Yulín Cruz on China COVID-19 Joke: ‘If I Hurt Anybody by That, I Apologize’

Jun 20, 2020
6:11 PM

Carmen Yulín Cruz during her 2019 gubernatorial campaign announcement

As the fallout continues from Luis Dávila Cólon being fired by Univision Communications for uttering the N-word on his now canceled WKAQ Radio show, supporters of the controversial talk show radio host and political analyst in Puerto Rico took a predictable partisan route by sharing a clip of San Juan mayor and gubernatorial candidate Carmen Yulín Cruz —a politician who has been a constant target of Dávila Colon’s— make a joke about COVID-19 and China.

In the six-second clip from a Pelota Dura interview this past week, Yulín Cruz is heard joking that she wouldn’t promote Puerto Rico because one can get the coronavirus in China.

The joke sounded like something President Trump would say—the same Trump who Yulín Cruz has slammed for ignoring Puerto Rico.

The clip did make the rounds in social media with some of Dávila Colón’s supporters falsely equating Yulín Cruz’s China take to Dávila Colon’s use of the N-Word on air during a global movement for Black lives that is questioning white supremacy.

On Saturday, Yulín Cruz shared an apology.

“It was said without wanting to harm anybody but one needs to say that it can be offensive. If I hurt anybody by that, I apologize. My track record is clear,” Yulín Cruz told David Begnaud of CBS News.

Earlier this year, before his firing on Thursday, Dávila Colón was suspended by WKAQ after calling San Juan mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz a perra (“a female dog” or “b•tch.”)