Topics in the News: Bilingualism
Vivek Ramaswamy on Energy & Oil
: Mar 5, 2023
Climate religion: it's about power, control, punishment
Ramaswamy said, "What is really going on is that the climate religion has about as much to do with the climate as the Spanish Inquisition had to do with Christ, which is to say nothing at all.
It is about power, dominion, control, punishment and apologising for what we have achieved in this country and the modern West as we know it."
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Source: Speech at the 2023 CPAC Conference in Maryland
Donald Trump on Immigration
: Sep 16, 2015
This is a country where we speak English, not Spanish
We have a country, where, to assimilate, you have to speak English. And I think that where he was, and the way it came out didn't sound right to me. We have to have assimilation--to have a country, we have to have assimilation.
I'm not the first one to say this. We've had many people over the years, for many, many years, saying the same thing. This is a country where we speak English, not Spanish.
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Source: 2015 Republican two-tiered primary debate on CNN
Tim Scott on Welfare & Poverty
: Mar 6, 2014
I flunked Civics & English but thought my way out of poverty
I started my small business, in a small apartment with some friends. I was a poor kid growing up in a single parent household. I was losing myself. I had lost my way. I flunked out of high school as a freshman. I failed World Geography, Civics. Now think
about that; a United States Senator who failed Civics. I used to think I was the only one, and when I became a member of the Senate, I realized that there might be a few more who didn't pass Civics either, and then I failed Spanish and English. Now, when
you fail Spanish AND English, they don't call you bi-lingual. Nope, they call you bi-ignorant, because you can't speak any language, and that's where I found myself.That why I give so much credit to [my mentor] John Monis, a Chick-Fil-A operator.
He came along at the right time. John Monise taught me that you can think your way out of poverty. That Citadel graduate taught me that if you really want to escape poverty, it comes through the power of education.
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Source: Speech at 2014 CPAC convention
Marco Rubio on Principles & Values
: Jun 19, 2012
1996: Surrogate for Bob Dole in Spanish radio debate
I set up the Dole campaign's South Florida operations. By late September, everyone knew Dole would lose, and other than our small but dedicated group and a few loyal volunteers, it was hard to get anyone else to care about, much less work for, a losing
campaign.Sometimes, I represented the campaign at public events. At one of those occasions, a local Spanish-language radio station asked for a Dole surrogate to debate a Democrat on air. I called every Spanish-speaking Republican legislator I could
find. They were all unavailable or unwilling. So I had to do it myself. It didn't go well.
I was not well prepared. My opponent was an experienced operative. He knew all of Dole's vulnerabilities and easily countered the few obvious talking points I
used to criticize President Clinton. He made short work of me. It was a valuable, if painful, lesson. I vowed I would never again show up for an interview or debate before I had done all I could to make certain I was the best-prepared person in the room.
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Source: An American Son, by Marco Rubio, p. 84-86
Joe Biden on Immigration
: Dec 4, 2007
FactCheck: 67% of illegal aliens speak Spanish; not 40%
Biden's discussion of his search for a nanny years ago led him into trouble. Biden said, "Most of the illegals that came to seek a job with me, they did not speak Spanish. They were from Ireland, England. They were from Germany.
They were from Poland. The majority of the people here undocumented--60%--are not Spanish speaking." Chris Dodd jumped in and confirmed that most illegals are, in fact, Spanish speakers. Biden wisely deferred to Dodd.
In fact, Mexico was the country of birth of 57% of the estimated 11.55 million unauthorized immigrants in 2006. Add in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras--all Spanish-speaking countries--and it jumps to 67%.
You'd have to go back many decades to get to a time when the majority of undocumented immigrants were Britons, Germans, Irish and Poles.
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Source: FactCheck on 2007 Democratic radio debate on NPR
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