The Democrats Played Dirty in Nevada

She is a founding member of the United Farm Workers, an organization that has its own spotty history of dabbling in nativist politics. Over the years, Huerta has refused to admit -- in face-to-face confrontations with me -- the documented fact that the union was once an arm of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, back in the days when UFW officials would turn in illegal immigrants who crossed picket lines and demand that the government deport more of them.

In 2008, Huerta went after Barack Obama, when the Illinois senator challenged Clinton for the Democratic nomination, by pegging him as a "Johnny-come-lately" to the courting of Latino voters and the addressing of Latino concerns. She was right about that. But that didn't stop her from accepting the Presidential Medal of Freedom four years later when Obama offered it to her.

Recently, Huerta has run the same game on Sanders, accusing him of being a Bernie-come-lately to Latino issues. Right again. The problem is that Huerta won't admit that, when it comes to addressing Latino concerns, she is backing a Hillary-come-lately.

So what really happened in Las Vegas?

Supporters of Sanders who were in the room, including actress Susan Sarandon, insist that there was no "English only" chant.

Now it seems that Huerta was wrong. It wasn't Sanders' backers who uttered the loaded phrase but the moderator, who explained that -- since the two camps couldn't find a neutral translator -- the vote would continue in "English only."

This could have been an innocent mistake. But, knowing Huerta, it was just as likely a shameless smear. Either way, let's hope that the episode finally dispels the fiction that Huerta serves the interests of Latinos. Ultimately, she is an advocate for only one cause: herself. And she will say anything she needs to say -- including trying to hang the nativist label on, of all people, Bernie Sanders -- to get what she wants.

Meanwhile, let's also hope that Sanders' supporters learned a lesson about the nasty business of impugning people's motives by accusing them of racism or nativism. In the past, they've not said a word, or cared a whit, when this was done to Republicans. And now they're shocked and outraged that it was done to them.

Liberals need to wake up. It's one of the first things you learn in Politics 101: You run with jackals, and, sooner or later, you're going to get bit.

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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com.