Brokaw says he feels terrible commentary offended Hispanics

NEW YORK – NBC’s Tom Brokaw says he feels terrible that he offended some Hispanics with his comments on “Meet the Press” Sunday that Hispanics should work harder at assimilation.

The former “NBC Nightly News” anchor tweeted in response to a social media backlash to the comments earlier in the day.

Brokaw said during a discussion about the proposed border wall that a lot of Republicans fear that Hispanics will all be Democrats. He also said that he hears people say, when he pushes them harder, that “I don’t know whether I want brown grandbabies.”

Journalist Julio Ricardo Varela, founder of the Latino Rebels website, said on Twitter that Brokaw’s comments were factually incorrect and xenophobic.