Gov. Corbett Says That His Comments About Qualified Latinos Taken “Out of Context”

May 24, 2013
11:57 AM

This week, Philadelphia’s Al Día News held a forum with Pennsylvania governor Tom Corbett (R). During that forum, Corbett was asked by Sabrina Vourvoulias, Al Día’s managing editor, if he had any Latinos on his staff. Corbett responded by saying, “No, we do not have any staff members in there. If you can find us one, please let me know.”

The story went viral, and even though Think Progress originally didn’t give Al Día the proper attribution, Corbett’s comments spread on the Internet rather quickly.

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Corbett responded to the criticisms by blaming the “political season” and “liberal organizations.” This is what PennLive reported:

“We are in the political season obviously,” Corbett said after an appearance in Hershey. “There are candidates out there on the Democratic side [and] there are liberal organizations coming out of Washington that want to have an impact on the governor’s race here in Pennsylvania.”

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett stressed four topics, transportation, the LCB, pensions and the budget, during his speech at the Harrisburg Regional Chamber & CREDC Governor’s Breakfast Thursday. Joe Hermitt, PennLive.com

He argued that the attempt by rivals to paint him as being insensitive to the state’s Latino population runs counter to his record. And he pointed to a failed 2012 nomination to the Liquor Control Board as an example.

“I nominated Ken Trujillo, a well-known Latino Hispanic from Philadelphia, a Democrat for the LCB,” Corbett said. “The Democrats rejected him. Why aren’t you writing about that?”

Corbett also added the following: “When people judge me on election day, I truly hope they judge me on what we have done, what we have performed, what we have completed, what promises we have kept, not how sometimes [critics] want to twist and reinterpret words that I say.”