
Senate candidate Rep. Val Demings (D-FL) opened a recent virtual town hall with Cuban-Americans praising “the great” Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) and quoting him to “set the theme” for the event, an unfortunate choice given Clyburn’s advocacy for the Cuban Communist Party and praise for Fidel Castro, in particular.
Demings is likely to emerge from the Democrat primary in August as the nominee to unseat incumbent Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), one of the most consistently anti-communist voices on foreign policy in Congress and himself a Cuban-American. Demings’ faux pas at an event billed a “virtual meet-and-greet” with Cuban-American Democrat voters follows months of polling showing her significantly behind Rubio and questionable Hispanic engagement that included an endorsement from former Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), a former member