Roar of the 'Mexican thing': Raul Reyes

It was a moment that sparked tweets, hashtags, and late-night TV jokes. At Tuesday’s vice presidential debate, Tim Kaine reminded viewers several times of Donald Trump’s history of divisive comments, trying to goad his rival Mike Pence into a response. On the fourth try it worked. “When Donald Trump says women should be punished or Mexicans are rapists,” Kaine began, “or John McCain is not a hero, he is showing you who he is.” Pence’s reply? “Senator, you’ve whipped out that Mexican thing again.”

Perhaps due to its irresistible potential for double-entendres, “that Mexican thing” became the line of the night. But this phrase matters. It reflects the indifference of the Trump campaign towards Hispanic Americans. It reveals the true heart of Mike Pence. Most of all, it matters because “that Mexican thing” swiftly became a rallying cry of pride for Latinos.

“That Mexican thing” is a reminder of how Trump views the Latino community. Trump has scant support among Latinos, and for good reason. He favors a “deportation force” for undocumented immigrants, whom he blames for crime and other social ills. He has questioned the integrity of a distinguished Mexican-American judge, and bullied a former Miss Universe.  Beyond designating that “taco truck on every corner” guy as a surrogate, his campaign has done little meaningful Latino outreach. The only use Latinos seem to have for the Trump campaign is to serve as a scapegoat for anti-immigrant sentiment framed as economic anxiety. To his great discredit, Trump has mainstreamed hate and demagoguery by repeatedly painting Mexico, Latinos, and immigrants as a potential enemy or “the other.”

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For his part, Pence does not grasp how offensive what he calls “that Mexican thing” has been to Latinos. When he responded to Kaine, his tone was dismissive, as though the idea of bigotry towards the largest minority group in the country was simply tiresome. Pressed by Kaine on whether he could defend Trump’s remarks, Pence immediately pivoted to how “criminal aliens” are “perpetrating violence and taking American lives,” thereby conflating Latinos and immigrants with dangerous criminals. Pence also falsely insisted that Trump originally said that “many” Mexico’s immigrants are good people. This was not true; Trump only said that some were. Yet the real takeaway in the exchange was that Pence’s reaction to being confronted with Trump’s comments appeared to be a mixture of boredom and disdain. To Pence, Trump’s xenophobia is apparently a non-issue.

If “that Mexican thing” does not matter to Trump or Pence, it certainly matters to Latinos. Time reported that the phrase was the third most-tweeted moment of the debate. The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and other outlets noted how the phrase sparked a social media outburst of Latinos sharing stories of our community’s “patriotism and resilience."

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Aside from ridiculing Pence for his tone-deafness, tweeters shared family stories under the hashtag #ThatMexicanThing, like “being proud of my heritage, becoming a citizen, & showing up to vote against hate this November,” and “undocumented immigrants pay more taxes" than Donald Trump. Others told of family members serving in the military, or working hard so that the younger generation could succeed. Journalist Jorge Ramos, author Julissa Arce, and Congressman Ruben Gallego weighed in too, reminding the world that Pence’s remark itself was insulting. No wonder that The Houston Chronicle termed this hashtag “an energizer for Latinos.” Plus, the Clinton campaign is likely to use it to rally Latino support.

This organic online pushback should concern the GOP. Donald Trump’s presidency is increasingly looking like a long shot, which could endanger down-ballot races. The controversy over “that Mexican thing” is yet another reminder that Latinos are highly engaged in this election, as we know how much is at stake.

“That Mexican thing” matters because Latinos are tired of our community being demonized or dismissed. We are more than a wedge issue. We are not things. We are Americans. We are voters. And come November, we will be heard.

Raul A. Reyes is an attorney, and an NBCNews.com and CNN Opinion contributor. Follow him on Twitter @RaulAReyes.

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