"Our community is engaged, they’re paying attention,” Rep. Linda Sánchez said. | AP Photo Hispanic Dems say Pence will pay for 'that Mexican thing' at the polls

Congressional Hispanic leaders are slamming Mike Pence for using the phrase “that Mexican thing” during Tuesday night’s debate, a retort they say is going to do heavy damage to the GOP on Election Day.

“Our message for Donald Trump and Mr. Pence: ‘That Mexican thing’ is gonna come back to bite ya because our community is engaged, they’re paying attention,” said Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.


“You are going to pay a price at the ballot box this November,” she added.

The Republican vice presidential nominee came under fire after a heated exchange with Tim Kaine over Donald Trump’s past controversies, including the GOP nominee saying some Mexicans are rapists, prompting Pence to respond with “Senator, you whipped out that Mexican thing again.”

Sánchez was joined on the press call by Democratic Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) and Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.).

All three members piled on Trump, saying Latinos have heard nothing but a stream of callous comments from the GOP campaign since the moment he announced his candidacy last year.

“I don’t have any doubt in my mind that Mike Pence is going to have to go to confession on Sunday,” Becerra said.

Gallego attended the debate and said there was an audible gasp from the audience after Pence’s flippant retort.

“For me it was very significant because there weren’t that many Latinos in the crowd,” Gallego said. “If that’s really how Trump [and] Pence think about the Latino community, how do they intend to win them over?”

A Pence spokesperson did not respond to request for comment.

Matthew Nussbaum contributed to this report.