Mexico’s President-Elect Claudia Sheinbaum and her political allies reacted to a series of comments made by Presidential Candidate Donald Trump that were not directed at them but at U.S. President Joe Biden. The premature reaction by Mexico’s political elite appears to have been fueled by Mexican journalists who mistranslated and widely shared the comments from a poorly edited video on social media.
The diplomatic error began on Saturday night when Trump was speaking about how he was able to pressure Mexico with the threat of tariffs into sending troops to stop migrant caravans heading north. After that comment, Trump referred to Joe Biden, claiming he had a low IQ of about 50.
TRUMP SE BURLA DE EBRARD, llama a @m_ebrard “de bajo coeficiente intelectual” al recordar la negociación que tuvo que hacer con #México para desplegar 28 mil soldados para frenar la migración.
— Resistencia Ciudadana 🇲🇽 (@ResistenciaCMx) July 21, 2024
¡Lamentablemente @realDonaldTrump tiene razón!
Ni como negarlo. pic.twitter.com/FeSzdpZEfR
Mexican journalists fell for a poor edit of the video that cuts right before Trump calls Biden by name and mistook the comment as him referring to then-Mexican Foreign Relations Minister Marcelo Ebrard. In a matter of minutes, Mexican President-Elect Claudia Sheinbaum posted on social media a message reacting to “obscene language” and defending Ebrard, calling him a brilliant public servant and her future Economy Secretary.
Lamento el lenguaje soez del expresidente Trump y desde luego discrepo de su opinión sobre @m_ebrard Para mí es uno de los mejores servidores públicos de México y será un gran secretario de economía de nuestro país, que nadie debe olvidar, es libre y soberano. https://t.co/o5cKRryh9V
— Dra. Claudia Sheinbaum (@Claudiashein) July 21, 2024
Ebrard and various members of the same political party reacted in a similar fashion, claiming that they would defend Mexico’s interests and that he was not intimidated by Trump.
Cuando te insultan en campaña ,como acaba de hacerlo el ex Presidente Trump ,siempre hay un propósito electoral: ganar adeptos. Nunca aceptaré calificación de un candidato en el exterior. No me intimida. Defenderé los intereses de México con toda dignidad y firmeza.
— Marcelo Ebrard C. (@m_ebrard) July 21, 2024
Mexico’s former diplomat Martha Barcena took to social media to point out the mistake by Sheinbaum and criticized the haphazard response by her advisors who failed to pick up on the diplomatic intricacies and fell for the social media fake news.
El equipo de la presidenta electa @Claudiashein ha demostrado que es amateur al no verificar datos, contextos y realizar el análisis y recomendaciones pertinentes. No la protegieron ni cuidaron. Pero eso si, se envolvieron en la bandera y la mentira sobre la negociación del TMEC https://t.co/92hjbKLPPm
— Martha Bárcena (@Martha_Barcena) July 21, 2024
Some of Mexico’s top foreign correspondents noticed the translation error and began pointing out the diplomatic blunder.
NEW—
— José Díaz Briseño (@diazbriseno) July 21, 2024
Trump insults BIDEN by calling him a low-IQ individual dealing with Putin, Xi & Macron. But Mexico’s incoming Economy Minister takes issue because he thinks Trump is referring to HIM.
Here’s the video with Trump talking about Biden deal making.
👇 https://t.co/IaeB4b3FEb pic.twitter.com/meIYW1BNKC
Several national news outlets in Mexico ran with the mistaken information to highlight Sheinbaum’s reaction.
#ÚLTIMAHORA 🔴| Así fue como @realDonaldTrump señaló que el próximo Secretario de @SE_mx, @m_ebrard, tiene un “IQ de 50”. Confirmó que habrá una deportación masiva.https://t.co/Qoc3OWZXX3 pic.twitter.com/DmIQq48eb4
— Tabasco HOY (@TabascoHOY) July 21, 2024
The social media and media firestorm continued until former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Christopher Landau began posting responses to news articles and comments by journalists warning them not to fall for fake news.
Parece que voy a pasar toda la noche corrigiendo este fake news. Si escuchan el discurso (está en YouTube) es totalmente obvio que, cuando Trump se refiere a una persona de baja inteligencia, se está refiriendo a nuestro presidente actual en sus negociaciones con Rusia, China, y…
— Christopher Landau (@ChrisLandauUSA) July 21, 2024
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at