Jesse Scheckner
In a move met with mixed reviews, Seminole Republican Rep. Berny Jacques recreated Donald Trump’s famous taco bowl picture nine years after the President posted it, complete with the kicker, “I love Hispanics!”
Jacques — who unsuccessfully sponsored legislation this year to expand Florida’s illegal immigration-focused E-verify requirements — posted the photo on X at 8:51 p.m. Monday.
It shows him in a restaurant with one hand forking a similar taco bowl and the other giving a thumbs-up.
“Happy #CincoDeMayo!” he wrote. “The best taco bowls are made in House District 59. I love Hispanics!”
As of 6 p.m. Tuesday, the post had 4,434 views, four re-posts, 87 likes and seven comments.
Bella Rodriguez, a cohost of the conservative Mostly Peaceful Latinas podcast, wrote, “Lmao,” an initialism of the phrase, “laughing my ass off.”
Thomas Kennedy, a policy analyst and consultant for the Florida Immigrant Coalition and former Florida Democratic Party Executive Committee member, offered a less enthusiastic, one-word take: “Cringe.”
Jacques told Florida Politics the post was simply “Celebrating like our great President did 9 years ago.”
He was faithful in his adaptation.
On May 5, 2016, Trump — then a candidate for President — posted a pic on his Twitter account of himself about to dig into a taco bowl in his office at Trump Tower. His right hand held a fork. His left held a thumbs-up.
He wrote, “Happy #CincoDeMayo! The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics!”
It elicited 161,000 likes, 100,000 retweets, 21,000 responses and a flurry of media attention.
Much of it wasn’t positive, with some critics pointing to Trump’s promise to deport millions of immigrants and build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The top response to the post came from Canadian comedian Nathan Fielder. He recreated the picture with a tongue-in-cheek Eastern tweak that highlighted how Trump’s post used a Mexican-inspired dish to refer to all Hispanics, who are culturally diverse.
“Any day is a great day for pho soup,” he wrote. “I love Asians!”
Trump commemorated his original post Monday, sharing it and writing, “This was so wonderful, 9 years ago today!”
The post is time-stamped at 11:54 a.m., giving Jacques ample time to find a Mexican-inclined eatery at which to pose and pay tribute.
