Texas Tribune: “[Flores] changed her handle on X amid the criticism and has been blocking people on social media throughout Tuesday and Wednesday who have accused her of falsely passing the photos of cooking off as her own”
Coined “GrubGate,” Mayra Flores has found herself in hot water after the media exposed numerous food photos posted to social media by the South Texas Republican — photos that were blatantly stolen and passed off as her own.
This is the latest in a pattern of social media deception and unethical practices by Flores, who has repeatedlycomeunderfire for spreading QAnon conspiracy theories and right-wing disinformation online.
DCCC Spokesperson Lauryn Fanguen:
“Mayra Flores is a habitual liar. She can’t even post food pictures without proving her pattern of deception and disregard for the truth. Texans deserve a representative they can wholeheartedly trust — and how can they trust a candidate who lies as easily and freely as Flores?”
Former U.S. Rep. Mayra Flores is under fire after being accused of stealing food photos from other social media accounts and passing them off as her own.
The scandal, dubbed “Grubgate,” began earlier in the week when Flores, who’s running for her old seat in south Texas, posted a picture of what she described as “gorditas de masa” cooked over an open-fire skillet.
But as an astute user on X, formerly Twitter, pointed out on Monday, the photo in question had previously appeared in a 2022 Facebook post by the tourism page “Visit Guyana.” The Mexican “gorditas de masa” Flores appeared to pass off as her own turned out to be Guyanese sada roti.
On Wednesday, Gonzalez’s campaign chimed in on the “Grubgate” drama, writing in a tweet that Flores is “The George Santos of the [Rio Grande Valley].” In December, Santos was expelled from Congress after being federally indicted in connection with a slew of crimes, including wire fraud and identity theft.
Former Congresswoman Mayra Flores, a Republican seeking re-election in South Texas, has been accused of stealing photos of Mexican food from other social media accounts and pretending they are snapshots of her cooking — a scandal that’s allegedly been dubbed, “GrubGate.”
Earlier this week Flores, who is challenging US Rep. Vincente Gonzalez (D-Texas) to regain her old seat, came under fire after sharing a photo that internet sleuths linked to a Facebook page, “Visit Guyana,” in March 2022, the Texas Tribune reported.
The photo of what Flores referred to as “gorditas de masa” was shared with the caption “the Ranch life with Family is the best,” though users on X were also quick to note the food in the picture was not gorditas de masa.
Following the incident, conservative website Current Revolt found several other instances where Flores shared others’ photos of Mexican cooking online and passed them off as her own.
The Tribune also found at least two such instances on her Instagram in the last year, including a post from July captioned “Joe Biden is not invited to the carne asada” in both English and Spanish.
In one post Flores wrote, “As a proud Latina who knows how to cook, homemade Mexican food tastes better from a gas stove,” alongside a photo of eggs and tortillas on what appears to be a wood-burning stove.
The photo, however, was initially shared on Facebook in 2021 by a Spanish-language magazine.
In another post, Flores shared her love for the “simple things in life” like a “good breakfast” alongside a photo published two years ago by a Mexican food photographer.
Sometimes, in their quest to come across as honest and relatable, politicians make things harder on themselves. Take Mayra Flores, a Texas Republican who was the first female Mexican-born member of the House.
Flores opposes same-sex marriage, called the overturning of Roe v. Wade “a dream come true,” and is currently running again for Congress after losing her seat last year.
She also has a history of posting photos of food — typically Mexican food — on her Twitter, with captions about being a proud home cook and the joys of life on a ranch.
The problem, as a recent investigation from Current Revolt points out, is the photos weren’t hers, but instead taken from various websites and passed off as her own.
For instance, she captioned one photo of bread and stew being cooked over a fire with “The Ranch life with family is the best,” and specified in comments below it that the bread is “gorditas de masa.” But an extraordinarily simple Google image search shows the photo was actually from the “Visit Guyana” Facebook page. Another photo of eggs and tortillas on a griddle was posted by the Facebook page Izabal Magazine in 2021.
She has done things like this quite a lot over the years, according to Current Revolt. Flores did not respond to Eater’s request for comment, but told the Texas Tribune that it was not her “intention to mislead.”
This is some gleefully low-stakes political drama, but it also points to the importance of food in a campaign, and to Flores’s willingness to lie to enhance her appeal to voters.
Seeing a basket of tortillas in the foreground of a horse ranch, or a plate of beans on a picnic table, conveys a message of down-to-earth realness, especially accompanied by messages of how much she values God and her family.
That she would take photos from other accounts, including photos that aren’t even of Mexican food, shows how important that image is.
In a bizarre micro-scandal that some have dubbed “GrubGate,” a former GOP congresswoman who is running for her old seat in South Texas is being accused of routinely stealing photos of Mexican food from other social media accounts and passing them off as her own cooking.
The Tribune separately reviewed Flores’ Instagram and found at least two such instances in the last year, including one post from July in which she shared a photo of meat and tortillas on a grill with the caption, “Joe Biden is not invited to the carne asada” in both English and Spanish. A reverse image search found that the exact photo was posted a year prior by a Facebook page for tourism in Tamaulipas — the state in Mexico where Flores was born.
In another post, she praised the “simple things in life” like a “good breakfast” alongside a photo that was first published two years ago by a Mexican food photographer.
In a text message on Wednesday, Flores said it wasn’t her “intention to mislead.”
“The photo simply reminded me of my upbringing in Mexico and childhood,” she said. “I deleted the tweet to clear up any confusion. I actually spend my Christmas at ranch with my In-Laws. Happy New Year!”
Asked to specify which of the photos she was referring to, Flores suggested that the Tribune focus on “the border crisis.”
She also changed her handle on X amid the criticism and has been blocking people on social media throughout Tuesday and Wednesday who have accused her of falsely passing the photos of cooking off as her own.
“The George Santos of the [Rio Grande Valley],” wrote the campaign for U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, who Flores is currently challenging.
Both of these facts collided yesterday in what many people are referring to as GRUBGATE.
Mayra Flores, former Congresswoman and current candidate for US House Texas District 34, posted a delicious photo of a “gorditas de masa” with the caption of “The Ranch life with family is the best.” She also clarified the type of food in the photo, implying she both took the photo and made the dish.
Someone asked if they were “pupusas” but she clarified they were “gorditas de masa”
Unfortunately, several things were later revealed about the photo she posted:
This meal was not made at a “ranch” on this continent.
