Rep. Mónica De la Cruz (R-TX), a freshman Hispanic congresswoman, will lead the Republican response to President Joe Biden's State of the Union address in Spanish.
"The American Dream has been a nightmare since 2021, with an open border, inflation that's through the roof, fentanyl killing our sons and daughters, and a president who is out of touch," De la Cruz said in a statement. "I am proud to represent the House Republicans tomorrow night and deliver the Spanish language response to my fellow Hispanics. I understand their struggle. I was sent to Washington to be a voice for my community, to tell the President that we must secure the border, and restore our previously strong economy."
Estoy orgullosa de entregar el discurso republicano a la Nación en español mañana por la noche. pic.twitter.com/DBb3iWpTug
— Rep. Monica De La Cruz (@RepMonicaDLC) March 6, 2024
The congresswoman, who always highlights that she is the granddaughter of a Mexican farm worker and was raised by her single mother in Brownsville, highlighted in her personal account on "X" that her grandparents would be proud to see how far she went in her political career.
I am HONORED to have been selected to deliver the State of the Union response in Spanish.
My abuelitos would be proud.
🥹🙏🏼🇺🇸
— Monica De La Cruz (@monica4congress) March 6, 2024
It is not the first time that a first-year representative has been in charge of responding in Spanish to the president's State of the Union speech.
In 2023, Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ), who won Arizona's 6th District for Republicans securing the majority in the House, delivered the GOP's rebuttal in Spanish.
Likewise, in 2020, Rep. Verónica Escobar (D-AZ), also a first-term congresswoman that year, presented the Democrats' rebuttal to former President Donald Trump's speech.
The announcement of Congresswoman De la Cruz as the Republican standard bearer to respond to Biden's speech comes at an important political moment for her after sweeping Super Tuesday in the Republican primaries for the 15th congressional district of Texas, a territory whose electorate is primarily Hispanic.
De La Cruz defeated her opponent, Vangela Churchill, 88.2% to 11.8%, in one of the most notable performances of the day.
The congresswoman is a rising Republican political star who came to Congress in 2022. She became the first woman, the first Latina and the first Republican to represent Texas' 15th Congressional District, a seat dominated for more than a century by the Democrats.
