Actor John Leguizamo has likened Republican Latinos to roaches in favor of extermination.
Speaking with Bill Maher on his HBO show last Friday, the “Moulin Rouge” actor said that Latinos engage in “self-hate” when they vote Republican.
“There was an article I saw on the paper this week and I thought this was trading on stereotypes that said Trump is doing rather well with young Latino men because of the machismo factor. I see you shaking your head, is it bad to say?” Maher asked Leguizamo.
“Latin people for Republicans are like roaches for Raid,” responded the actor, as reported by Newsbusters. “I just feel like there’s a level of self-hate or just a lack of care of the rest of your Latin brothers and sisters who are in cages, who are being demonized by this President. I mean, hate crimes against Latin people are way up and how can you not — 23 people were shot in El Paso just for being Latin and you don’t care? So you are going to vote for this braggadocio president? I feel like it’s self-hating and selfish.”
Leguizamo went on to credit Republicans for being “clever” with their attacks on Biden by characterizing him as a socialist who will turn the United States into Venezuela.
“They are spreading this stuff that Biden is about to steal the Virgin Mary. First off, he’s a Super Catholic,” said Leguizamo. “And in Florida, they are going after Colombians telling them that if you vote for Biden he’s a socialist and he’s going to turn Columbia into Venezuela because they know we have 400,000 registered Colombians in Florida that could help flip it to Biden. They’re really clever, insidious but we are working, we’re going to figure them out.”
John Leguizamo has been outspoken about Latin American identity in recent days. Last month, he boycotted the Emmy Awards due to a lack of “Latinx” representation.
“I’m boycotting,” he told Yahoo Entertainment. “If you don’t have Latin people, there’s no reason for me to see it. What’s the point?” He later added: “It’s unbelievable that our stories aren’t being told, and there’s only one reason for that, and that’s executives don’t see us, don’t get us, don’t care about us.”
Leguizamo likened this to “cultural apartheid.”
“I’m just dying to see positive Latin stories out there,” he emphasized.
“It’s just not okay to ignore us, exclude us,” he added. “We’re the largest minority in the country. We’re the biggest voting block. We’re going to decide who the president is this year.”
After that, Leguizamo signed a letter with more than 270 writers, showrunners, and producers demanding more “Latinx” representation in Hollywood.
“We are tired of hearing ‘we couldn’t find any Latinx writers to hire.’ We are tired of Latinx writers being asked to repeat staff writer and lower staffing levels, which not only ensures that we stay at those levels but also helps perpetuate the narrative that Latinx writers don’t exist at the showrunner and other upper levels,” the letter said.