Brownsville City Commissioner Cesar De Leon is in hot water after a recording of him calling two African-American prosecutors “f***ing n***ers” surfaced on social media on Tuesday.
De Leon, a Democrat, apologized for the racist remarks on Wednesday but defended what he said was a “private conversation.”
“I want to begin by apologizing,” De Leon told The Brownsville Herald. “I want to apologize to the citizens of Brownsville or whoever had to listen to those tapes because there is a lot of profane language and that was a private conversation. It was never meant to be public, but it’s very important that people understand that I’m very apologetic.”
Transcript of the recording provided via The Brownsville Herald:
There are a couple of [F-word and N-word] that Luis Saenz is getting, and I don’t know where he is getting them from. They are coming down to my [F-word] city and now they are trying to [F-word] put everybody in jail because they think we are a bunch of Mexicans that hit our wives, which couldn’t be further from the [F-word] truth, but that is how they see us.
They are [F-word] … and I would say this, that I would never dare use that word, but you know what, yes, there are a couple of [N-word] in there that think that all of us are [F-word] taco eaters.
District Attorney Luis Saenz apologized to citizens of Cameron County for the offensive remarks that De Leon made, and he even appeared to apologize for hiring him.
“The people of Cameron County expect me to hire the most competent prosecutors that I can find, without regard to their race, and that is what I strive to do. Mr. De Leon’s remarks are very shameful and hurtful,” Saenz said. “It is extremely disappointing that they are made by a lawyer and a representative of the City of Brownsville.”
Listen (warning: language):
De Leon’s remarks are similar to those made by Democratic mayoral candidate Marie Strumolo Burke earlier this year, who allegedly said she didn’t want her town to become a “f***ing n***er town.”