October 18, 2010 3:29 PM

Sharron Angle Tells Hispanic Students they Look Asian; Argues Immigration Ad Not About Southern Border

By
Stephanie Condon
Topics
Republicans ,
Campaign 2010 ,
Domestic Issues
Sharron Angle (Credit: Getty Images)

In a meeting with Hispanic high school students on Friday, Nevada Republican Senate candidate Sharron Angle downplayed her campaign's use of generic pictures of Latinos to present a negative image of illegal immigrants.

Angle has run a series of ads slamming her opponent, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, for being soft on illegal immigration. Questioned about the ads, which feature somber-looking, dark-skinned men and phrases like "illegal aliens," Angle told a Hispanic group from Rancho High School that the ads do not necessarily portray Latinos. Furthermore, she told the students confronting her that they themselves do not necessarily look Latino.

In the meeting, first reported on by the Associated Press, a student asked Angle, "Why is it that in all of your commercials you have the image of Latinos? What do you see when you hear, and I quote, 'illegal aliens?'"

Angle responds: "I think that you're misinterpreting those commercials. I'm not sure that those are Latinos in that commercial. What it is, is a fence and there are people coming across that fence. What we know is that our northern border is where the terrorists came through. That's the most porous border that we have. We cannot allow terrorists; we cannot allow anyone to come across our border if we don't know why they're coming. So we have to secure all of our borders and that's what that was about, is border security. Not just our southern border, but our coastal border and our northern border."

A video of the exchange is available from the Las Vegas Sun. In the video, students can be heard snickering at Angle's response.

The Sun released additional video footage today, which shows Angle further addressing the issue of ethnicity.

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"So that's what we want is a secure and sovereign nation and, you know, I don't know that all of you are Latino," Angle told the Hispanic group. "Some of you look a little more Asian to me. I don't know that. What we know, what we know about ourselves is that we are a melting pot in this country. My grandchildren are evidence of that. I'm evidence of that. I've been called the first Asian legislator in our Nevada State Assembly."

Rancho High School teacher Isaac Barron told the AP his students organized the meeting with Angle because they felt her ads stereotype young Hispanics. He said her response was met with incredulity.

In the heated Nevada Senate race, illegal immigration has become a hot topic, and Angle's ads have suggested Reid has helped illegal immigrants at the expense of Nevada residents. One such ad used a picture copyrighted by Getty Images, with three men described by Getty as Mexicans posing in Mexico, the Washington Post reported. In Angle's ad, the words "illegal aliens" appeared over the image.

Hispanics account for roughly 25 percent of Nevada's population, and as Angle has taken a hard line on immigration issues, Reid has sought to strengthen his support within the community. He recently put the Dream Act, an immigration reform measure aimed at helping young students and military enrollees, up for a vote in the Senate as part of another bill, but the measure failed. The Senator created some controversy over the summer when he said, "I don't know how anyone of Hispanic heritage could be a Republican."

Nevada Senate Election: Harry Reid (D) Vs. Sharron Angle (R)
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Stephanie Condon is a political reporter for CBSNews.com. You can read more of her posts here. Follow Hotsheet on Facebook and Twitter.

Add a Comment See all 58 Comments
by tigereon69 October 30, 2010 11:30 PM EDT
I actually HAVE inside information on some of the major contributors to Karl Rove's American Crossroads. I have information as to how much they donated, and more importantly WHY they donated and how at least one candidate, SHARRON ANGLE, was willing to sell her vote on a major issue to secure funding from American Crossroads....view for yourself and you tell me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgyzalpAk7I
Reply to this comment
by tigereon69 October 27, 2010 3:53 AM EDT
BREAKING NEWS! MSNBC finally snagged an interview with Sharron Angle and she absolutely creamed them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0HE1HUnWcY
Reply to this comment
by marysteeleyorktownva October 25, 2010 12:28 PM EDT
Every politician has said something stupid. This is not news! What is, is the fact that Obama and this Democratic controlled Congress "still allows" 7+ million illegals to work much-needed jobs while spending billions on job creation, and allows the overall 12-20 million illegals to run our streets with little to no fear of deportation and flock to our ER's where we are forced to pay for it as Obama admitted!

On top of that, they are allowing a de facto amnesty while legal immigrants and citizens struggle to survive! Democrats know that amnesty is not acceptable by the majority of "we the people" so during the election season they have ran as far away from amnesty (immigration reform) as they can, yet most have pledged to support it by co-sponsoring it or other versions! If they can't see the harm already, massive unemployment, from allowing too many foreign workers (illegal and legal) to compete against us for already limited jobs, send the Democratic majority packing!
Reply to this comment
by bitterbloger October 27, 2010 2:52 PM EDT
Troll. Republicans had an opportunity to pass legislation during the Bush years, and failed miserably. And everyone remembers it was Reagan who granted amnesty. But of course to you it has to be the Democrats, not the Republican donor large employers who curry favor with legislators to keep wages low so you can buy cheap merchandise.
by Espana11 October 21, 2010 12:58 PM EDT
In a sense she is correct that there are several million asians in Latin America, but I doubt that she is even aware of that. The true melting pot of the world is Latin America. There are Whites, Blacks, Asians, people of mixed-race. America has much in common with the nations south of our border. For example, millions of European immigrants moved to nations such as Chile,Mexico,Brasil,and Argentina after their independence from Spain and Portugal. There are over a million Chinese Peruvians and a former President of Peru was of Japanese ancestary. Americans should learn more about our similar heritage with Latin America than our differences.
Reply to this comment
by CaptainHowdy1 October 26, 2010 3:50 PM EDT
That is not what she met. She has no clue about the different races and ethnic groups in Latin America. She is ignorant about that like many Americans.
by The_Pragmatist October 19, 2010 10:03 PM EDT
Nearl, the funny thing is that, based on your passion and persistence with this issue, if you agreed with this candidate, you would be right there with the rest of these people defending her comments. It just so happens you're left of center ideology doesn't agree with her right of center mindset, and that I understand. Her comments were obviously spur of the moment, having been caught off guard. Not hard to realize that. The article's title overstates her phrasing though, which is typical. Sensationalize the story a bit to make it more interesting.
Reply to this comment
by Amusedbyitall October 19, 2010 6:05 PM EDT
Of course Sharron, those were Asians trying to seek under the fence west of Hawaii.
Reply to this comment
by Lawyers-Guns-n-Money06 October 19, 2010 9:07 AM EDT
by facelessdrone2005 October 19, 2010 8:47 AM EDT
Oh for gosh sakes, stop defending the woman and just admit that she's wrong already! We all know that Asians don't look like Hispanics. I have been married to an Asian for 24 years and also spend a lot of time in Mexico. If you can't tell the difference between an Asian and a Mexican, it's time to stop hitting the tequila.
============================================================

Tequila, saki; what's the diff?
Reply to this comment
by Lawyers-Guns-n-Money06 October 19, 2010 6:00 AM EDT
by formrusmcsgt October 18, 2010 10:18 PM EDT
Sharron Angle Tells Hispanic Students they Look Asian*************They all look the same to Sharon..........

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What she means to say is Asian in a sense that Iranians, Iraqis, Pakistanis, Saudis, Afghanis, Turks, etc. are Asian. You know, the ones that have instilled sharia law in Frankford, TX. In other words, terrorists. If you're not Cauc-Asian... Hey wait a minute. I guess a lot of us have some Asian in us. Is that what she means about being the an "Asian" legislator?
Reply to this comment
by whjohnsonjr October 19, 2010 1:06 AM EDT
Angle claimed that she was targeting illegal immigration from the north in her ad. I wish politicians would just fess-up when caught doing or saying something stupid. Instead, they assume we're all idiots.
Reply to this comment
by rdepontb October 19, 2010 12:55 AM EDT
Angle only has to keep talking, she feels, to get out of having to answer even the simplest direct question, or even the simplest predicament. Her monied guardian angels intend to use her as their puppet if she gets into office, a fate to be shared by most Tea Partiers.
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