Hispanic Caucus Dem says he won’t attend meeting with Kamala Harris’s new comms director

Rep. Lou Correa (D-Calif.) said Monday that he will skip a meeting scheduled for Thursday between the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) and Jamal Simmons, Kamala Harris’s new communications director.

The meeting, confirmed by the CHC and Harris’s office, will take place during the CHC’s weekly members’ meeting. Although the intended purpose of the meeting is to clear the air regarding Simmons’ controversial tweets from more than a decade ago that questioned ICE for not investigating undocumented activists who revealed their immigration status live on MSNBC, Correa told The Hill that he fears that Simmons’ past actions “show his true disposition when it comes to immigration. That’s what my concern is. A meeting is not going to change my mind or give me peace of mind one way or the other.”

Simmons defended himself once the tweets resurfaced: “As a pundit for much of my career I have tweeted a lot and spoken out on public issues. Sometimes I have been sarcastic, unclear, or just plainly missed the mark.”

He went on to apologize, saying, “I sincerely apologize for offending those who care as much as I do about making America the best, multi-ethnic, diverse democracy it can be. I know the role I am taking on is to represent the Biden-Harris administration, and I will do so with humility, sincerity and respect.”

Simmons also reached out to Erika Andiola, one of the activists about whom he spoke in his original tweet. She tweeted out her support of him on January 8:

Others on the Left also support Simmons for bowing to cancel culture. Jose Antonio Vargas, a journalist who is a high-profile undocumented immigrant, responded on Twitter, as well:

Simmons’ tenure as communications director for Vice President Harris could be short, based on the backlash Harris has received for her hiring decision. Rep. Correa, while not attending the scheduled sit-down between the CHC and Simmons, had this to say for future relations: “Everybody changes. I think Mr. Simmons, like I, we all change our predisposition, our perspective on issues and you know what, I think actions speak louder than words.”

As Andiola said, only time will tell. In the meantime, a few Twitter users expressed support for Simmons’ train of thought back in 2010, but not necessarily his about-face in 2022:

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