The most recent edition of Univision political affairs show Al Punto featured a segment with Pro-Trump Hispanics. However, Ramos may have bit off a bit more than he was expecting to chew.
Below, and as a sampling of how the entire interview went, is their exchange on the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump (click "Expand" to view transcript):
RAMOS: Let me ask you about the trial currently underway against President Donald Trump. They are trying to remove him, I don’t know if you are following it. Do you believe that President Donald Trump tried to cheat for personal gain…
RAY BACA, BORDER HISPANICS FOR TRUMP: No.
RAMOS: ...when he had this call with the president of Ukraine?
BACA: I heard the call when…
RAMOS: From July 25th.
BACA: From July 25th. I didn’t see a problem. What is most interesting to me about this situation is- why don’t the Democrats want to know what happened with...with Biden and his son. How is it that Democrats are ready to plunge this country into a very difficult time- to force a president out over something he said? Saying, “Hey, can you look into what you can do about that issue”.
RAMOS: Isn’t he asking for a favor? Many people believe that he was asking for a favor in exchange for their investigation of a political opponent.
BACA: I didn’t see it that way, but at the same time, I’ll tell you this: why is it that if the Democrats have a Vice President who has a son that is making 80 thousand dollars a month in a company that is supposedly...that’s cheating in another country, why don’t they want to know?
RAMOS: There are no formal charges against the Bidens, let me make that clear. What do you think about attempting to remove President Trump?
ANTHONY AGÜERO: It’s the same thing we go back to, right? We have cases of over 4,800 families (being) trafficked along the border with fake documents, right? We have over 600 of those children that have been “recycled”, we have many more important things that we should be focusing on. That call that the president made clearly has nothing to do with him trying to persecute anybody. He’s just doing his job and seriously trying to investigate something that is going on, because he is opposed to corruption, and the moment we have someone like Joe Biden’s son, who has no experience whatsoever, none to do with that sort of work, who is making over 80,000 dollars a month, we should investigate what’s going on. The same thing with a relative of Nancy Pelosi’s, who is also very well connected in Ukraine.
Speaking of impeachment, it bears noting that this is the most detailed description of Hunter Biden’s dealings that has aired on any of Univision News’ platforms to date...and that it was buried in the last question of what was essentially built up as a freakshow segment on Al Punto: the brave truth-teller Jorge Ramos, trying to talk some sense into these race-traitor Trumpistas.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the freakshow: Jorge Ramos got shut down at every turn. That, in itself, is not a difficult proposition. Once Ramos asked his panelists why they supported Trump, and got uncomfortable answers, he recurred to his oldest trope: grievance. The questions were framed in a way so as to suggest that support for Trump is tantamount to betrayal of race and/or gender. For example, when asking Ana Laura Cepera to explain her support for Trump:
RAMOS: Ana Laura, let me move on to another issue. Remember that during the presidential campaign, there was an Access Hollywood video in which the president said, you can hear it in the audio, that he could touch women on their genitals just because he was a star. Many believe that this is a sexist remark and that many women should not vote for Donald Trump, but you vote for Donald Trump. Why do you do so?
Which, again, was swiftly shut down:
ANA CEPEDA, BORDER HISPANICS FOR TRUMP: Well first of all, I believe that many of the comments that are...that are put in...many newspapers, that they are exaggerated, to a certain degree. And yes, they are very unfortunate comments, but I really think that there have been many people...well, many politicians from both parties, who have made remarks that are equally offensive to other groups. For example, Vice President Biden, before...during his first presidential campaign against Obama, said: “I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate, and clean, and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that’s storybook, man.” And that, to me, is racist. But at the end of the day, Biden was able to work very well with President Obama, and I believe that the way President Trump has been able to work with Ben Carson and Nikki Haley are examples of how his actions speak louder than his words.
In a twist of comedic irony, Ramos recently told the Columbia Journalism Review that:
I’m seeing more reporters who are not believing the polls and doing their homework. I personally am listening to conservative radio stations in Miami that I didn’t listen to in 2016 trying to understand Trump voters, specifically Latino Trump voters.
This interview suggests that Ramos isn’t listening hard enough. Likelier still, that he doesn’t want to listen at all.
Click "Expand" to view the full transcript of the afrementioned interview as aired on Univision' Al Punto on Sunday, January 26th, 2020:
JORGE RAMOS: If President Donald Trump wants to win reelection, he’s going to need the votes of millions of Hispanics. In the past presidential election, 29% of Hispanics voted for him, despite his having made remarks that many labeled as racist. On the border between Mexico and the United States, there is a group that openly supports President Donald Trump, called “Border Hispanics For Trump”, and three of them join us here today. Ray Baca is president of the group, Anthony Agüero joins us, as does Laura Cepeda. I thank the three of you for joining us today.
RAY BACA: Very kind of you to have us.
RAMOS: A third of Latinos voted for President Donald Trump. Not very many Latinos say so openly. Why did you decide to support President Donald Trump? And has this, Mr. Baca, caused trouble for you all?
BACA: No, it hasn’t caused trouble for us. Sometimes it is inconvenient because many Hispanics don’t want Trump, they’re Democrats and have been Democrats for a long time. But what is happening, I believe, is that many Hispanics are also beginning to understand that the economy is much better than ever under a Democratic President, that interest rates are low. Many Hispanics have jobs, more Hispanics can purchase homes. Everything that goes along with a good economy. And little by little, Hispanics are asking themselves: “Well, and why am I a Democrat?” Because many of the values held by Hispanics are represented by Republicans, not Democrats.
RAMOS: For example? What values?
BACA: Well. Perhaps the biggest is abortion. Few Hispanics support abortion.
RAMOS: You are against abortion.
BACA: Oh. Exactly, and the majority, I’d say 95% of Hispanics do not believe in abortion.
RAMOS: I haven’t seen those figures, but I understand your point of view. Now Laura, why do you support Donald Trump?
LAURA CEPERA: Well for me, as a Hispanic I want to emphasize, mostly, that there are many issues that affect all of us as Hispanics and we forget them sometimes, because as Hispanics we want to put on our Hispanic hat and we don’t remember that we are Americans first, For me, the economy is a very important issue, but also the pro-life issue, and...Donald Trump is the president that has most strongly supported the...the pro-life movement…
RAMOS: And that’s a key issue for you.
CEPERA: Yes, yes.
RAMOS: Anthony, why do you support Donald Trump? And I understand that this has caused trouble for you within your family, is that true?
ANTHONY AGÜERO: Correct. Yes.
RAMOS: They stopped talking to you for a while?
AGÜERO: Yes, they withdrew for a bit, but we’ve since reconciled. But in spite of that, they begin to understand the reason why I support the president. We finally have a president with guts, that supports Americans first, and his agenda, his policies, and the economy as it is right now, it is incredible that we have such a strong person. He’s not a politician, we understand that. We knew he wasn’t perfect before electing him, and sometimes he says wrong things, or he has bad...sometimes he’s doesn’t say things the right way, but we have to take into account that the economy is going great, right now…
RAMOS: It’s true, unemployment generally and among Hispanics is lower than ever.
AGÜERO: And in fact, (that’s also true) for the Black community as well, and women too...unemployment for women is at the lowest ever.
RAMOS: OK, I already understand your points of view, ad that’s your proposition. I’m going to give you other arguments. Many say that President Donald Trump is a racist, that he said that Mexican immigrants are criminals and rapists. You know that this is not true. Why do you support President Trump in spite of this?
BACA: Well, part of what’s happening here is that the extreme left, the Democrats take what Trump said out of context. Trump never said that each person that passes through is a criminal, he said that Mexico doesn’t send its best people. That’s true, and many of those who do come are criminals, and our jails…
RAMOS: The smallest part of those who come through are criminals. The smallest.
BACA: Oh, I understand, I’d say that the vast majority are people that are just seeking opportunities, and I don’t blame them…
RAMOS: And by saying that Mexican immigrants are criminals and rapists, isn’t that a racist comment? And how, as a Latino, how do you feel?
AGÜERO: Yes, it’s taken out of context, right? We have to support this president. You know better than anyone, that AMLO (Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador) currently has 34,000 dead since taking office in Mexico, right? And so we now have a president that is trying to stop those numbers from happening in the UNited States. We have all these immigrants that are coming here, not all of them, and they have a right to request asylum. Requesting asylum is not a crime, it is open to all, but unfortunately, in these cases, only 12% of them have a valid case for being able to stay here under asylum.
RAMOS: I understand that. Are you concerned about Trump’s racist remarks? You, as a Latino, that he has offended persons of you own origin.
BACA: No, We are in a time when…
RAMOS: It doesn’t upset you.
AGÜERO: No, we have to...In other words, how can it be that a generation that grew up watching the Simpsons, and Beavis and Butthead, and now...oooh, they make themselves out to be offended by everything? Please. This is a leftist tactic seeking to discredit the president. The president...yes, of this modern era who has done the most for this country.
RAMOS: Ana Laura, let me move on to another issue. Remember that during the presidential campaign, there was an Access Hollywood video in which the president said, you can hear it in the audio, that he could touch women on their genitals just because he was a star. Many believe that this is a sexist remark and that many women should not vote for Donald Trump, but you vote for Donald Trump. Why do you do so?
CEPERA: Well first of all, I believe that many of the comments that are...that are put in...many newspapers, that they are exaggerated, to a certain degree. And yes, they are very unfortunate comments, but I really think that there have been many people...well, many politicians from both parties, who have made remarks that are equally offensive to other groups. For example, Vice President Biden, before...during his first presidential campaign against Obama, said: “I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate, and clean, and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that’s storybook, man.” And that, to me, is racist. But at the end of the day, Biden was able to work very well with President Obama, and I believe that the way President Trump has been able to work with Ben Carson and Nikki Haley are examples of how his actions speak louder than his words.
RAMOS: Let me ask you about the trial currently underway against President Donald Trump. They are trying to remove him, I don’t know if you are following it. Do you believe that President Donald Trump tried to cheat for personal gain…
BACA: No.
RAMOS: ...when he called the president of Ukraine?
BACA: I heard the call when…
RAMOS: From July 25th.
BACA: From July 25th. I didn’t see a problem. What is most interesting to me about this situation is why the Democrats don’t want to know what happened with...with Biden and his son. How is it that Democrats are ready to plunge this country into a very difficult time- to force a president out for something he said? “Hey, can you look into what you can do about that issue”.
RAMOS: Isn’t he asking for a favor? Many people believe that he was asking for a favor in exchange for their investigation of a political opponent.
BACA: I didn’t see it that way, but at the same time, I’ll tell you this: why is it that if the Democrats have a Vice President who has a son that is making 80 thousand dollars a month in a company that is supposedly...that’s cheating in another country, why don’t they want to know?
RAMOS: There are no formal charges against the Bidens, let me make that clear. What do you think about attempting to remove President Trump?
AGÜERO: It’s the same thing we go back to, right? We have cases of over 4,800 families (being) trafficked along the border with fake documents, right? We have over 600 of those children that have been “recycled”, we have many more important things that we should be focused on. That call that the president made clearly has nothing to do with him trying to persecute anybody. He’s just doing his job and seriously trying to investigate something that is going on, because he is opposed to corruption, and the moment we have someone like Joe Biden’s son, who has no experience whatsoever, none to do with that sort of work, who is making over 80,000 dollars a month, we should investigate what’s going on. The same thing with a relative of Nancy Pelosi’s, who is also very well connected in Ukraine.
RAMOS: I thank you for being here. Do you believe that more Latinos will vote for President Donald Trump than did last time?
AGÜERO: Yes, we’ve…
BACA: If the responses we’ve seen with in our areas and with our friends... definitely.
AGÜERO: We have Democrats that I’ve spoken to, and they’ve told me…”They’ve gone too far leftist, too fat left, and I plan on voting for the president.”
RAMOS: Thank you. Ana Laura. Thank you for being here. I appreciate it.
