The ex-congresswoman Mayra Flores, a Republican seeking re-election in southern Texas, was busted this week ripping photos from Latin American Facebook pages and posting them as if they were taken by her, the Texas Tribune and the conservative blog Current Revolt reported Wednesday.
Flores addressed the allegations in a text to the Tribune, saying it wasn’t her “intention to mislead” with the series of photos, which she seemingly tried to pass off as her own home cooking.
Asked by the Tribune about a photo confirmed to have been stolen from a Mexican food photographer, Flores reportedly texted, “The photo simply reminded me of my upbringing in Mexico and childhood.”
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The micro-scandal emerged on social media this week when Flores, the first Mexican-born woman to serve in Congress, posted a photo to X with the caption “gorditas de masa” and “the Ranch life with family is the best.”
Flores was called out by a user who noticed the photo wasn’t of gorditas de masa, and that an exact copy of the image was previously posted to a Facebook page titled “Visit Guyana” in March 2022. Soon after, Current Revolt reported that it dug into Flores’ social media and uncovered multiple instances where the former congresswoman posted photos she didn’t take herself—largely consisting of Mexican cuisine that was being prepared outdoors, using wood-burning stoves or grills.
The captions on those posts made it appear like Flores was the cook behind the photo, going as far as responding to questions made by commenters about the dishes’ ingredients.
“As a proud Latina who knows how to cook, homemade Mexican food tastes better from a gas stove,” Flores wrote in one since-deleted post, which included a photo of eggs and tortillas cooking. The photo used in Flores’ post was initially posted on Facebook in 2021 by a page titled “Izabal Magazine,” the Tribune revealed.
In another post flagged by Current Revolt, Flores posted a low-resolution photo of a plate of cheese, avocado, beans, and tortillas that was sitting next to salsa inside a molcajete, with the caption, “Prayer and a good breakfast reduces stress. Enjoying the simple things of life. This is richness.”
A higher resolution version of that photo was posted in 2021 by the Facebook account “Info Tamaulipas,” a page that highlights the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, where Flores was born.
Flores reportedly gave no indication that the photo wasn’t taken by her, and she even responded to a commenter that the cheese photographed was queso fresco.
That wasn’t the only post to be ripped from Flores’ home state. The Tribune discovered she also posted a photo of meat and tortillas being grilled that was initially shared by “Tamaulipas de mil sabores,” a tourism page. In her post, Flores’ caption read, “Joe Biden is not invited to the carne asada.”
Flores, who served a partial term in Congress from 2022-23 after winning a special election, quickly deleted the photos in question and tweaked her username on X, where some users posted that they were blocked by Flores for calling out her shady posting.
“The George Santos of the RGV,” wrote the campaign for Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX), referring to the Rio Grande Valley where they live. In hashtags, Gonzalez called Flores “#FlukeFlores” and “MayraMentiras,” which translates to saying she’s a liar.
Flores is running to unseat Gonzalez, who defeated her in Nov. 2022 after a redistricting made the seat more favorable to Democrats.
Flores did not respond to a phone call or email from The Daily Beast.
