In a rare, balanced segment on Univision's weekly public affairs show Al Punto, anchor Jorge Ramos invoked Reagan and brought abortion as an issue directly to the forefront.
Watch below as Ramos and pro-Trump activist Paloma Zúñiga discuss a classic Reagan truism, and whether Hispanics are really culturally conservative as pertains to abortion.
JORGE RAMOS: Do you believe that what Ronald Reagan said was true? That Latinos are really Republicans but don’t know it yet? For example, on abortion: have you noticed a change in Latinos’ way of thinking?
PALOMA ZÚÑIGA, PRO-TRUMP ACTIVIST: 100%. 100%. We are conservative by nature. Our cultures are, in fact (conservative). And here, they’ve greatly divided us. But we Latinos are completely against abortion, we are religious, we are God-fearing, and I believe that the abortion issue is the most important one we face this election.
By “balanced”, of course, we mean two conservatives (the other being Libre Initiative spokespesman Wadi Gaitán) and two liberals (Ramos and former Clinton surrogate Phillip Arroyo). This marks a contrast when compared with the last Al Punto panel we reviewed, which skewed liberal.
The segment continues Ramos’ exploration of why Hispanics might vote for Trump in 2020, and covered issues such as immigration, abortion, and the economy. Of note, Ramos doesn’t speculate as to conservative Hispanics’ motives - something he’s done in the past - but rather asks the question.
The evocation of Reagan particularly stands out because so much of Univision’s news focus seems bent on undermining the notion that Hispanics might be conservative, or unknowing Republicans. Here Zúñiga does a fantastic job of succinctly articulating the socially conservative position on abortion for a viewing audience that is usually blasted from the left on this issue.
In many ways this is a direct and very eloquent response to Ramos’ own dismissal of conservative Hispanics when he sat down with Spain’s El Intermedio:
JORGE RAMOS: There are people that feel totally identified with this country, that believe the same things that Donald Trump believes. If you vote for someone, you partially resemble that. And also that, among Latinos, there are very conservative values that are commonly held with the Republican Party, President Trump’s party. The...the religious issue, the importance of family, the abortion issue. This explains, in part, why one out of three Hispanics vote for Donald Trump and is so conservative.
It’s quite different when Ramos actually talks to conservatives and asks questions instead of bashing them to other countries’ media or commiserating within the left-media bubble.
Of note, it is interesting to watch Democrats on the defensive when it comes to social issues. Arroyo, a recent law school graduate and former Biden intern who now supports Bernie Sanders, struggled to counter Zúñiga- and had no response except to utter that Roe v. Wade is settled law (so was Plessy, by the way).
In all, the segment showed both why conservatives don’t often get booked on Al Punto and why more conservatives need to be booked on Al Punto.
