Booker and Beto Got Into A Bilingual-Off At The First Democratic Debate

Hey, did you realize that Democratic candidates speak Spanish? In the event you watched the Democratic National Committee's first presidential candidate debate on Wednesday, June 26, you do now!


The debate, which was contained in Miami, Florida, featured ten hopefuls of varying experience. Once NBC's Savannah Guthrie asked former Texas Congressman Beto O'Rourke if he supported making the highest tax rate at 70%, he surprised almost each person by replying in both English and Spanish. This, on its face, could be fine — both Democrats and Republicans are desperately courting Latinx voters, some of whom are Spanish-speakers, and over 50 million people in the nation can speak the language.


It's just... No one was expecting it, as evidenced by the expressions on both Senators Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren's faces, along with because the host of Twitter reactions commemorating the moment.


Did you visualize Booker's face? Take one more look.


That face? It could well have been because Beto beat Booker to the punch. A number of questions later, the New Jersey Senator whipped out his own Spanish 101 chops, while answering a question about what he would do about the current migrant crisis at the U.S./Mexico border on day one as President.


Of course, whether each candidate used his Spanish to full effect is up for debate: Some people pointed out that Booker totally answered the question, which was centered on his immigration policy, whereas Beto didn't; Guthrie had to follow up with a direct question to him.


Here's a serious question: Will the bilingual skills sway the electorate either way, or will other people chalk it up as pandering? And on a far less serious note: Does this mean Pete Buttigieg will speak Norwegian tomorrow night?