The commencement of January has brought about a surprising scandal, unexpected in our 2024 predictions.
In a rather unexpected turn of events, it seems that Mayra Flores, a formerly serving United States Representative and the inaugural Congresswoman hailing from Mexico, has landed in a perplexing situation. While not as severe as the typical political controversies, it is rather amusing. Accusers claim that Flores has been utilizing online depictions of Mexican cuisine, wrongly implying she had prepared the dishes herself and even captioned one picture with, “As a proud Latina with culinary skills, homemade Mexican food tastes unmatched when made on a gas stove.”
It begs the question, why?!
As reported by The Texas Tribune, numerous photos shared by Flores on social media are not originally hers. For instance, she juxtaposed a now-iconic 2023 caption implying her cooking expertise with an Instagram photo of some eggs and tortillas. The noteworthy fact? According to Current Revolt, the same photo was originally posted two years earlier by the Facebook account Izabal Magazine.
Strangely enough, there are several similar occurrences.
Flores has reportedly presented multiple “appropriated” images of Mexican cuisine as her personal culinary creations
It comes as no surprise that numerous users on social media are now demanding an explanation from Flores regarding the allegedly “appropriated” photos.
This week, aThe individual, X made a noteworthy observation about the sharing of a social media picture by the Republican representative, describing it as “gorditas de masa” (subject to discussion). However, the real concern is that the same image seems to have originally surfaced on the Facebook page “Visit Guyana” back in 2022. Even though the page credited a photographer named Gwen Phillips, it seems that Flores might have resorted to a very traditional method of copying and pasting. Furthermore, it doesn’t seem to depict gorditas de masa at all.
The person making the accusation stated that Flores is “trying to convince people that she leads an extravagant life and cooks meals over an open fire at the ranch.”
“The problem is: this picture was taken from a Guyanese Facebook page,” they added.
Some X users are confirming that they nearly spat out their coffee upon seeing the images — while also questioning why Flores seems to have “been falsifying her modest Mexican food photos for years.” But really, why?Screenshots from the internet show that the former U.S. congresswoman also shared a picture of tortillas on a ranch in 2022. The caption read, “I embrace the Rancho lifestyle surrounded by my wonderful family,” and it seems that the Facebook page “Comida de Rancho” initially published it in 2019.
What’s the response from Flores? According to The Texas Tribune, the current House nominee stated that it was not her “intention to mislead.” She explained, “The photo simply evoked memories of my upbringing in Mexico and childhood… I deleted the tweet to avoid any confusion.”
Nevertheless, many individuals on X are discussing the situation, with some comparing it to previous U.S. Representative George Santos. As you may know, Santos was expelled from Congress on charges related to fraud… and has probably concocted a lot:
Other X users are simply labeling Flores’ predicament as “entertaining,” while suggesting that it potentially makes her a “grifter”:
Meanwhile, the former GOP Congresswoman has stayed completely silent about the issueon social networking sites. One thing she shared yesterday, though? A video of people reportedly embarking on their journey to cross the Mexican border into the U.S. She expressed, “However Democrats are fixated on modifying images I posted that evoked memories of my [upbringing]. I can’t tolerate so much triviality.”
