A Cuban bakery in Pinecrest served pastelitos and cafecito to two Democrats on a campaign stop, and by the weekend it was apologizing for socialism. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries stopped at CAO Bakery with Eliott Rodriguez, the Democrat challenging Rep. María Elvira Salazar in Florida’s 27th District. Social media critics accused the bakery of hosting socialists, NBC 6 reported.
Owner Yvette Rodriguez Cao said the visit wasn’t an endorsement and that the bakery doesn’t turn people away for their politics. “We stand by beliefs that we want to support freedom, we’re against communism,” she told NBC 6. Vicky Bakery, owned by the same family, posted its own statement denouncing socialism.
Why are people angry at CAO Bakery?
Because in Cuban Miami, “socialist” isn’t a policy label. It’s personal. A lot of families in the district fled Fidel Castro’s government, and critics online, led by conservative commentator Josue Alvarez, tied Jeffries to socialism, Axios Miami reported. Jeffries isn’t a socialist. He’s publicly rejected the Democratic Socialists of America, and he’s spent years fighting the party’s left wing in New York.
Salazar jumped in, posting a photo from Vicky Bakery: “It is an insult to parade this ideology through a community built by survivors of socialism.”
What did Eliott Rodriguez say?
That his opponent picked a fight with a small business. “I think it’s incredibly sad that in these tough economic times, my opponent is trying to destroy a small business,” Rodriguez said. He then hit back with a video about Salazar’s old TV interviews with Fidel Castro.
Is the Salazar race close?
Closer than it’s been. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee put Rodriguez in its “Red to Blue” program, and recent polls show a tight race. Cook still rates it “lean Republican.” Salazar has been trying to have it both ways: her recent ad told Trump he’d “gone too far” on immigration, while her attacks on Rodriguez lean on the socialism charge that has worked in Miami for years.
The BeezLoop Take
A family business served coffee to a politician and got dragged for it. That’s become normal in American politics, and it’s worth saying plainly that it’s wrong, whichever side does it. Bakeries shouldn’t have to issue loyalty statements to keep customers.
Calling Hakeem Jeffries a socialist is also just false. He’s the party leader who’s fought the DSA wing in his own city. Salazar knows the difference. Using a small business to score that point says more about how close this race has gotten than about anyone’s politics.
The open question: does the socialism attack still move Cuban American voters in 2026, or are prices and deportations doing more to shape this race?
Also on BeezLoop: Salazar told Trump he’s ‘gone too far’ on immigration, and how Cuban Miami is feeling about Trump now.
Sources: NBC 6 South Florida · Axios Miami · NBC 6 South Florida (video)
