Two Republican presidential candidates have parents who immigrated from Cuba — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's father and both of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's — but MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews is unsure whether they should be termed "Hispanic."
On Wednesday's episode of
"Hardball," guest Amanda Turkel of The Huffington Post suggested how she believes tea party conservative Cruz will try to paint his fellow Cuban as a moderate.
"So you're trying to insinuate that Marco Rubio, a fellow, uh, Spanish surname, I'm not sure the right word is Hispanic for them, because they are Cuban nationals or whatever, or come from Cuba," Matthews said. "But, uh, is he going to insinuate that he is still basically for what he calls amnesty?"
Hispanic refers to any people whose culture and language descends from Spain. That includes Cuba.
Related Stories: