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GUEST: Erin Aubrey Kaplan, Op-ed Columnist at the Los Angeles Times

California Treasurer and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides admitted in an interview with ABC’s Sam Donaldson, that his campaign leaked tapes of Governor Schwarzenegger making controversial remarks about Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia to the media. The Los Angeles Times first obtained the tapes last week and published the transcription of the controversial statements. In the recorded conversation with his Chief of Staff, the Governor, referring to Bonnie Garcia, stated “She maybe is Puerto Rican or the same thing as Cuban. I mean, they are all very hot. They have the, you know, part of the black blood in them and part of the Latino blood in them that together makes it.” Bonnie Garcia, a Puerto Rican, stood by the Governor’s side at a press conference and said there was no need for him to apologize. Congresswoman Barbara Lee disagreed however, calling Schwarzenegger’s comments, “disgusting, but frankly not surprising.” Despite Congresswoman Lee’s denunciation, many Black and Latino law makers have been casually dismissive of the Governor’s racist remarks.

Read Erin Aubrey Kaplan’s article in the Los Angeles Times here.