A Cuban bakery in Miami issued a public statement condemning socialism after facing backlash for hosting a campaign stop by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Democratic congressional candidate Eliott Rodriguez, who is running in Florida’s 27th Congressional District.
The episode began October 16, when Rodriguez posted a video from CAO Bakery showing him alongside Jeffries and owner Yvette Cao. In the clip, Cao described a gift for the visitors as “our Cuban perfect little sampler, a little bit of everything,” calling it “his care package that we’re going to send… on his way as he continues his campaign.”
Jeffries responded by praising Rodriguez’s candidacy. “So thankful for his incredible candidacy, for his commitment to making this community, making Florida, and making the country more affordable and more decent and consistent with our American values and the values of hardworking immigrant communities,” he said, thanking Cao for hosting them at “your wonderful Cuban cafe.”
Rodriguez added that he was “looking forward to taking some of these to Washington,” and wrote on X: “Thank you, Leader @hakeemjeffries, for supporting our campaign! I look forward to joining you in Congress to lower costs and undo the damage MAGA loyalists like @MaElviraSalazar have done to FL-27 families. Special thanks to Yvette Cao and the @CaoBakery team!”
The post drew immediate criticism from Cuban American social media users, with one writing that the bakery was “aligning yourself with those Democrat idiots,” and another saying Cubans are against communism “since they’ve experienced it,” making any association with Jeffries or Democrats “definitely not a good look.”
Bakery responds
Facing mounting criticism, CAO Bakery posted a statement on Monday. “I’ve read your messages, and I understand why Friday hurts,” Cao wrote. “I want to tell you what happened.”
Cao said opening the bakery’s doors was “not an endorsement of any candidate, party or platform,” adding: “CAO stands with our Cuban American community for a free Cuba and condemns Socialism. That will never change.”
She said the bakery received a call from a congressional campaign saying a Cuban American candidate would be in the area and wanted to “stop by for a cafecito and greet the community.” “As a business, we don’t discriminate based on political views, but at the same time, I didn’t know it would turn into a press conference,” she wrote.
“Our family is here because of what our parents and grandparents gave up to be here. We know what they left behind, and everything we’ve built comes from the freedom this country gave us. CAO has always been a place where people talk over a cafecito, families gather, and our traditions stay alive.”
The confusion also spread to a second, unrelated business, Vicky Bakery, which issued its own statement after some online commenters mistook it for the bakery in Rodriguez’s video. “Vicky Bakery and CAO Bakery are separate businesses with different ownership. The event referenced did not take place at Vicky Bakery,” the statement read, adding: “As a business founded by Cuban immigrants, we stand firmly against socialism and deeply value freedom, democracy and opportunity.”
Political fallout
Rodriguez’s opponent, Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL), seized on the incident in a post on X. “Eliott Rodriguez brought the man who wants to lead the socialists in Congress into a Cuban bakery in Miami and, in one move, showed just how little he knows this community,” Salazar wrote. “He and his socialist friends turned a Cuban small business into a political prop and left the business dealing with the fallout. It is an insult to parade this ideology through a community built by survivors of socialism and embrace the very people who champion it. If Eliott does not understand the people he is asking to serve, how can Miami trust him in Congress?”
The dispute comes as the Democratic Party has seen a number of candidates openly identify with the Democratic Socialists of America, including Florida Senate hopeful Angie Nixon and Colorado congressional hopeful Melat Kiros. Jeffries has not formally aligned himself with the group, but in 2023 he declined to back a House resolution condemning the “horrors of socialism,” introduced by Salazar herself, calling it a “phony, fake, and fraudulent resolution” intended to “provide cover for extreme MAGA Republicans to try to undermine an agenda that is designed to lift up the health, safety, and well-being of the American people.”
