UPTOWN — State Sen. Adriano Espaillat hit back against a Donald Trump supporter who warned of taco trucks springing up on every corner if the GOP candidate loses the race for the White House.
Marco Gutierrez, founder of Latinos for Trump, warned of a Latino explosion during a debate on MSNBC Thursday night with Espaillat and host Joy-Ann Reid.
“If you don’t do something about it, you’re gonna have taco trucks on every corner,” Gutierrez said, adding that although Latinos bring a lot of good things, “we also have problems.”
Espaillat decried the comments as derogatory and against the “great American experiment.”
"Mr. Gutierrez's comments were shocking and offensive. They are reflective of the type of intolerance Trump's rhetoric breeds," Espaillat said in a statement to DNAinfo New York.
On Friday, Espaillat tweeted out a photo of himself eating tacos at a truck on St. Nicholas and 182nd St. with his handpicked successor for his State Senate seat, Marisol Alcantara.
Enjoying lunch at a local taco truck with @NY31Alcantara. #TacoTrucksOnEveryCorner pic.twitter.com/dZwXse9jo6
— Adriano Espaillat (@EspaillatNY) September 2, 2016
Gutierrez's comments went viral overnight, with memes and hashtags like #TacoTrucksOnEveryCorner and #ImWithTacos, sparking a discussion about the merits of a food truck surge.
I Support keeping America Great! Taco Trucks on Every Corner! #TTOEC 🌮❤️🌮 pic.twitter.com/4HushlSMjj
— Hugo (@MiVidaSeattle) September 2, 2016
what's wrong with taco trucks on every corner? Sounds great to me!
— K A S T L E (@KASTLE) September 2, 2016
Taco trucks on every corner = DELICIOUSNESS!!!
— Kukkialla (@kukkiallahall) September 2, 2016
Trump's speech came after his visit to Mexico for a meeting with President Enrique Peña Nieto, and reiterated his support for building a wall between countries, tripling the number of deportation officers and having zero tolerance for undocumented immigrants who have committed a crime.
