Chris Matthews Isn’t Sure Whether Cuba Counts As a “Hispanic” Country

Hardball host Chris Matthews isn't sure whether Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are actually Hispanic, even though their last names are "Cruz" and "Rubio."

Spanish 101 lesson for Matthews:

"Cruz" is Spanish for "cross," and "rubio" is Spanish for "blond."

Newsbusters reports:

Matthews's remarks came during a roundtable discussion in which Huffington Post's Amanda Terkel was outlining how she believes Cruz will seek to paint fellow Cuban-American Rubio as too moderate for the party's nomination:

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TERKEL: I was surprised it was mentioned too, but, you know, he is clearly watching Rubio.

MATTHEWS: So you're trying to insinuate that Marco Rubio, a fellow, uh, Spanish surname, I'm not sure the right word is Hispanic for them, because they are Cuban nationals or whatever, or come from Cuba. But, uh, is he going to insinuate that he is still basically for what he calls amnesty?

Geography 101 lesson for Matthews (from Wikipedia):

Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba (Spanish:  República de Cuba (help·info)), is a country comprising the Isla de la Juventud and several archipelagos in the Caribbean Sea. The capital and largest city Havana^[13] is 365 km (227 mi) from Miami Florida, and geographically it is considered part of North America. Culturally, Cuba is considered part of Latin America.^[14]

In the Pre-Columbian era Cuba was inhabited by Amerindian tribes. Cuba remained a colony of Spain until the Spanish–American War of 1898, after which it gained nominal independence as a de facto U.S. protectorate in 1902

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The official language of Cuba is Spanish and the vast majority of Cubans speak it.

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Cuban culture is influenced by its melting pot of cultures, primarily those of Spain and Africa.

And just for the record, Chris, Ted Cruz was born in Alberta, Canada. His father was born in Cuba, but his mother was born in Wilmington, Delaware. Both of Marco Rubio’s parents were born in Cuba, but Rubio himself was born in Miami, Florida. That means that neither Cruz nor Rubio are “Cuban nationals.”