CNN "Newsroom" - Transcript Interview with Veronica Escobar

Interview

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I want to bring in Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, who put it bluntly: "This racist BS needs to stop." Congresswoman, you are joining us now. Thank you so much for being with us.

When you heard Senator Tillis' comments, just, I guess, tell us what you thought, considering it's pretty well documented that one of the reasons that Hispanics have been so hard-hit is that they are more likely to account for being workers in a grocery store or in a meatpacking plant, or to have lower paying jobs that are essential at hospitals.

SEN. VERONICA ESCOBAR (D-TX): Right. Thank you so much, Brianna, for covering this issue. It really is important. There has been so much misinformation put out by the president and by some Republicans.

And in addition to that misinformation -- which, you know, the misinformation can prove deadly. But in addition to that misinformation, there has been use of racist tropes. We've heard it from the White House, when the president and when members of his team refer to the coronavirus as the "Wuhan Flu." We know that that has inspired hate crimes against Asian-Americans.

And then now, you have Senator Tillis basically laying blame for the rapid rise of cases and the disproportionate impact of the coronavirus on Latinos, basically saying that it's because we're irresponsible, or those Latinos in his state are irresponsible.

So you know, that in turn is going to fuel anger from people who will then see Latinos in the same way that the White House wanted Americans to see Asian-Americans, seeing them as part of the problem. When in fact, as you pointed out and as my colleague Representative Gallego pointed out, Latinos and African-Americans have disproportionately felt the impact of the coronavirus because we have been on the frontlines from the fields, to the restaurants, to the grocery stores.

Additionally -- and the senator should know this -- additionally, Dr. Fauci has laid out, in very plain terms, that the reason why the African-American community and the Latino community are so hard-hit, in addition to our exposure, is because we suffer from comorbidities and lack of access to health insurance, lack of access to primary care physicians.

And so there should be not just an added sensitivity to what's actually happening in America to minority communities, but he should be working to ensure that minority communities in his state receive added resources and that essential workers are protected, instead of floating these theories that are not founded in fact.

[14:20:09]

KEILAR: And we also know that one of the reasons that Hispanic Americans have so many concerns, for instance, about schools reopening is that they are more likely to live in multigenerational families. I mean, we hear so many stories, Congresswoman, about people who say, Oh, I haven't seen my grandparents or I haven't seen my elderly parents in months. That's not a luxury that increasingly Hispanic American families have.

ESCOBAR: That's absolutely right. You know, and so communities, states should be leading the way. Because in the absence of leadership from the White House and the absence (ph) of a national testing strategy from the White House, it's going to be up to state leaders, governors, communities to make sure that the resources necessary for robust testing, tracing, isolation and treatment, reach those communities most at risk. And multigenerational families are also very much at risk. You know,

and so that goes for the essential workers, who are going in to help make sure that we have the food and everything that we need in our homes, but also for the kids that are going into schools.

You know, you saw the Republican Party call off its national convention because (INAUDIBLE) safe, yet you have a president and other Republicans saying, But let's get our kids into schools. It doesn't compute. And those that are going to be most vulnerable, again, are Latinos and African-Americans.

KEILAR: Congresswoman Escobar, thank you for joining us. We appreciate it.

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