Former Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), an outspoken amnesty advocate who once belonged to the Puerto Rican Socialist Party, has endorsed Rep. Val Demings (D-FL) in her bid for U.S. Senate in Florida.

Gutierrez, who served in the House for more than two decades and made immigration reform a centerpiece of his tenure, called Demings a “fighter” according to a video posted to social media last week.

Gutierrez said, “Without distinction for the color of your skin or the nation from which you came, she will fight for immigrants regardless of the language that they speak. She will fight for all of us. She has been a fighter. I have watched her on CNN and MSNBC”:

Gutierrez continued as he spoke to Demings with his arm around her, “So congresswoman … know that you have many supporters and you’ve given us hope. You’ve given us energy. You’ve reignited our vitality for this fight. We will not end until we persevere, and I know your name is going to go down in the history books as a fighter for our immigrants.”

Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies reported in 2015 on Gutierrez’s former Puerto Rican Socialist Party membership:

Little known is that Gutierrez was a member of the now-defunct Puerto Rican Socialist Party (PSP), a Marxist-Leninist outfit inspired by Castro’s revolution.

…

In the 2003 book National Performances: The Politics of Class, Race, and Space in Puerto Rican Chicago, anthropologist Ana Ramos-Zayas quotes one of Gutierrez’s former comrades commenting approvingly about the PSP as a more-effective counterpart to the FALN terrorist group:

“I admire Gutierrez. He used to be a PSP leader. He had the background. He was able to notice that ‘if I want to make changes, I have to infiltrate the system.’”

Furthermore, Gutierrez has defended Oscar Lopez Rivera, a leader of the Puerto Rican terrorist group FALN that claimed responsibility for deadly and destructive bombings in the U.S. in the 1970s and 1980s in the name of Puerto Rican independence. Rivera was pardoned by former President Barack Obama, a move Gutierrez celebrated.

The Chicago Tribune also reported in the late 1980s on Gutierrez’s defense of FALN sympathizers and his membership of a college arm of the Puerto Rican Socialist Party. The outlet wrote, “Among the [college] group’s stated aims was ‘to struggle for the independence of Puerto Rico, and for the construction of socialism in both Puerto Rico and the United States.’”

Commenters online found Gutierrez’s endorsement of Demings to be a political disadvantage in Florida, a battleground state with a substantial Hispanic population, including a sizable Puerto Rican voting bloc.

Jorge Bonilla, who leads the Latino arm of Media Research Council and shared the video, called the Gutierrez endorsement a “tremendous Christmas present” for Rubio.

Guillermo Mena, who works for the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators, also provided his opinion, writing, “This is a sad unforced error from @valdemings, possibly amounting to political self-destruction with Puerto Rican voters, which, for a Democrat in Florida, would mean the end of the road. Luis Gutierrez, not a good look. Sill time to walk this back. Somebody help her please.”

Jose Rodriguez-Suarez, an advocate for Puerto Rican statehood, wrote that Gutierrez, who supports Puerto Rican independence, is “disliked by Puerto Rican voters in Florida”:

Gutierrez is currently a Puerto Rican resident, according to the Hill. In 2017, he announced his plans to retire from his position in the U.S. House to focus more on Puerto Rico.

Write to Ashley Oliver at aoliver@breitbart.com.