DES MOINES — Julián Castro on Friday defended his brother’s tweeting out a list of constituents who have donated to President Donald Trump, lambasting local businesses that he said profit “off the backs of Hispanic customers” while supporting a president who has vilified that same community.
“He was lamenting the fact that you have so many folks, these big businesses in San Antonio, who have made their livelihood off of the Hispanic community in San Antonio that are propping up a president who is clearly racist, who is encouraging hate and division against the Hispanic community,” Castro told reporters at the Iowa State Fair.
“And so, I believe that people need to know what businesses in that city that are profiting off of the backs of Hispanic customers are turning around and putting that money into the pockets of a politician in Donald Trump that is actively making the lives of Hispanics in this country worse.”
Castro’s remarks came amid controversy that erupted after Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) listed the names of more than 40 donors who gave maximum contributions to Trump’s campaign.
Following the tweet, Trump called Joaquin Castro the "lesser brother of a failed presidential candidate (1%) who makes a fool of himself every time he opens his mouth."
Julián Castro, the former Obama Cabinet secretary and former mayor of San Antonio, reiterated Friday that his brother published no personal information about the donors, which is publicly available.
“That kind of information is put out all the time, and for anybody to pretend or suggest that it’s not, that’s just untrue,” Castro said.
Castro also defended former Vice President Joe Biden, who drew criticism Thursday when he said, “Poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids,” before adding, “wealthy kids, black kids, Asian kids.”
When a reporter asked Castro if he thought the slip was racist, Castro responded, “I don’t believe that the vice president was being racist in that moment.
I think that, like a lot of us when we’re speaking, he just got tripped up in his words.”Minutes earlier, Castro had praised former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, when a fairgoer asked Castro why he was not in El Paso with O’Rourke following the mass shooting there.
“Congressman O’Rourke, I think, has done a wonderful job of expressing all of the emotion that all of us have about what happened in El Paso,” said Castro, who had previously tangled with his fellow Texan.
Castro said, “I didn’t want to go there just to go there. I’m not going to go there to campaign or to try to use that … And Congressman O’Rourke is from El Paso, so he’s at home. He should be there. I am not from there, and I did not want to go in the first couple of days after that happened, because I don’t think what they need is more presidential candidates over there.”
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine