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Eva Longoria has apologised after saying that "Latinas are the real heroes" of Joe Biden's presidential election win.
Biden was officially elected president of the United States of America on Saturday, beating his opponent Donald Trump after several days of waiting for election results.
Longoria had been a prominent and vocal supporter of Biden throughout his campaign and was one of the first celebrities to tweet her congratulations after the result was called.
"Our children were watching us as a country. To see what we would decide. Division and Hate or Unity and LOVE," she wrote. "We chose correctly. LOVE will always trump hate! Unity, let's start healing as Americans!"
Our children were watching us as a country. To see what we would decide. Division and Hate or Unity and LOVE. We chose correctly. LOVE will always trump hate! Unity, let’s start healing as Americans! 🇺🇸
But Longoria caused controversy during an appearance on MSNBC on Monday, where she discussed the role of people of colour in securing Biden's victory.
"The women of colour showed up in a big way," she said. "Of course, you saw in Georgia what Black women have done, but Latina women were the real heroines here. Beating men in turnout in every state and voting for Biden/Harris at an average rate close to three to one."
Longoria's comments immediately caused a backlash, with people accusing her of "anti-Blackness" and "erasing Black Latinx women".
eva longoria undermining the black community (specifically black women) by saying that latina women are the “heroines”. just shows the anti-blackness in our community and how we do not appreciate black women enough for their efforts and what they do.
However you wanna spin it, what Eva Longoria said tonight on live television was a form of Black/Afro-Latinx erasure...full stop. And when Black folks are telling you DIRECTLY that it was erasure, and yet you brush us off as “overreacting,” of COURSE expect a hearty “fuck you”
it’s always the erasure of afro-latinos in this discourse and honestly i’m sick of it. when people like eva longoria are referring to latinos they’re not referring to black latinos and it’s soooo rooted in whiteness https://t.co/VF6e0dw24c
Within hours of her appearance on the show, Longoria took to Twitter to issue an apology and clarify her comments.
Please read 👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽
"I'm so sorry and sad to hear that my comments on MSNBC could be perceived as taking credit from Black women," she wrote. "When I said that Latinas were heroines in this election, I simply meant that they turned out in greater numbers and voted more progressively than LATINO MEN."
"Let me be very clear: Black women have long been the backbone of the Democratic Party, something we have seen played out in this election as well as previous ones," she went on.
"Finally, Black women don't have to do it alone any longer," she added. "Latinas (many who identify as Afro-Latina) indigenous women, AAPI women and other women of color are standing with them so we can grow our collective voice and power."
