Karen Bass Confronted Over Past Comments About Cuba: ‘Lesson Learned, Would Not Do That Again’
Congresswoman Karen Bass — reportedly on Joe Biden’s VP shortlist — faced questions on Fox News Sunday about her past comments about Fidel Castro and her past travel to Cuba.
Chris Wallace pressed Bass over her statement on the passing of Fidel Castro, which read, “The passing of the Comandante en Jefe is a great loss to the people of Cuba.”
He also questioned Bass about how she visited Cuba multiple times in the 70s, asking, “What was it about Castro in Cuba that you found so appealing at that time and do you now regret your involvement and considerable time spent in a communist dictatorship?”
“When I went to Cuba over 40 years ago when I was in my teens and early 20s, I went to help the Cuban people, we were building houses,” Bass responded. “The other reason why I went was to meet and work with Americans from around the country that were involved in a lot of different social issues. I think that over the past 20 years, my involvement in Cuba has centered on health care and promoting democracy. Do I know an awful lot more now? Do I understand that the Castro regime did not have the same freedoms as we do in the United States, was a brutal regime, they don’t have freedom of press, freedom of protest — which was kind of ironic because when I went in my youth, the majority of us that were there were antiwar activists, we were protesting against police abuse and understood then and now that the Cuban people did not have the same freedoms, but what I also believe is that the best way to deal with change is to have relations.”
At one point Wallace said, “You make it sound as if this was just when you were young and irresponsible… you put out that message about Castro’s death four years ago in 2016. Shouldn’t you have known by then that Castro’s death was not a great loss to the Cuban people?”
“I absolutely would have not put that statement out,” Bass said, “aand I can tell you that after talking to my colleagues who represent the state of Florida, raised those concerns with me — lesson learned, would not do that again for sure.”
WATCH: Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) says "lesson learned" about how she described Fidel Castro. #IfItsSunday #MTP
Bass: I 'don’t consider myself a Castro sympathizer' pic.twitter.com/xbUX7yhrfu
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) August 2, 2020
Bass was also confronted on the issue on Meet the Press, with Chuck Todd asking how it looked like she had a “soft view” of Castro. She again said, “Lesson learned, wouldn’t do that again.”
You can watch above, via Fox News Sunday and NBC.
