Former Texas congresswoman embroiled in alleged ‘Grubgate’ scandal

January 03, 2024 06:08 PM

Former Texas Rep. Mayra Flores was involved in a scandal dubbed “Grubgate” on Wednesday after she appeared to imply that some Mexican dishes, and the photos of them, were hers.

The Texas conservative first attracted claims that her posts were misleading earlier this week after she posted images of food on social media that she claimed was “gorditas de masa,” and the images were accompanied with the caption “the Ranch life with family is the best.”

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An investigation by the website Current Revolt later revealed the image was not hers, and the dish was not Mexican or “gorditas de masa.” Instead, the exact image had been posted by a Guyanese travel page in 2022.

Flores’s post to the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, has since been deleted, and the former lawmaker has changed her social media handle.

FILE – Rep. Mayra Flores, R-Texas, speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas, Aug. 5, 2022. In a rare race between two sitting members of Congress — both Latinos — in a Democratic-leaning district, Republican U.S. Rep. Mayra Flores was ousted. Flores, who made history in a special election earlier this year by becoming the first Mexican-born congresswoman, said the heavily Hispanic region has always been conservative, with a focus on faith and family values, leading to a growing GOP impact. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)

It was not the first time she allegedly passed off an image of food as her own. The website found several other instances, including posts where she responded to users, and one where she even clarified the type of cheese in a photo she posted. The photo with the cheese had previously been posted by users on several social media sites, including a Facebook post from 2021.

Flores said that she had not intended to be misleading in her posts and has deleted the one posted this week to help clear up confusion.

“The photo simply reminded me of my upbringing in Mexico and childhood,” Flores told the Texas Tribune on Wednesday. “I deleted the tweet to clear up any confusion. I actually spend my Christmas at ranch with my In-Laws. Happy New Year!”

The news comes a month after the Texas conservative announced she was running for Texas’s 34th Congressional District. She previously represented the district after she won a special election in June 2022, but later lost to Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX) that November.

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Gonzalez’s reelection campaign commented on the scandal in a post to X on Wednesday, calling her the “George Santos of the [Rio Grande Valley].”

The Washington Examiner has reached out to Flores’s campaign for comment.