Gimenez Says Cuban Exiles Have Tremendous Appreciation for the United States

Representative Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) recently appeared on Trinity's Huckabee, where he briefly discussed his background as the son of Cuban exiles and how he and thousands of others like him appreciate the United States.

"Governor @HuckabeeOnTBN: “I’ve never met a group of people who love this country more, who have a greater understanding of what freedom really means, than the Cuban-Americans from South Florida.” Our community loves #America because freedom made all the difference for us!" Rep. Gimenez summarized on Twitter.

The video clip begins with former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee stating he had "Never met a group of people who love this country more, who have a greater understanding of what freedom really means, than the Cuban-Americans from South Florida."

Rep. Gimenez described how his family was "Well off in Cuba" before the takeover of Fidel Castro, yet his parents came to Florida with little else than "Ten dollars and a watch."

"Look, we were well off in Cuba. But my father and mother came here with ten dollars and a watch, which I still have, by the way, he gave it to me. And then he started working as a bellhop in Miami Beach. My mom, she's half-American, my grandmother was Irish-American; so she spoke English, so she got a job working as a secretary, and we started building up from there," said Rep. Gimenez.

Gimenez added how his story is not unique and can be replicated "Hundreds of thousands of times," with his wife being one of those examples, having been the daughter of a well-known lawyer in Cuba.

"But my story is replicated in Miami by the Cuban-Americans hundreds of thousands of times. My wife is the same, she came a year later. Her father was an attorney, a very, very reputable family. Her name means a lot in Cuba, and so they started again. Her mother started driving a bus, he became a teacher and later drove taxis and all that, but that story, again, is replicated hundreds of thousands of times," Gimenez continued.

He reiterated that he and the thousands of others like him "know what we left, we know what we lost, and we're very grateful to this country."

"We know what we left, we know what we lost, and we're very grateful to this country, so you'll see that most Cuban-Americans are going to tell you that they love this country. I love this country, I love my town, and I will fight for this country," Gimenez concluded.