Schwarzenegger Says He Is Sorry
Taped Remarks Made Him 'Cringe'

By John Pomfret
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 9, 2006; Page A02

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger apologized yesterday for declaring during a closed-door meeting that Cubans and Puerto Ricans are "hot" because of their combination of "black" and "Latino blood."

The action hero-turned-governor acknowledged that the tape-recorded comments made him "cringe" when he read them in yesterday's editions of the Los Angeles Times.

"Anyone out there that feels offended by those comments, I just want to say I'm sorry, I apologize," Schwarzenegger said, adding that if he heard his children make similar comments, "I would be upset."

Schwarzenegger was captured making casual remarks about fellow Republicans on a six-minute tape recorded during a March 3 speechwriting session with his advisers. The Los Angeles Times obtained the tape, placed a link to it on its Web site and put the story about Schwarzenegger's remarks on its front page.

On the tape, Schwarzenegger and chief of staff Susan Kennedy, who is a member of the Democratic Party, praise state Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia (R-Cathedral City) and speculate about her ethnicity.

"I mean Cuban, Puerto Rican, they are all very hot," the governor says on the recording. "They have the, you know, part of the black blood in them and part of the Latino blood in them that together makes it."

The pair spoke affectionately about Garcia in the context of their attempts to induce recalcitrant Republican lawmakers to go along with a series of massive bond proposals to rebuild California's crumbling infrastructure that Schwarzenegger was attempting to hash out with the legislature. Californians will vote on the package, the biggest in the state's history, in November; Schwarzenegger is also running for reelection.

Garcia, who is Puerto Rican and the only Latina Republican in the assembly, appeared with Schwarzenegger yesterday and said she was not offended by the governor's comments. Garcia earlier told the Times that she refers to herself a "hot-blooded Latina."

"I love the governor because he is a straight talker just like I am," she said.

Another subject of the tape, Republican Assemblyman Kevin McCarthy, who was referred to as "Bakersfield boy," said he thought the tape was funny.

Schwarzenegger's opponent, Democratic nominee Phil Angelides, criticized the governor. "Once again, Governor Schwarzenegger has used language that is deeply offensive to all Californians and embarrassed our state," Angelides said in a statement released by his campaign. "His comments reflect a disturbing pattern of behavior. The Governor has a responsibility to conduct himself with dignity."

Garcia criticized Angelides, who trails Schwarzenegger by 13 points in the latest statewide poll, for trying to make political hay from the remarks. "The only embarrassment in California today is Phil Angelides' sad and predictably partisan statement," she said.

Eh, Garcia doesn't seem to be offended, so I don't see a huge fuss coming out of this one.

it seems like every week we have some public figure saying something stupid.

Heck, I say something stupid every 15 minutes or so.

I speak in front of people for my job. It not so difficult to keep insensitive and potentially inflamatory remarks out of my public speech.

Schwarzenegger was captured making casual remarks about fellow Republicans on a six-minute tape recorded during a March 3 speechwriting session with his advisers.

"Black and Latino blood"? What exactly is Latino blood?

What exactly did he say wrong again?

If the comment had only been potentially offensive to her, and not to all Puerto Ricans and Cubans, it never would have been newsworthy in the first place.

Schwarz apologized and feels bad, so sure, nothing much will come of this, but it seems like every week we have some public figure saying something stupid.