Actress Eva Longoria apologizes and clarifies the controversial comment she made during her interview with MSNBC. Longoria’s comment was about the 2020 presidential election and the role of Black women in helping Joe Biden win. Many have accused her of downplaying Black women voters.
Longoria has hosted the first Democratic National Convention before, where she was a national co-chair of Barack Obama’s 2012 presidential campaign. On Sunday, she spoke with MSNBC anchor Ari Melber about the women who helped Biden win the election. It led to talking about the role that Latina women played in the 2020 elections.
“The women of color showed up in big ways,” Longoria said. “Of course, you saw in Georgia what Black women have done, but Latina women were the real heroines here, beating men in turnout in every state and voting for Biden–Harris at an average rate close to three to one.”
Eva Longoria under fire after her interview with @MSNBC about Biden’s victory:
“The women of color showed up in big ways. Of course, you saw in Georgia what Black women have done but Latina women are the real heroines here,” pic.twitter.com/VBcgdTq3cr
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) November 9, 2020
She explains some concerns Latina women had. Such as, why they were never offered anything they wanted in President Trump’s campaign. Adding how Latina women felt when going out to vote. “Real heroines” is what Longoria called Latina women voters and got people stirred up. The comment went viral and immediately people accused her of not giving Black women enough credit. People are upset about Longoria’s response. There are many comments against Longoria’s interview saying she shouldn’t have involved Black women.
https://twitter.com/ErikaLSanchez/status/1325842599870156808?s=20
The math isn’t mathing pic.twitter.com/tTgWAkoa48
— ChefK. (@kaniamiaaa) November 9, 2020
ADVERTISEMENT
According to the exit polls, 70% of Latina women voted for Biden. Compared to Black women more than 90% voted for Biden.
Unstoppable!!! Black women turned out 90% for Biden. I as a Latina, aspire to be as engaged as effective as they are!
— Eva Longoria Baston (@EvaLongoria) November 9, 2020
Longoria apologizes after the comments went viral and explaining how she didn’t word clearly what she wanted to say. She meant to compare Latina women to Latino men but that didn’t turn out right. Longoria posted her apology both on Twitter and Instagram. “I’m so sorry and sad to hear that my comments on MSNBC could be perceived as taking credit from Black women,” Longoria said. “When I said that Latinas were heroines in this election, I simply meant that they turned out in greater numbers and voted more progressively than LATINO MEN.”
She goes on acknowledging the anti-Blackness history in the Latinx community.
“There is such a history in our community of anti-Blackness in our community and I would never want to contribute to that, so let me be very clear: Black women have long been the backbone of the Democratic Party, something we have seen played out in this election as well as previous ones.”
Please read ???????????????????????? pic.twitter.com/KO80U2yarD
— Eva Longoria Baston (@EvaLongoria) November 9, 2020
ADVERTISEMENT
Kerry Washington, who sees Longoria as her sister, commented on her apology and defended her.
???????????????????????? https://t.co/HXgdcyYEhE
— Eva Longoria Baston (@EvaLongoria) November 9, 2020
After defending Longoria, Washington made another tweet about sticking together no matter the race. “In 2016 many of our communities came together to fight evil. We knew that we would ALL be under attack & we started to work with & for each other. Let’s continue that work! Let’s not allow fear to pit us against each other. “Nobody’s free until everybody’s free” Fannie Lou Hamer”
In 2016 many of our communities came together to fight evil. We knew that we would ALL be under attack & we started to work with & for each other. Let’s continue that work! Let’s not allow fear to pit us against each other. “Nobody’s free until everybody’s free” Fannie Lou Hamer
— kerry washington (@kerrywashington) November 9, 2020
Even after Longoria’s apology people weren’t over it, but there were a few who accepted her apology.
???????? thanks for coming back out and elaborating on your words. We’ve just gone through 4 years of hell and I think some have forgotten what it means to just accept an apology.
— DaJuan Johnson (@dajuanjohnson) November 9, 2020
Some didn’t see the need for Longoria to apologize for Latinos and Blacks being silent for so long.
https://twitter.com/BeatWarren/status/1325851663308042240?s=20
Longoria realized after her interview how her comment could be misconstrued and seem as if she was comparing Black women to Latina women, when the reality was another.
