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The trail of abysmal decisions and deception in MAGA Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar’s wake has seemingly caught up to her.
Over the past month, Salazar has faced criticism for accepting political donations from an accused Cuban spy, posing with a Pinochet superfan, praising Argentina as having “one race,” and cheering on investments in Florida from legislation like the CHIPS and Science Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law — while neglecting to mention she had actually voted against them.
DCCC Spokesperson Lauryn Fanguen:
“Extremists like María Elvira Salazar can only posture as principled moderates for so long — and her recent wave of bad press proves it.
When you lie to your constituents for undue credit, finance your campaign with extremist cash, and freely praise racial homogeneity, sooner or later voters will take note.”
Read the recent coverage on María Elvira Salazar’s scandals below.
Semafor: Republican House member poses arm-in-arm with Pinochet-defending Chilean politician
Joseph Zeballos-Roig | December 16, 2023
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During a recent trip to Buenos Aires for the inauguration of Argentina’s new president, Rep. María Elvira Salazar, R-Fla. appeared in a photo with a popular Chilean politician known as a defender of Augusto Pinochet’s brutal dictatorship.
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In the photo, a smiling Salazar stands alongside José Antonio Kast, the leader of Chile’s hard-right Republican Party. Kast, a socially conservative Catholic who has often been compared to Brazil’s former leader Jair Bolsonaro, won the first round of his country’s 2021 presidential election before losing a runoff.
The Miami Herald: It’s no coincidence that the alleged Cuba spy peddled Trump and right-wing politics
Fabiola Santiago | December 8, 2023
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Guess to whom in Miami Rocha made two political donations last year totaling $750?
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The campaign of Republican Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar, a bitter critic of President Biden and Trump supporter, a former journalist who in 1995 got an exclusive and controversial one-on-one interview with none other than Fidel Castro.
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In true form, Salazar used a spy outed by the Biden administration to tell the same administration on X in two languages to “wake up!” to Cuba’s spying.
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Such is the petty, partisan Miami world of light-weight politicians, a place where spies thrive. Who cares now that she’ll return the donations to a man in jail?
WLRN News: Rep. María Elvira Salazar to return campaign cash from suspected Cuba spy
Sergio R. Bustos | December 8, 2023
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Salazar, a vocal critic of President Joe Biden’s policies toward the communist island government, had gotten two donations totaling $750 last year from Rocha. Both media outlets, citing FEC records, reported that Salazar appeared to be the only lawmaker to receive campaign contributions from the suspected spy.
Florida Politics: María Elvira Salazar to return donations from ex-Ambassador accused of spying for Cuba
Jacob Ogles | December 6, 2023
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After a U.S. Ambassador’s arrest for spying for Cuba, U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar told Joe Biden’s administration to “wake up.” But it turns out Salazar may also have been fooled by Manuel Rocha about his true political agenda.
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Salazar, a Coral Gables Republican, accepted $750 in campaign donations from Rocha, a former Ambassador to Bolivia, as she ran for re-election in 2022. That makes her the only candidate for Congress in the country to accept a political contribution from the Miami businessman.
The Washington Post: Ex-U.S. ambassador accused of being Cuba’s secret agent since 1981
Devlin Barrett, Mary Beth Sheridan, and Karen DeYoung | December 4, 2023
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The Justice Department unsealed charges Monday against a retired ambassador, accusing him of being a “clandestine agent” for decades — allegedly betraying his country by acting on behalf of Cuba’s spy agency.
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The arrest of Manuel Rocha, 73, capped a year-long undercover sting operation in which an FBI agent pretending to be a Cuban intelligence operative secretly recorded Rocha making incriminating statements about his life of diplomatic deception.
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Rocha had barely any involvement in electoral politics in the United States, public records show. He contributed to just one federal candidate last year, sending $750 to Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.), according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.
E&E News: Republicans cheer spending from bill they opposed — again
Emma Dumain | November 28, 2023
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Several Republicans who voted against the CHIPS and Science Act are taking credit for the bill’s support for tech hubs, many of which are devoted to energy and environmental issues.
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Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.), a top Democratic target, has been particularly effusive in her enthusiasm for the designation of the South Florida Climate Resilience Tech Hub, even though she voted against CHIPS and Science.
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The consortium, led by Miami-Dade County, will focus on innovations and technologies around sustainable and resilient infrastructure.
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“Miami is ground zero for sea-level rise, and we continue to lead the charge in developing resilient infrastructure,” Salazar said in a statement, which was posted to her website and included in the administration’s tech hub funding announcement.
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“The establishment of a Tech Hub in Miami ensures we continue leading in innovation and technological advancement,” she added, “while creating new jobs, growing our economy, and promoting national security.”
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Justin Chermol, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, called the about-face “exactly the sort of insincere behavior that the public hates, and the DCCC will be sure to remind voters of Salazar’s do-nothing agenda over the next year.”
NBC News: Florida Republican Rep. Salazar praises Argentina as having ‘one race’
Suzanne Gamboa | November 21, 2023
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In a video endorsement of Javier Milei days before he was elected president of Argentina, U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar praised the country as having everything, including “only one culture, only one religion and only one race, completely homogenous.”
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Argentina chose Milei, a right-wing libertarian and former television pundit who calls himself an “anarcho-capitalist,” as president over the weekend, shaking the country’s establishment.
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The comment by Salazar, a Florida Republican who is of Cuban descent, appeared to refer to a perception of Argentina, including among its own citizens, as a country of white European descendants. That perception is often criticized for ignoring the South American country’s Black and Indigenous culture and ancestry, and it is sometimes fodder for mockery, as well as memes.
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Speaking in Spanish, Salazar said on video: “We want it to be one of the best countries in the world, because it’s what they deserve. A country that has everything. It has soy, it has meat, it has minerals, it has land, it has water, and it has only one culture, only one religion and only one race, completely homogenous.”
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Salazar further questioned why, with those characteristics, Argentina is in the state it is in, referring to its crippled economy.
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Democrats who see her Miami-area district as one of the few opportunities for the party in the state criticized her statement in a news release.
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“María Elvira Salazar’s comments praising the notion of advancing a society with a single culture, religion, and race are antithetical to our American values,” José Muñoz, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, whose job is to elect and re-elect party members to the House, said in a statement.
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“It is clear that Salazar is not interested in working to lower costs, provide jobs, or protect the fundamental rights of all diverse people who make up Florida’s 27th district,” he said.
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