Posted on 10/25/2013 9:17:26 AM PDT by Impala64ssa
WASHINGTON) -- Given the amount of spam email users have received allegedly from Nigerian "princes" and "doctors" looking to share their fortune in gold for a small fee, it's surprising anyone could get offended at Sen. Ted Cruz’s recent joke comparing Obamacare to said scams.
However, a Nigerian-American organization wants the Texas Republican to apologize for comments he made Monday about the problems with the Affordable Care Act website.
“You may have noticed that all the Nigerian email scammers have become a lot less active lately,” Cruz said at a gathering with supporters in Houston, according to the Houston Chronicle.
“They all have been hired to run the Obamacare website,” he joked.
But the Christian Association of Nigerian-Americans, also known as CANAN, isn’t laughing. The group blasted Cruz, calling his comments distasteful and disparaging.
“Cruz has maligned all hardworking, decent and outstanding Nigerian-Americans who add value and bring goodwill to their different communities, especially in Texas, with the largest concentration of Nigerian-Americans in this country,” the group said in a statement released Thursday.
And that’s not the only place where Cruz’s joke fell flat.
The Nigerian ambassador to the United States also wants an apology from the senator.
Ambassador Ade Adefuye told POLITICO that Nigerians are “disappointed and shocked” by Cruz’s comments.
“We deplore the statement, and we demand an apology, and we demand it be withdrawn,” Adefuye said.
CANAN maintains that despite the stereotype of Nigerians running email scams and being corrupt, the Nigerian-American community is one of the most educated and successful immigrant communities in the United States, with more than 17 percent of Nigerian-American immigrants holding a master’s degree or higher, according to U.S. Census numbers.
The group wants Cruz to issue a formal apology for his remarks.
“We consider it an insult that a senator who should be representing the people of his state could turn against some of his very own constituents in what is clearly a reckless and offensive remark,” CANAN said.
This is not the first time Sen. Cruz has offended an ethnic community with his comments. Last month, Cruz angered a group of Filipino vets after tying his 21-hour speech against Obamacare to the “Bataan death march.”
Towards the end of his marathon speech, Cruz said he wanted, “to thank the men and women who have endured this, this Bataan Death March.”
Cruz later met with a group of Filipino vets to apologize for his statement.
“I apologize for causing offense,” Cruz said. “I should not have said what I did.”
“I was not attempting to compare my filibuster to that suffering,” he added.
The yapping mainstream media begins its usual dribble of criticisms against its chosen target.
Who cares what the scammers say??
He shouldn’t have apologized. He should have said “everybody knows what I meant; get over it”. Or “I’m sorry some of you are so eager to be offended”.
He is wrong. The ACA is filled with scammers from Kenya.
the official policy of Nigeria is to tolerate and even promote the e-mail schemes. If this human filth doesn’t like being perceived of as human filth, they should quit acting like human filth.
Nigerians ... don’t like it here ... GO HOME. Problem solved all around
Well then Obama’s FBI owes an apology as well:
The FBI identifies “Nigerian letter fraud” on its website describing common fraud schemes, saying it involves a letter sent from Nigeria offering to share profits if the recipient helps a self-proclaimed government official transfer funds out of the country.
They’re going to have to take his apology and this will be gone. The MSM will try every day all day to find anything on him. He may as well get used to it now, not august of a campaign.
Really now? Nigerian-Americans?
If they identify so much with their ‘beloved’ homeland then perhaps they should really consider moving back there.
Most members of certain ethnic groups do not seem to understand the concept of humor. Ted Cruz should not bow to their cultural and intellectual deficiencies.
Yup, go back to Nigeria and STFU.
The truth hurts.
Tough, get over it.
I’m just pissed all the time over foreigners in the United States.
If you’ve lost the Nigerian scammers, who’s left?
Then, again, as far as I know, flights and ships are still going to Nigeria. We could take about 6 months of the freebies they are getting and buy them a ticket.
vaudine
Two points:
1. Most of the time the victims are motivated by greed. If an offer is too good to be true then it probably is to good to be true.
2. The scammers prey on naive foolish people and string them along until their bank accounts are completely gone. There are usually multiple transfers of cash. You would think that the victim would realize that they are being scammed and stop.
Sorry that the truth hurts. Nigerians have been scamming Americans ever since I have been in the banking business. . . which is about 33 years. I am sure it was going on before I arrived.
Do you know that in order to get a visa to enter Nigeria, you are required to give them detailed information about you bank account?!! I have a friend who is attempting to organize an international meeting in Nigeria. . .what a nightmare. . guess what. . people are seriously reticent to offer up private banking info in order to get a visa.
Who gives a crap?
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