GOP rebuttals: 2 speeches, only 1 with immigration

Story highlights Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst and Florida Rep. Carlos Curbelo gave divergent SOTU responses for the GOP Curbelo mentioned immigration reform as a priority, while Ernst didn't mention it at all The disconnect reflects a broader struggle within the GOP to appease its base while reaching out to minority voters

One, given in Spanish by Florida Rep. Carlos Curbelo, asked the President to "cooperate" with congressional Republicans to make immigration reform happen.

"We should also work through the appropriate channels to create permanent solutions for our immigration system, to secure our borders, modernize legal immigration, and strengthen our economy," Curbelo said in Spanish. "In the past, the President has expressed support for ideas like these. Now we ask him to cooperate with us to get it done."

The other, delivered in English by Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, made no mention of reform. She gave a folksy pitch for Republican proposals to improve the economy, overhaul the tax code and open up new trade markets abroad.

While Curbelo and Ernst were the two officially-sanctioned GOP responses, a cacophony of Republicans spanning the ideological spectrum gave their own rebuttals throughout the night.

House Republicans had said Curbelo would be delivering a Spanish translation of Ernst's speech in a press release that went out last week, but by Wednesday morning, that note had been deleted from the release.

Curbelo told Politico he requested a copy of Ernst's prepared remarks and revised them to reflect his own priorities, and that GOP Leadership had okayed his version of the speech.

"I did not get any pushback whatsoever," he said.

The freshman House Republican said it was "a shame that Democrats would try to criticize us for each of us having our own priorities and ideas and making them known."

"I think leadership should be commended for encouraging those it selects to talk about their lives, their priorities and their vision," he said.

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GOP rebuttals: 2 speeches, only 1 with immigration

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