Of course she knows the pledge of allegiance.
Miami Commissioner Sabina Covo, who won a special election Feb. 27, was sworn in on the Saturday after that and had no office for a week — working out of a park while she prepared for her first commission meeting — has gotten a lot of heat for not quickly spouting off the pledge of allegiance on demand Thursday.
Someone even suggested on Twitter that she isn’t American enough because she held a Colombian flag when she was elected — as the first Colombian-American to serve on the Miami Commission, which is something to be proud of, by the way.
Covo, who became a U.S. citizen in 2014, says she simply got stuck when she was suddenly asked to do the honor by Commission Chairwoman Christine King, who, by the way, had endorsed another candidate for the District 2 special election.
Read related: Who is Sabina Covo? What you need to know about Miami’s new commissioner
“I froze,” Covo told Ladra. “I wasn’t expecting it. Commissioner King never told me she wanted me to do it.”
It wasn’t a new feeling for the professional TV journalist.
“The first news report I did for Telemundo, I froze on camera. The producer had to shout ‘Go! Go!'” Covo told Ladra.
The hate got so intense — mostly from Republicans because she is a Democrat darling — that she had to issue a statement on Friday.
“Serving the people of Miami is the honor of a lifetime. When you feel a responsibility is that important, nervousness is very normal, and I’m not afraid to admit that I was,” Covo said in the statement. “The oath and pledge I took to our nation and to the residents of District 2 is clear and I am focused on honoring my promise to get things done for our community. Which is why I am not focused on Twitter Talk – but rather on passing two very important pieces of legislation.”
And, by the way, she was able to recite the pledge on the spot, no pause — no errors — when Ladra asked. And then Ladra was embarrassed for asking.
Read related: Sabina Covo beats 12 others to win the special election in Miami’s District 2
Covo, who replaces Ken Russell (who resigned to run for Congress), was already a little nervous about her first meeting on a dais where three commissioners had publicly endorsed another candidate and where meetings typically go from shitstorm to hell in a hurry. She’s human.
King, who also endorsed another candidate, shot out “You don’t know it?” Seems mean girlish.
“I said I didn’t want to do it, not that I didn’t know it,” Covo said, adding that she prepared diligently on the agenda items and wasn’t prepared for this.
“I practiced it for weeks with my son so he could say it at my installation,” Covo said. That’s cocky. Her boys Paolo and Pedro recited the pledge at her swearing-in, as she whispered it next to them.
By the way, neither Commissioner Joe Carollo nor Alex Diaz de la Portilla were at the installation ceremony. That’s worse than freezing on the pledge.
The haters focused on that miscue moment must have missed the part where Covo halted the Bahamian Village project — Russell’s legacy of affordable housing — to get more information because she heard concerns from the community about the commercial aspect. It will still move forward, she said, but she wants to make sure it’s what the residents want.
The haters must have missed the part where she will have a town hall this week with all the stakeholders before the project takes the next step.
That’s far more important than dancing on command.
Nervous in first Miami Commission meeting, Sabina Covo froze on Pledge added by Ladra on
View all posts by Ladra →
[…] Read related: Nervous in first Miami Commission meeting, Sabina Covo froze on Pledge […]
[…] Read related: Nervous in first Miami Commission meeting, Sabina Covo froze on Pledge […]
Honestly, what a bunch of BS. You are normally ripping into elected leaders for the slightest slip up, and here you feign and faint over a really dumb error. Take it for what it is – she’s Colombian, but also was elected. She’s not going to be your typical red blooded American, and will probably favor Colombians and Latinos, if people don’t like that, elect someone else.
The reality is she never attended a commission meeting before this. She didn’t know that it was customary to recite the pledge of allegiance, because she had never participated (as a viewer) in a commission meeting before. If she had, she would have been prepared for it. She didn’t go to school in the US, so it isn’t surprising that she doesn’t know the pledge of allegiance.
This article is a spin on the story, the facts are above.
What a load of petty sycophant snowflake poor losers.
Witch trials is right.
Get a life.
There was a prayer test at the Salem witchcraft trials. The “witch”/victim would be put on the spot to recite the lord’s prayer while clearly nervous. Any mistake made would brand them a witch. Covo is no more Un-American than the victims in Salem were “witches”.
Ever since Covo was elected we haven’t had our recycling picked up in the 33133-6144.
And she still has signs placed up and down Douglas. She has a long way to go to keep Coconut Grove looking like it should.
…. I’m invincible, with liberty and justice for me…
I do not believe being a tv reporter she froze…she is just a leftist un-american. Doesnt the fact that she had a colombian flag at her swearing tell you guys something? These people are just after destroying this great country!
Covo needs experienced staffers.
Not a big deal. Let the commissioner get to work and spread the fresh air
I do not see this as a problem as it does not mean she will not do her job .
I do find it interesting that those who over look Joe Carollo lying about having been in the Marines / serving in the Military which seems to be most Miami Republicans or he would not continue being reelected are outraged over Covo .
Bit hypocritical .
” Sabina Covo is bought by developers.”
Now that is a problem.
Sabina Covo is bought by developers. LIttle Bahamians and everyone else in Miami need to be ware.
“If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein. If there are any circumstances which permit an exception, they do not now occur to us.”
“High or petty.” Now if these remarks from Justice Robert Jackson in a 1943 U.S. Supreme Court decision, West Virginia v. Barnette, read “high and petty” they would certainly be more apropos to City of Miami politics. Justice Jackson was commenting on a patriotic oath printed in a children’s magazine in 1892 by a SOCIALIST Minister, in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ voyage. You remember Columbus, or perhaps you originally learned his name as Cristóbal Colón, though in his native tongue it would have been spoken Cristoforo Colombo. Ah, Colombo (not to be confused with the Peter Falk character named Columbo). You know, the guy from whose surname the name of the country was derived whose flag was raised proudly by Covo and our County mayor in commemoration of our first Columbian American City commissioner. Yes, that Columbus, and that Socialist minister, and that patriotic pledge.
Justice Jackson’s words rang true then, and still resound today with even greater veracity. Let the gentlewoman get about to her work on behalf of those who legitimately elected her, and leave the Socialist minister’s pledge back in the children’s magazine where it was first birthed.
OMG frozen is the movie not her as a “seasoned” reporter, what a joke. she clearly didn’t know it simple fact!
My 2nd grader knows it better than her (if at all) just admit it you dont know and you told QUEEN BEE live and in person!
People not being there is worse than reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. This proves your column is disingenuous lopsided with an ideology that doesn’t fit the state any longer.
How does a seasoned reporter “freeze” from nervousness when you are asked to cite the pledge of allegiance as an elected official in the United States of America?
[…] Source link […]