Biden jokes about having known Eva Longoria for a “long time.”

President Joe Biden made a ridiculous joke when he told an audience at the White House on Thursday night that he had known actress and director Eva Longoria “for a long time.”

“She was 17, I was 40,” the 80-year-old commander-in-chief said of the 48-year-old actress, who was jeered by members of the public.

The president held Longoria’s hand and the hand of his wife, first lady Jill Biden, as the trio marched onto the South Lawn to make opening remarks at a screening of Longoria’s new film, Flamin’ Hot – her directorial debut.

It tells the debunked story of Richard Montañez, who claimed to be the inventor of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos before a 2021 Los Angeles Times investigation reported otherwise. Longoria has ignored those who tried to verify Montañez’s story.

“As you may have heard, Richard Montañez disrupted the food industry in the 90s by channeling his Mexican-American heritage to transform Flamin’ Hot Cheetos into a multi-billion dollar brand and cultural phenomenon today,” said Longoria.

“We’re telling a story that celebrates the American entrepreneurial dream without ignoring the fact that the dream isn’t equally available to everyone,” she continued.

She pointed out that while talent is “distributed evenly across this world, opportunity is not.”

“That’s why we rarely get to see movies where we’re the heroes,” she said of the Latino community. “Let alone a janitor turned business manager.”

“So I knew I wanted to highlight his story, his life, and the importance and power of the Latino community within American culture,” she said. “So we’ve worked hard to produce this authentic film that’s steeped in inclusion – both in front of and behind the cameras.”

So now we can take this story to la Casa Blanca!’ she exclaimed, adding that it was under an administration that “believes in our community and shares our values.”

Despite her long time with the Democratic Party and the Bidens, she expressed surprise that her film was shown at the White House.

“It’s a dream I didn’t even know I had,” she told the crowd.

She added that she had been working with Biden for “many, many years.”

“And it’s always been a great joy,” she added. “We share so much. He has been a champion for working people in pursuit of the American dream.”

Longoria said thanks to Biden “many more Richard Montañezes will be ready to take their shot at making history.”

“The man who fought for all of us, for Latinos, for Americans, for workers, and most importantly—for democracy,” she said with a cheer. “A man who understands and embodies the values ​​of family, community and perseverance.”

Biden greeted the crowd by saying his trademark, “I’m Jill Biden’s husband.”

When an onlooker yelled, “I love you,” the commander-in-chief yelled back, “I accept!”

He congratulated Longoria on her directorial debut and said the film made him think about the “courage” of immigrants who left their homes and came to the US.

The display is part of Immigrant Heritage Month.

The film has already premiered on Disney+ and Hulu.

Longoria was already attached to the film project by then the Los Angeles Times punched holes in Montañez’s story, watching the Mexican-American businessman as his second memoir was about to be released.

The LA Times managed to get Frito-Lay to say on-the-record that Montañez’s didn’t invent the popular snack.

“None of our records indicate that Richard was involved in any way in the test market of Flamin’ Hot,” Frito-Lay wrote in a statement to The Times.

The company had conducted an internal investigation into Montañez’s claims, The Times revealed.

“We have interviewed multiple employees involved in the test market, and they all indicate that Richard was not involved in any way with the test market,” the statement continued. “That doesn’t mean we don’t celebrate Richard, but the facts don’t back up the urban legend.”

The Times found out that Flamin’ Hot Cheetos was created in 1989 by a team of snack food professionals in Plano, Texas.

A junior employee named Lynne Greenfeld was assigned to create the brand and came up with the name, the report said.

Montañez started telling people he made the spicy cheese twists in the early 2000s.

He claimed to have brought home a batch of unflavored Cheetos after a machine broke down and flavored them himself – giving them the spice and zest of Mexican cuisine.

Greenfield alerted Frito-Lay to Montañez’s false claims in 2018 and an internal investigation followed.

“We appreciate Richard’s many contributions to our company, especially his insights into Hispanic consumers, but we do not attribute the creation of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos or any other Flamin’ Hot products to him,” the company told The Times.

Longoria – a longtime fixture in Democratic politics – was already attached to the movie project by the time the LA Times report came out.

In recent interviews about the film, she has brushed off Montañez’s falsehoods.

‘That story never touched us’ she told the LA Times. “It feels like LA Times would have better resources for more important things.”

“It was never our intention to tell the history of the Cheeto,” she added. “We tell Richard Montañez’s and we tell his truth.”

Montañez has really risen in the ranks – and he is rightly credited with targeting the Hispanic market as a marketing guru.

That’s what Longoria said she was focusing on.

Richard’s story is our story. We are all Richard Montañez,” she told the paper in a telephone interview in March. “There was a time in our lives when someone said, ‘No, no, no. Ideas don’t come from people like you.’ “No, no, no. I don’t think you’re quite suited for that.”‘

And so I think we’ll all relate to his perseverance and his belief in himself. How he was just like, “Why not?” He dared to ask: ‘But why not me?’

The White House indicated that the film was selected because it celebrated diversity.

“This movie is about the power of faith and family to strengthen and uplift. As with other White House displays of Till and American Born Chinese, this is an opportunity for Americans of diverse backgrounds to see themselves reflected in and celebrated by the White House,” a White House official told DailyMail. .com.