L.A. Mayor to Answer Limbaugh's Race Swipe

Hey, you know what's a riot? Comparing one of the country's foremost Latino politicians to "a shoeshine guy" because of his race.

A spokesman for Antonio Villaraigosa says the Los Angeles mayor is planning a statement in response to an ethnically-flavored drive-by served up by Rush Limbaugh yesterday. [Update: Villaraigosa's press secretary says there won't be a statement after all; meanwhile, the head of the National Hispanic Media Coalition calls Limbaugh's remark "nasty, bigoted [and] racist." See below.]

In a segment about Hillary Clinton, the right-wing radio blabber recounted meeting Villaraigosa, who became the first Latino to head his city's government in 130 years in 2005, when Bill Clinton introduced the two of them in a restaurant last year.

"I shook [Clinton's] hand, he left, comes back [with] the mayor of Los Angeles," he told listeners. "I thought it was a Secret Service agent, maybe a shoeshine guy. Turns out he gives me his card, I said, 'Oh, my gosh, it's the mayor of Los Angeles.'"

Oh my gosh indeed! He's just like a real-live mayor, but pigmenty. Who'd a thunk? Maybe Limbaugh will claim he was actually lampooning racist stereotypes, as Don Imus did after he called then-New York Times reporter Gwen Ifill "the cleaning lady." (Ifill's black. Get it?)

I'll post Villaraigosa's statement as soon as I have it. I'm also awaiting word from the National Hispanic Media Coalition.

Update, 12:52 p.m.: Villaraigosa's press secretary, Matt Szabo, says the mayor "has no plans to issue a statement." He says it was a miscommunication that led another member of the press office to tell me a statement was in the works.

Update, 2:08 p.m.: Alex Nogales, president of the National Hispanic Media Coalition, says this: "What can I tell you? It's the same kind of nasty, bigoted, racist type of comment that has become so prevalent in today's society, as practiced by Lou Dobbs, as practiced by [Sean] Hannity, [Bill] O'Reilly, [Michael] Savage -- all these guys who are appealing to a particular bigoted audience, and fanning the fires of bigotry and racism by doing these kinds of things without real concern about the consequences of their words. And the consequences are that these kinds of comments have helped in raising the rate of crimes against Latinos 35 percent in last three years." (He attributes that figure to the FBI.) "These guys have no civility in their makeup, no compassion, and very little intelligence when it comes to opening their mouths."

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Photos of Limbaugh and Villaraigosa by AP.

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