Bloomberg News’ Mark Halperin has apologized for asking Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas in a recent interview to address his Hispanic heritage by answering a series of questions involving food and music.
“We wanted to talk with Senator Cruz about his outreach to Latino voters the day after he spoke at the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce,” Bloomberg’s managing editor said in a statement Monday. “My intent was to give the senator a chance to speak further about his heritage and personal connections to the community through some casual questions.”.
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In the rush to get through some casual questions with Cruz, the tone and timing of the questions came across as insulting, Halperin said.
“I also understand why some felt the questions were inappropriate. As for asking Senator Cruz to welcome [Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.] to the race in Spanish, that was meant to be the type of light-hearted banter that he’s done with us before on the show,” Halperin added. “In no way was I asking Senator Cruz to ‘prove’ he was an ‘authentic’ Latino. I apologize to those that were offended and to Senator Cruz. I promise that I will work to make the tone and questions better next time.”
The Cruz-Halperin interview took place last week, but it didn’t gain traction until the weekend. In the interview, a jocular Halperin asked Cruz, a Cuban-American, to address his Hispanic bona fides.
“Senator, people are really interested in you and your identity. So, I just wanted to ask you as a historical matter, when you filled out your application to Princeton, to Harvard Law School, did you list yourself as an Hispanic?” Halperin asked.
Cruz answered in the affirmative, saying, “That’s my heritage and my background.”
“[D]o you have a favorite Cuban food … Cuban dish?” the Bloomberg News reporter continued.
“Oh, I grew up eating Cuban food all the time, I —” the Texas senator started to say.
“What’s your favorite dish?”
Cruz answered.
“Alright… do you like Cuban music? Do you have a favorite Cuban Singer?”
Cruz admitted he’s more “into country music.”
“Finally, I wanted to give you the opportunity to welcome your colleague [Sen. Bernie Sanders. I-Vt.] to the race and I’d like you to do it, if you would, en Espanol,” Halperin said.
Cruz declined the request, saying that he’d rather that the interview stick to English.
The interview has drawn sharp and relentless criticism this weekend from left-leaning groups, including ThinkProgress, legacy media groups, including the Washington Post, and right-of-center media groups, including Breitbart and Hot Air.
“When Halperin joined Bloomberg, it was reported that he was earning seven figures for the privilege, largely on the strength of his ‘Game Change’ book recaps of 2008 and 2012 with fellow Bloomberg recruit John Heilemann,” the Post’s Philip Bump write Monday. “It’s the sort of stamp of approval that could make anyone overestimate the usefulness of their insights. It’s hard to believe that this isn’t [what’s] happening here.”
For Breitbart News, the interview was unquestionably racist. The conservative news site published a headline Monday that read, “Sing us a Song, Boy: Mark Halperin’s Racist Interview with Ted Cruz.”
Hot Air’s Jazz Shaw wrote this week that the interview revealed a “stunning display of racially tinged bias … on Halperin’s part.”
IJ Review deemed the interview “condescending,” adding also that the Bloomberg News editor posed Cruz a series of “very racial questions.”
BuzzFeed, meanwhile, appeared at a loss for words, publishing an article Sunday that stated simply that the back-and-forth between Cruz and Halperin was the “most awkward” of “this presidential campaign, so far.”
The left-wing watchdog group ThinkProgress declared in one headline that it had awarded “prize for the most racist interview of 2016” to the Bloomberg News managing editor.
Elsewhere, nationally syndicated columnist Ruben Navarrette wrote of the interview that it was “painful” and “nauseating.”
“This was bad journalism, bad form, and bad manners,” he wrote in an article published Saturday by San Jose Mercury News. “I kept waiting for Halperin to ask Cruz to play the conga drums like Desi Arnaz while dancing salsa and sipping cafe con leche — all to prove the Republican is really Cuban.”
The Daily Caller lampooned Halperin in an article, titled “10 More Questions Mark Halperin Might Ask 2016 Presidential Contenders,” wherein the conservative publication listed a series of intentionally offensive and racially tinged questions, including “Gov. Jindal, I’m curious how deep a connection you have to your Indian heritage considering you do not sport a dot on your head. Has anyone in your family ever owned a 7-11?”
Cruz, for his part, brushed off the media controversy surrounding the Bloomberg interview, saying in a statement on Facebook Monday afternoon that he was never offended by Halperin’s questions and that the two of them are on good terms.
“Mark Halperin is a serious and fair-minded journalist. Today he kindly issued an apology for some silly questions he asked me in an interview. The apology was unnecessary — no offense was taken, nor, I believe, intended — but is certainly appreciated,” the Texas senator said, reiterating that he is proud of his Cuban heritage, his “father’s journey from oppression and prison in Cuba to freedom in America,” and also his “Irish-Italian heritage on [his] mother’s side.”
Cruz continued, adding in his statement that the 2016 Republican field “is shaping up to be the most diverse in history.”
“I look forward to a robust and substantive conversation about how we work together to turn around our current stagnation and expand opportunity for everyone to achieve the American Dream,” he wrote.
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This post has been updated with comment from Sen. Ted Cruz.
