Kansas Latino Affairs official asked to resign after she endorses Donald Trump
Adrienne Foster, the director of the Kansas Hispanic and Latino American Affairs Commission is being asked to resign after what some are calling incendiary comments she made in the Kansas City Star
supporting Donald Trump.
The hubbub all started March 3, when a reporter for the Kansas City Star took to Facebook to try to find supporters of the controversial GOP candidate and business tycoon. Foster responded and was more than willing to offer her unvarnished opinions for the article.
“Trump, [Foster] said, is a guy who can get stuff done. After years of sending Republicans to Capitol Hill, nothing was happening," Kansas City Star reporter, Steve Kraske, wrote, adding that she grew so discouraged that she considered leaving the party.
“Trump offers hope. If he can’t get it done, then Foster wonders whether anyone can,” he wrote.
Democratic Rep. Louis Ruiz from Kansas City and others, took umbrage at Foster’s comments.
“Look, she can support whomever she wants, but she’s appointed by the governor (Republican Sam Brownback) as a liaison to the Hispanic community, and these comments don’t represent the people,” Ruiz told Fox News Latino.
When Kraske asked about the border wall Trump wants to build, Foster, a third-generation Latina, replied, “The wall is needed. Latinos have been waiting patiently for 10 years or more to get a green card and become citizens. They’ve waited their turn. We don’t like people skipping the line.”
In addition to Ruiz, two other Democrats – John Alcala nd Ponka-We Victors – sent a letter to Gov. Brownback objecting to Foster's comments about Trump, saying they are “inaccurate and highly inflammatory and discriminatory.”
“Donald Trump has described Latin American immigrants as being killers, criminals, drug dealers and rapists, has called for the building of a wall between the U.S. and Mexico and has even praised the beating of a Latin American man by [Trump] supporters,” the representatives wrote.
Ruiz said he couldn’t understand how a Latina, or anyone, could take a position counter to her own heritage.
“We can’t be silent," he told FNL. "As Latinos, we’re too polite for our own good. She needs to resign. I equate these comments to World War II when Jews wore yellow stars but turned in other Jews or like the film 'Django,' the Samuel Jackson character who was a slave himself but enslaved others.”
A spokeswoman for Brownback, Eileen Hawley, said in a statement that there is freedom of speech in America. She noted Foster made comments in personal support of Trump when responding to a reporter's Facebook posting.
Fox News Latino reached out to Foster for comment, but she had not responded at the time of publication.
Rebekah Sager is a writer/editor for Fox News Latino. She can be reached at rebekah.sager@foxnewslatino.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebekah_sager