File this story under the “sad but true” category. The race to be the next mayor of Los Angeles has at least been a bit more entertaining this year than the typical contests where Democrats simply win by default and almost don’t have to bother campaigning. Republican businessman Rick Caruso has been flushing a significant part of his personal wealth into campaign advertising and has proven to be significantly more competitive than many expected in his race to defeat Democratic Congresswoman Karen Bass. In a time when crime is running even more rampant than normal in the City of Angels and homelessness has turned part of one of America’s most expensive and beautiful municipalities into a festering dump, Caruso thought he smelled an opportunity to upset the status quo. But he didn’t do himself any favors during a debate this week when he was asked a question by a moderator that focused on race. Dunia Elvir referred to Caruso as “a white man,” at which point he responded by saying, “I’m Italian.” He followed up by saying, “Thank you, that’s Latin.” I’m sure you can imagine where things went from there. (The Guardian)
L.A. GOP mayoral candidate: I’m not white. I’m Italian
