further its agenda, and there is plenty of factual bases with which to arrive at that conclusion. It is entirely another to witness racial grievance, the "racial angle", if you will, so openly and brazenly touted as a winning campaign strategy.
Nuñez' breezy utterance is the sort of thing that one imagines hearing at a closed-press Democratic fundraiser at the home of some liberal billionaire, amongst the privileged left, hardened liberal operatives, and the donor class that enables them - as opposed to out in the great wide open on a Sunday public-affairs talk show.
To his credit, anchor José Díaz-Balart let the panelists duke it out rather than stepping in and bailing Nuñez out before he could do durther damage to Clinton. This is a rarity amongst our modern media, and should be noted.
The segment was recorded just prior to Hillary Clinton's "basket of deplorables" comment. If Clinton's remarks are to be taken at face value, then Nuñez' brazenly offensive remarks make clear that the basket is populated by race-merchants from both sides of the aisle.
