On Friday, when Obama formally announced Castro’s nomination, the president himself appeared to sign on to the comparison.

“The first time most Americans heard this man speak is when he gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention almost two years ago,” Obama said. “And they saw this young guy, a pretty good speaker, not bad-looking, talk about how America is the only place where his story could even be possible. And I watched, and I thought, ‘That’s not bad.’ “