AP Photo Clinton slams Kasich's comment about Hispanic community

Hillary Clinton blasted John Kasich (in Spanish) as being a “product of the Party of Trump” Friday after comments he had said about Hispanics on Thursday.

“Otro producto del Partido de Trump—@JohnKasich. Hablar sobre los latinos no solo quiere decir hablar de propinas,” Clinton tweeted.


“Another product of the Party of Trump — John Kasich. Talking about Latinos doesn't just mean talking about tips,” is what the tweet translates to in English.

Kasich, in what appeared to be an attempt to praise Latinos during a speech at a luncheon at a golf club in California Thursday, said Latinos' commitment to jobs others are unwilling to do deserves a “a little tip.”

“A lot of them do jobs that they're willing to do and, uh, that's why in the hotel you leave a little tip," said Kasich.

According to the Los Angeles Times, he then shared a story about a recent hotel stay.

"This lady wrote me in my hotel there in L.A. She wrote this note. It said, 'I really want you to know that I care about your stay.' Is that just the greatest thing?" he said. "So, you know, we can learn a lot and she's Hispanic, 'cause I didn't know it at the time, but I met her in the hallway—asked her if I could get a little more soap.”

A spokesman for Kasich's campaign, Chris Schrimpf, told the Times that the candidate was referring to the hospitality industry writ large, "talking about how great the service was and how we should respect everyone in our society, no matter what their job or position might be."

The U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce told POLITICO that while Kasich may have used awkward phrasing, the organization didn’t find his comments offensive. In fact, they said he was generally moving the Republican Party in the right direction by acknowledging Hispanic contributions.

“I think first of all it was a well-intentioned comment,” President and CEO Javier Palomarez said. “In my personal observation of John Kasich he still represents that compassionate conservatism that has very much a Ronald Reagan feel to it.”

“We commend Gov. Kasich for recognizing the contributions of the Hispanic community,” said Ammar Campa-Najjar, director of communication and marketing for the chamber. “That’s the narrative we need to hear coming out of the party,” he said, speaking about Kasich's other comments on Thursday about values in the Hispanic community.

“I think his intentions were right. I think he was trying to show a contrast with the more demeaning rhetoric that we have heard out of certain members running for the presidency within the Republican Party,” Campa-Najjar said. “Certainly I think this was as a broad spectrum [of ideology] and the way that different candidates in both parties view the Hispanic community.”

Trump, who has made controversial comments about immigrants in the past and offered an aggressive immigration reform plan, has brought the topic to the forefront of the campaign.

Kasich, meanwhile, has not taken off the table a pathway to citizenship when it comes to immigrants who came to the United States, and has said that he would support the creation of a robust wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

A previous version of this story said that Kasich supported a pathway to citizenship. His campaign said he is still considering it, but has not yet decided whether to support such a proposal.