A Cuban bakery in Miami was forced to openly condemn socialism after an uproar following a visit from Democrat House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and congressional candidate Eliott Rodriguez (D), running for Congress from Florida’s 27th Congressional District.
The controversy kicked off after Rodriguez posted a video alongside Jeffries and Yvette Cao, owner of CAO Bakery on October 16. Rodriguez praised Cao for giving them some “goodies.”
“Yes, this is our Cuban perfect little sampler, a little bit of everything. This is his care package that we’re going to send … on his way as he continues his campaign,” Cao said before Jeffries spoke.
Jeffries said:
It’s amazing to be here with Elliot Rodriguez. So thankful for his incredible candidacy, for his commitment to making this community, making Florida, and making the country more affordable and more decent and consistent with our American values and the values of hardworking immigrant communities. Thank you, Yvette, for hosting us here at your wonderful Cuban cafe, and I’m so looking forward to experiencing these amazing treats.
Rodriguez added, “And I’m looking forward to taking some of these to Washington.”
“Thank you, Leader @hakeemjeffries, for supporting our campaign! I look forward to joining you in Congress to lower costs and undo the damage MAGA loyalists like
@MaElviraSalazar have done to FL-27 families. Special thanks to Yvette Cao and the @CaoBakery team!” Rodriguez wrote in the caption on his X post about the bakery visit.
However, the Cuban American business had to address the public after getting loads of backlash on social media for “aligning yourself with those Democrat idiots,” as one social media user wrote.
“Ummm, Cubans are against #communism, since they’ve experienced it, so doing anything with @RepJeffries – or anyone from @TheDemocrats- is definitely not a good look,” another remarked.
The backlash was so severe that Cao Bakery released a statement on social media on Monday, setting the record straight.
“I’ve read your messages, and I understand why Friday hurts,” Cao wrote in a statement posted to social media. “I want to tell you what happened.”
She made clear that opening their doors was “not an endorsement of any candidate, party or platform.”
“CAO stands with our Cuban American community for a free Cuba and condemns Socialism. That will never change,” she wrote, explaining that they received a call from a congressional campaign to tell them that a Cuban American candidate would be in the area and wanted to “stop by for a cafecito and greet the community.”
“As a business, we don’t discriminate based on political views, but at the same time, I didn’t know it would turn into a press conference,” she wrote.
“Our family is here because of what our parents and grandparents gave up to be here. We know what they left behind, and everything we’ve built comes from the freedom this country gave us,” the statement continued. “CAO has always been a place where people talk over a cafecito, families gather, and our traditions stay alive.”
The comments were flooded with Cuban Americans standing by those sentiments.
“Eliott Rodriguez brought the man who wants to lead the socialists in Congress into a Cuban bakery in Miami and, in one move, showed just how little he knows this community,” Rodriguez’s opponent Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) said in an X post.
She continued:
He and his socialist friends turned a Cuban small business into a political prop and left the business dealing with the fallout. It is an insult to parade this ideology through a community built by survivors of socialism and embrace the very people who champion it. If Eliott does not understand the people he is asking to serve, how can Miami trust him in Congress?
The backlash prompted another Cuban bakery, Vicky Bakery, to release a statement as well condemning socialism, as it seems some individuals thought it was the original bakery in question.
“We want to address the confusion surrounding a recent video. Vicky Bakery and CAO Bakery are separate businesses with different ownership. The event referenced did not take place at Vicky Bakery,” the bakery stated.
“As a business founded by Cuban immigrants, we stand firmly against socialism and deeply value freedom, democracy and opportunity,” it continued.
The backlash comes as the Democrat Party continues to embrace socialism and socialist candidates – even members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), including Florida senate hopeful Angie Nixon and Colorado congressional hopeful Melat Kiros.
While Jeffries has tried to distance himself from the rise of socialism in his party, he has grossly lacked a backbone, even refusing to back a House resolution in 2023 that would condemn the “horrors of socialism.” Ironically, Cuban-American Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL) — whom Eliott Rodriguez is running against — introduced the resolution.
At the time, Jeffries said the goal of the “phony, fake, and fraudulent resolution is just to somehow provide cover for extreme MAGA Republicans to try to undermine an agenda that is designed to lift up the health, safety, and well-being of the American people.”
