ARIZONA NEWS
UPDATED: FEBRUARY 6, 2023 AT 9:27 AM
Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ) delivers a speech in the House of Representatives chamber on the third day of the House Speaker elections at the US Capitol Building January 5, 2023 in Washington, DC (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images )
PHOENIX — Newly minted US Rep. Juan Ciscomani of Arizona will deliver the Republican Spanish rebuttal to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night.
Ciscomani said he was “humbled and honored by the opportunity.”
“My message will be simple and direct: the American dream is a dream worth fighting for,” he said in a press release last week.
“The people of my district in Arizona and Americans across our country want accountability, responsibility and sensitivity restored to our nation’s capital. As part of the new House majority, I look forward to working with my colleagues to secure our southern border, strengthen the economy, and do the work that the American people expect of us.”
Republicans did not rebut Biden’s first State of the Union address last year in Spanish.
“Convention is made all the better for the unique perspectives and lived experiences Juan brings to this institution,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said in the release. “I look forward to hearing his response, which I know will share with viewers Republicans’ commitment to America to empower the American people and hold the Biden administration to account.”
During his campaign last year, Ciscomani cited his experience of becoming a citizen after his parents immigrated to Arizona from Mexico when he was a boy. Ciscomani, a longtime aide to former Gov. Doug Ducey, defeated Democrat Kristen Engel to win the open seat in District 6 in southeastern Arizona.
“Now my parents’ son serves in the United States Congress. This is in a way an American dream story of ours. But I think a lot of people out there have American Dream stories, and that’s going to be the message.” he told Fox News over the weekend.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders will present the primary Republican response following Biden’s speech.
“We will deliver [the rebuttal] in a way that people can understand, listen, tune in, and show again that we’re a big tent party,” Ciscomani said during an interview on Fox and Friends Weekend Saturday.
“We want to welcome everyone. We’re on this mission of addition, not subtraction or division, and this is just a great way to show what the Republican Party is about and what we have.”
