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By Robert Downen
The Texas Tribune
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In a weird micro-scandal that some have dubbed “GrubGate,” a former GOP congresswoman who’s working for her previous seat in South Texas is being accused of routinely stealing pictures of Mexican meals from different social media accounts and passing them off as her personal cooking.
Earlier this week, Mayra Flores, the primary Mexican-born lady to serve in Congress, posted a photograph on social media that she described as “gorditas de masa” with the caption, “the Ranch life with household is the most effective.”
Quickly after, a consumer on X, previously often called Twitter, identified that that the picture was beforehand posted on a Fb web page, “Go to Guyana,” in March 2022. Others mentioned that the meals within the photograph was not gorditas de masa. That prompted the conservative web site Present Revolt to dig additional into Flores’ social media accounts, the place they discovered quite a few different posts through which Flores used others’ pictures of campfire cooking or do-it-yourself tortillas as an instance her personal idyllic life on a ranch.
“As a proud Latina who is aware of methods to cook dinner, do-it-yourself Mexican meals tastes higher from a fuel range,” she wrote alongside one photograph of eggs and tortillas on what seems to be a wood-burning range. The photograph was initially posted on Fb in 2021 by a Spanish-language journal.
The Tribune individually reviewed Flores’ Instagram and located a minimum of two such cases within the final yr, together with one put up from July through which she shared a photograph of meat and tortillas on a grill with the caption, “Joe Biden is just not invited to the carne asada” in each English and Spanish. A reverse picture search discovered that the precise photograph was posted a yr prior by a Fb web page for tourism in Tamaulipas — the state in Mexico the place Flores was born.
In one other put up, she praised the “easy issues in life” like a “good breakfast” alongside a photograph that was first printed two years in the past by a Mexican meals photographer.
In a textual content message on Wednesday, Flores mentioned it wasn’t her “intention to mislead.”
“The photograph merely jogged my memory of my upbringing in Mexico and childhood,” she mentioned. “I deleted the tweet to clear up any confusion. I really spend my Christmas at ranch with my In-Legal guidelines. Pleased New 12 months!”
Requested to specify which of the pictures she was referring to, Flores instructed that the Tribune give attention to “the border disaster.”
She additionally modified her deal with on X amid the criticism and has been blocking individuals on social media all through Tuesday and Wednesday who’ve accused her of falsely passing the pictures of cooking off as her personal.
“The George Santos of the [Rio Grande Valley],” wrote the marketing campaign for U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, who Flores is presently difficult.
Flores is working to retake the South Texas seat that she initially gained in a June 2022 particular election. Her win was seen by the GOP as an indication of momentum amongst closely Hispanic voters there. However redistricting made the seat extra favorable for Democrats within the November election, and Flores misplaced to Gonzalez.
This text initially appeared in The Texas Tribune.
The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and interesting Texans on state politics and coverage. Study extra at texastribune.org.
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