Democrats Reeling as Spanish Language News Leader Changes Its Tune on Trump
The stars in their courses just might be aligning for a Donald Trump victory in 2024 — just as they did in 2016. And the most recent evidence of that is Univision appearing to change its tune toward the former president.
The top-rated Spanish speaking television network is under new management and has taken a much more favorable view of Trump than it did during 2020.
The Mexican media company Grupo Televisa merged with Univision in 2022 to create TelevisaUnivision, Variety reported.
In a Tuesday article, The Washington Post noted — with a clear subtext of distress — the rapprochement between Trump and Univision.
“When Donald Trump ran for re-election in 2020, his campaign called Univision, the nation’s most influential Spanish-language network, ‘a leftist propaganda machine and a mouthpiece of the Democrat Party,'” the Post recounted.
“Three years later, Trump is treating Univision and its new corporate owners like long-lost friends. He hosted a trio of its executives at Mar-a-Lago last week during an hour-long Univision interview that was notable for its gracious tone, starting with a question about how well he is doing among Latino voters in early general election polling,” the news outlet added.
“Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, a friend of one of the executives, helped arrange the interview and was also in the room, according to multiple people familiar with the event,” the Post said.
Televisa journalist Enrique Acevedo, who conducted the Nov. 7 interview of Trump for Univision, introduced it by pointing out the 45th president’s rising poll numbers among Latinos.
#EntrevistaTrump | @TeleUniCompany, a través de @nmas, logró una entrevista exclusiva con el expresidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, justo a un año del proceso electoral de 2024 en ese país. #EnPunto con @Enrique_Acevedo | #DecideInformado | pic.twitter.com/4iqxfajWxh
— NMás (@nmas) November 10, 2023
He cited a recent New York Times/Siena College poll published last week, finding Trump trailing President Joe Biden among Hispanics by single digits: 50 to 42 percent.
In 2020 CNN exit polling showed Biden beating Trump 65 to 32 percent among Latinos. Similarly, Pew Research found Biden garnered 59 percent support to Trump’s 38 percent.
Trump’s Hispanic backing in 2020 was up from 2016 when Hillary Clinton won 66 percent to Trump’s 28 percent, according to Pew.
Best Song of 2020#LatinosForTrump pic.twitter.com/20ffsHp9it
— Team Trump (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) November 3, 2020
In response to the question about his apparent rising support among Latinos, Trump said, “The Latino vote is so incredible because they’re unbelievable people. They have incredible skills, incredible energy, and they’re very entrepreneurial.”
“All you have to do is look at the owners of Univision. They’re unbelievable entrepreneurial people, and they like me,” he added.
Acevedo pointed out the Times poll showed Trump beating Biden in Arizona and Nevada, which have large Hispanic populations. Biden carried both those states in 2020.
“I think bigger than anything now is security. They want security,” Trump said. “They want to have a border.”
The Post criticized Acevedo for not pressing Trump harder during the interview.
He defended his approach writing in Spanish, “I’m a reporter and my job is to ask questions. The prominence belongs to the information.”
In other words rather than asking loaded questions to put the spotlight on himself, Acevedo appeared to be saying, “Let the people hear Trump’s responses and judge him for themselves.”
Agradezco todas sus opiniones sobre la entrevista con el expresidente #Trump. Soy reportero y mi trabajo es hacer preguntas. El protagonismo le corresponde a la información. Gracias al equipazo @TeleUniCompany @nmas @UniNoticias por su gran trabajo.
— Enrique Acevedo (@Enrique_Acevedo) November 10, 2023
How refreshing.
According to the Post, Univision ran the Trump interview during its most popular 10 p.m. hour and did not allow the Biden campaign to run commercials during the broadcast as counter-programming.
The company said the same policy will be in place if Biden agrees to an interview with the network.
The continued Latino swing toward Trump is just one development that appears to be boosting his chances in 2024.
The independent runs of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West, along with Green Party candidate Jill Stein’s entry in the race, are all likely to bleed votes from Biden much more than Trump.
It will make the race less predictable to gauge for the oddsmakers, as well.
All of this is on top of the Democrats’ ridiculous, politically-motivated 91 felony charges and other civil actions against Trump, the leading Republican candidate.
Democrats have turned Trump into the victim, making him a more sympathetic figure for many.
Univision’s change in tone is just one more factor boosting Trump’s chances in 2024.
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