October 20, 2016
Want to see some real “bad hombres”? Just look at all the online cracks on Donald Trump’s reference to Mexican immigrants from Wednesday’s presidential debate.
Social media lit up like a barnstorm with more than a few choice words and images poking fun at and taking umbrage with Trump’s remark of “some bad hombres here” being behind the nation’s illegal drug woes.
Of the many memes and hashtags, it was hard to miss the frequent Facebook and Twitter posts featuring Steve Martin, Chevy Chase and Martin Short in their mariachi finest from 1986’s “¡Three Amigos!”, or Alfonso Arau as the comedy’s villain, El Guapo.
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The phrase, in fact, sounded more like something out of a bad ’50s spaghetti Western, dime-store novel or Yosemite Sam’s pie-hole.
After the debate on CNN, Trump supporter Jeffrey Lord likened the phrase to TV Westerns in the 1950s, saying people who took offense to it were taking “political correctness to a max.” And some news outlets speculated post-debate if it may have been the first time Trump spoke Spanish during the campaign, though on May 5, he did tweet a photo of himself smiling over a Trump Tower Grill taco bowl with the words “Happy #CincoDeMayo!”
Meanwhile others spun out “bad hombres” posts with the silliest of spaghetti Western imagery, from Clint Eastwood’s Blondie from “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” to Bad Bart from “Sesame Street.” And don’t forget the more than occasional sombrero and taco pics peppered into posts, too.
Then there were those who poked fun at Trump’s mispronunciation of the word “hombres” as “hambres,” the Spanish word for more than one hunger.
“Trump said some stupidity re ‘Bad hombres,’” tweeted Republican political commentator Ana Navarro, who’s taken Trump to task before on his comments. “Spanish lesson 101: hombre = man; hambre = hunger; hombro = shoulder; ombre = Kardashian hair color.”
Yes, even “ombré,” that flowing hair style where colors shade into each other, got its day in the cybersun with several posts showing some of the worst two-toned ombre fails.
But there’s bite behind all the cheeky barbs. A culturally tinged label like “bad hombres” also adds fuel to an already racially charged platform of the Trump campaign: his proposal to build a wall between the United States and Mexico and make Mexico pay for it.
And such a label once again turns heads in a presidential race where words have proven to speak so much louder than actions.
“As a society we have become very sensitive to the way language is used,” said David Crockett, chair and professor of political science at Trinity University. “If someone chooses to use words or language or terminology that can be associated with a specific ethnic group, because it’s a language thing or a slang term, then I think people tend to take notice and questions get raised whether this is culturally insensitive humor or appropriate humor.”
Which may explain the dichotomy of social media posters both taking offense to the term and embracing it as a badge of honor.
“I consider myself a bad hombre,” said San Antonio-based artist Cruz Ortiz. “What (Trump is) doing is classifying us as horrible people. Which is funny because in my community with my family and my friends, when you say you’re a bad hombre, it’s kind of funny. It’s meant as a slight joke.”
Cruz makes no bones about his political leanings, especially in his art. He’s one of several talents tapped nationwide to create original art online and off for Hillary for America, Clinton’s official campaign organization. His work often plays with blunt political satire, such as his image of a smiling Trump with the word “pendejo” below it.
Cruz, who plans to use “bad hombres” in future art, said he knows Trump was referring to criminals with the remark. Nevertheless, he feels there’s a broader connection behind it to Mexicans and Latinos as a whole, and that such a comment coming from a presidential candidate famous for “The Apprentice” reality TV show shows just how disillusioned so much of the public has become by the thin line between reality and entertainment.
“It says a lot about how we understand culture, and how we engage ourselves in these topics,” Cruz said.
The Express-News reached out to Bexar County GOP chair Robert Stoval for comment, as well as to Brad Parscale, president of the San Antonio firm behind Trump’s campaign website, but neither replied.
Crockett believes Trump didn’t intend to be racist or culturally insensitive to Mexicans by saying “bad hombres.” But he’s not surprised the terminology has turned heads given Trump’s rhetoric, which includes talk of Mexico paying for a border wall to keep out so-called “rapists” and “criminals” — an early gaff to which some enterprising San Antonians responded by making frilly Trump piñatas a thing.
“You have someone who is running an ethnocentric campaign targeting white, working class males,” Crockett said. “He has said things about immigrants that are less than delicate, stereotypical, and painted with a broad brush.”
Crockett likewise noted Trump’s use of the word “the” when referring to “the Mexicans” or “the Latinos” is likely on account of the way people of his generation may speak, yet it’s still not culturally sensitive and he called it “politically tin-eared.”
Ultimately, Crockett sees “bad hombres” as just another small piece of a very long 15-month narrative that, in the future, likely won’t be pulled out for heavy scrutiny. That is, unless someone wants to shed more light on it with more humor.
“It’ll be interesting what ‘Saturday Night Live’ does on Saturday,” Crockett said.
