Thread: Schwarzenegger apologizes over hot latino blood remark

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/ ... 73026.html

Sept. 8, 2006, 2:32PM
Schwarzenegger apologizes over remark


By MICHAEL R. BLOOD Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger apologized Friday for saying during a closed-door meeting that Cubans and Puerto Ricans are naturally feisty and temperamental because of their combination of "black blood" and "Latino blood."

He said the tape-recorded comments "made me cringe" when he read them in Friday's Los Angeles Times.

"Anyone out there that feels offended by those comments, I just want to say I'm sorry, I apologize," Schwarzenegger said. He added that if he heard his children make similar comments, "I would be upset."

The furor comes amid a re-election campaign in which the Republican has tried to mend fences with Democrats and moderates and look more statesmanlike and less like the swaggering action hero he played on screen. Schwarzenegger has a history of making off-the-cuff remarks that get him in trouble. He called California legislators "girlie men" and "losers" and talked of kicking nurses' butts.

During California's 2003 recall election, he was accused of groping or otherwise mistreating women on movie sets and other locations. He apologized for having "behaved badly sometimes."

The statements about Hispanics and blacks were captured on a six-minute tape made during a March 3 speechwriting session between Schwarzenegger and his advisers. On it, Schwarzenegger and chief of staff Susan Kennedy speak affectionately of state Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia and speculate about her nationality.

"I mean Cuban, Puerto-Rican, they are all very hot," the governor says on the recording. "They have the, you know, part of the black blood in them and part of the Latino blood in them that together makes it."

Garcia, who is Puerto Rican, appeared with Schwarzenegger on Friday and said she was not offended by the governor's comments. Garcia earlier told the Times that she often calls herself a "hot-blooded Latina."

Schwarzenegger also said he called leaders from ethnic groups, who he said were not upset.

"All of them understood it was an off-the-record conversation," Schwarzenegger said. "It was not meant to be in any negative way."

A spokesman for Democratic Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez declined to comment directly on the remark but said the governor "has always been very respectful toward Latinos."

"These are hardly Nixon's Watergate tapes," Nunez spokesman Richard Stapler said.

However, Schwarzenegger's Democratic challenger, Phil Angelides, said the governor should "conduct himself with dignity."

"Once again, Gov. Schwarzenegger has used language that is deeply offensive to all Californians and embarrassed our state," Angelides said in a statement.

Schwarzenegger aides routinely tape his speechwriting sessions so the writers can keep a record of his thoughts and speaking patterns.

The newspaper did not say how the tape was obtained. The participants suggest during the meeting that they know they are being recorded.

I guess Arnold just lost the hispanic vote again.

In my humble opinion, and everyone might want to shoot me. The reason why Swarztenagger (sp) has to apologize so much is because he IS not and WAS not a politician but a human being capable of errors and didn't have to watch every move he made or every word he said in his life before HE BECAME A PUBLIC OFFICIAL.

It will take him a decade to learn how to behave like a politician and lie all the time instead of calling it as he sees it or pinching a cute girls butt when he was young.

Personally I would feel quite complimented to get that sort of attention... now that I am 40.

SusieQ

If California wanted a politician in office they would have kept Brown in... but when you elect someone NOT TRAINED to watch every P and Q you end up wth someone who has to say sorry a lot.

Go back to the movies Arnold, you suck as a leader.

Actually I'm surprised this wasn't held back another month to damage his re-election effort.

http://www.latimes.com

Video of Apology


Click here to hear audio recording of remarks


Governor Apologizes for Remarks About Latina Lawmaker
Schwarzenegger's banter with aides offers glimpse of bull session behind closed doors.
By Robert Salladay and Michael Finnegan
Times Staff Writers

12:53 PM PDT, September 8, 2006

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today apologized for saying the lone Latina Republican lawmaker in California had a "very hot," fiery personality because of her ethnicity, a comment captured on audio tape last spring in his private office.

The governor made his apology in Santa Monica standing next to Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia (R-Cathedral City), the Latina lawmaker whom Schwarzenegger characterized as hot-blooded.

"Anyone out there that feels offended by these comments, I just want to say I'm sorry," Schwarzenegger said.

"The fact is that if I would hear this kind of comments in my house, by my kids, I would be upset, and today, when I read it in the papers, it's something when you say things, but it is another thing when you read it in the paper. It made me cringe. It made me feel uncomfortable. And so this is why I thought I should come out and address the issue right away."

On the recording, Schwarzenegger describes Republican legislators as the "wild bunch" and refers to Garcia, casually saying that "black blood" mixed with "Latino blood" equals "hot."

"I mean, they are all very hot," the governor says on the audio recording. "They have the, you know, part of the black blood in them and part of the Latino blood in them that together makes it."

Garcia said there was no need for Schwarzenegger to apologize.

Schwarzenegger said he had called several Latino and African American community leaders to discuss his taped remarks with them, but did not name them. They understood the remarks were part of an "off-the record conversation, and it was not meant to be in any negative way," Schwarzenegger said.

The six-minute recording, obtained by The Times, captures a meeting with some members of the governor's inner circle last spring. At the time, Schwarzenegger was struggling to persuade Republican lawmakers to embrace his plan to place a measure for billions of dollars in borrowing on the November ballot.

Schwarzenegger occasionally records private meetings so that speechwriters, in particular, can keep a record of his thoughts and cadence. The audio recording obtained by The Times mainly consists of relaxed banter among Schwarzenegger and a few aides, and it offers an unusually candid look at his administration when the doors are closed.

On the recording, Schwarzenegger's Democratic chief of staff, Susan Kennedy, says Assembly Republican leader George Plescia of San Diego resembles a startled deer. That draws a chuckle from the Republican governor, who a moment earlier had referred to Plescia's predecessor, Assemblyman Kevin McCarthy, as "Bakersfield boy."

After mentioning Garcia, he goes on to recall a former weightlifter and competitor, Cuban-born Sergio Oliva. "He was like that," Schwarzenegger says.

State Treasurer Phil Angelides, who is challenging the governor for re-election this year, issued a statement this morning saying Schwarzenegger "has used language that is deeply offensive to all Californians and embarrassed our state. His comments reflect a disturbing pattern of behavior. The governor has a responsibility to conduct himself with dignity."

Garcia, responding today to Angelides, dismissed his comments: "The only embarrassment in California today is Phil Angelides' sad and predictably partisan statement."

On Thursday, Garcia and McCarthy called the conversation irrelevant, even funny. Plescia had no comment.

In an interview yesterday with The Times, Garcia said the conversation didn't bother her in the least. She called herself an "unpolished politician" and said Schwarzenegger had shown nothing but respect for her.

"I love the governor because he is a straight talker just like I am," Garcia said. "Very often I tell him, 'Look, I am a hot-blooded Latina.' I label myself a hot-blooded Latina that is very passionate about the issues, and this is kind of an inside joke that I have with the governor."

The meeting probably took place in the Ronald Reagan Cabinet Room, the governor's de facto office that adjoins his smaller official quarters. The conference room faces east toward lush Capitol Park and has a long conference table that serves as a giant desk. The sword from Schwarzenegger's movie "Conan the Barbarian" rests on a nearby table.

Participants were Kennedy, who was Cabinet secretary under former Gov. Gray Davis; Gary Delsohn, a former Sacramento Bee reporter and author who recently became Schwarzenegger's chief speechwriter; and Walter Von Huene, a former TV director who is a close friend of the governor. Von Huene, a fellow cigar smoker and chess partner of Schwarzenegger, also serves as an informal speech coach.

When asked why the conversation was taped, Schwarzenegger said today it was "because I have a certain way of speaking" and because it allows his speechwriters to get the "texture" of his accent into speeches. "So I don't sound like any other politician speaking, I always sound like Arnold," he said.

Schwarzenegger's voice is heard first on the recording. He teases Delsohn and lavishly praises Kennedy as the conversation begins, suggesting that he knows the recording device is on. He calls Kennedy a "major, major champion."

"Got that on tape?" Kennedy says.

"It's on tape," Delsohn answers.

The free-flowing conversation took place amid negotiations over the governor's proposals for a giant public works package. At the time, Schwarzenegger's own party was resisting the sheer size of the plan — the largest in state history — which entailed tens of billions of dollars in borrowing. They eventually settled on a package worth $37 billion, placed on the November ballot.

On the recording, Kennedy and Schwarzenegger review an exchange between Kennedy and McCarthy, the Central Valley lawmaker who was then the lead negotiator for the Assembly's Republicans.

"You really pissed him off," Schwarzenegger says. "But you know something? You pissed him off because it hit home. That's why it pissed him off. People always get irritated; always when you hit something that is the truth, that's when people flame out."

Schwarzenegger says he had to control himself, and tried to be "really gentle" in the day's negotiations with his fellow Republicans. He calls it "dancing the dance."

But he says to Kennedy: "Anyway, so you hit him, you hit Bakersfield boy hard today," referring to McCarthy, who had warned against upsetting the Legislature's minority Republicans.

The governor goes on to describe the negotiating session:

"And then all of a sudden she comes in out of nowhere. She says, 'Yeah, but you are f------ the governor. Everything that means something to us, you're not including."

Kennedy replies: "I couldn't help it. I could not stay quiet."

Schwarzenegger: "I stayed quiet."

Kennedy then says that McCarthy, who is leaving the Assembly this year, ignored the governor's specific requests on transportation funding.

"He doesn't care. There's no price," Kennedy says. "Anyway, don't get me started again. I am glad he's running for Congress."

McCarthy, who in June won the GOP primary for the 22nd Congressional District, said yesterday that the conversation was typical of the honest back-and-forth that was occurring at the time.

"I thought it was funny," McCarthy said when told of the exchange about him between Schwarzenegger and Kennedy. "What is on that tape is no different than what we said to one another" during private negotiations, he said.

On the recording, someone then asks about Plescia, who had been elected Assembly Republican leader but ceded negotiations on the infrastructure bonds to McCarthy. Kennedy dismisses him.

"Plescia looks like the deer that keeps getting caught in my yard when I leave the gate open," said Kennedy, who owns a home in Marin County.

Kennedy then apparently makes a face, and the governor laughs.

"Great look. I love it," Schwarzenegger says. "There was the Academy Award right there."

Kennedy says Plescia has "big eyes that just kinda like stare like a Stepford wife. He's a good-looking guy. Happy. Perky."

Schwarzenegger then turns to analyzing whether Plescia can "control that wild bunch upstairs" — the Assembly's Republicans — "because that is like a very, uh, unique, uh, unruly bunch of guys and girls."

They move on to Garcia, who is the daughter of Puerto Rican immigrants. On her website, Garcia is described as "born on the Lower East Side of New York to teen parents."

"Bonnie Garcia is great," Kennedy says on the recording. "She's a ball-buster. She's great. Is she Puerto Rican?"

"She seems to me like Cuban," Schwarzenegger says.

"She's not Mexican," Kennedy replies.

"No," the governor agrees.

"But she said something," Kennedy says, "and I thought, I thought she was Puerto Rican."

Then Schwarzenegger offers a theory.

"She maybe is Puerto Rican or the same thing as Cuban. I mean, they are all very hot. They have the, you know, part of the black blood in them and part of the Latino blood in them that together makes it."

Schwarzenegger then drifts off into a conversation about Oliva, who once was one of Schwarzenegger's great rivals.

As Schwarzenegger waxes nostalgic about Oliva, Kennedy abruptly says in the background: "I'm leaving."

Conversation trails off, and the recording ends.



robert.salladay@latimes.com

michael.finnegan@latimes.com