Kicking off their respective coverage of the 2016 GOP Convention, Univision and Telemundo dealt with Republicans very differently. Univision’s Al Punto, led by Jorge Ramos, continued its usual anti-Trump tirade, while Telemundo actually employed a more balanced approach.
If you read Newsbusters regularly, you know how Univision’s activist-anchor Jorge Ramos likes to turn everything towards Republicans being racist for wanting the law to be followed, encouraging legal immigration and protecting the border. Leading up to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland though, the Univision anchorman ratcheted up his pathetically predictable tirade on Trump as he was notably absent during the coverage of Hillary Clinton’s email scandal.
On Univision’s Al Punto, Jorge Ramos did not even bother to try to balance things at all throughout his show. Out of the 6 guests on his show (and only 1 of the 6 guests on the show was pro-Trump), he asked four of them loaded questions deriding his nemesis, Donald Trump.
JORGE RAMOS, ANCHOR, AL PUNTO: [To Helen Aguirre-Ferré] After what Trump said about Mexican immigrants, that they were criminals and rapists, 7 out of 10 Hispanics think that he's racist.
JORGE RAMOS, ANCHOR, AL PUNTO: [To Julian Castro] So, let's talk about Donald Trump. Are you afraid that he might win the presidency?
JORGE RAMOS, ANCHOR, AL PUNTO: [To Kate Del Castillo] You've said the following about Donald Trump: "How is it possible for a candidate to have Hitler-like ideas," and then you continue with “We've regressed decades due to his transgressions and vulgarity, full of only self-interest."
JORGE RAMOS, ANCHOR, AL PUNTO: [To Zoe Saldaña] If Donald Trump wins, would you be worried?
We left out a panel that Jorge Ramos featured with former Treasurer of the United States Rosario Marín and Republican analyst Adolfo Franco. The topic at hand? Why they’re not going to Cleveland. Marín called the Republican National Convention “a funeral”. Go figure.
Telemundo’s Enfoque with José Díaz-Balart was a different matter entirely, and provided refreshingly balanced coverage live from Cleveland. Different from Ramos, both the strengths and weaknesses of the Republican ticket were evaluated, and the loaded questions were set aside. Díaz-Balart brought forward Republicans and Democrats both for generally civil exchanges of ideas and analysis. Jorge Ramos’ favorite tactics of race baiting, egging on guests to bash Trump and the broad brushes used to paint Republicans as “racist”, “anti-immigrant” and “anti-Hispanic” were absent.
Regardless of your feelings about Donald Trump, it's more evident than ever that Jorge Ramos has a real problem mixing journalism with chronic race-baiting and political activism. As the Republican National Convention begins, one fact is clear: Jorge Ramos has yet to cover Donald Trump fairly.
