Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) sat down with Univision’s Enrique Acevedo as part of the run-up to the trial of President Donald Trump before the United States Senate. In addition to negotiating the rules of the trial in Public, Schumer was all too happy to pander to Hispanics’ respect for the Rule of Law.
Watch below as Schumer sprinkles his impeachment Kabuki theater with a liberal dose of Hispandering:
SENATE MINORITY LEADER CHARLES SCHUMER (D-NY): If we don't have a full and fair trial, then the next... this president and other presidents will do even worse, and our democracy could erode.
So many Latino people have fled dictatorships, and prize our democracy that I think there’s an understanding in the Latino community, maybe more than in other communities, people that have been here for generations, that we have to guard our democracy.
And so, all we're asking for is a fair trial.
Schumer’s Hispandering is dishonest, given his conflation of the fundamentals of the American criminal justice system with what is a political process. It should be noted that a sizeable portion of Univision’s viewers are non-citizens who may lack a working knowledge of American civics, and may themselves come from places where there is no presumption of innocence or government to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. To such viewers, Schumer’s demand to see new, additional evidence beyond what emerged from the impeachment (or indictment) may come off as perfectly reasonable.
Furthermore, Schumer’s ethnic appeal lands with a dull thud because while it is true that many Hispanics have fled dictatorships, many Hispanics are also familiar with the sort of unsavory parliamentary skullduggery that has been on open display for the last few weeks. Things which have also eroded democracy in Latin America.
Subsequent to his blatant pandering to Univision’s audience, Schumer showed that his partiality is a fiction- alternating between expressions of non-bias and of reversing himself by regarding the evidence displayed in the House as “condemnatory”
Univision appears to have been deflated by the impeachment that emerged from the House, if its impeachment graphics are any indication:
Univision's impeachment graphics (on English-language UNews) convey a sense of deflation: from the breathless "PRESIDENCY IN PERIL" to the muted "THE IMPEACHMENT OF DONALD J. TRUMP". ¿Qué pasó? pic.twitter.com/VWjWRuIr76
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) December 20, 2019
Univision anchor Enrique Acevedo, while deserving of credit for asking Schumer about the partiality within his own caucus, largely allowed Schumer to rattle off his points.
We are reminded that Univision, an organization with a stake in the outcomes of the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections (and therefore with a stake in this impeachment), operates as a liberal PAC with a broadcast license.
Click “Expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned interview, as aired on UNews on Friday, December 20, 2019:
ENRIQUE ACEVEDO: As the leader of the Minority, what would you respond to those who say that impeaching president Trump under a Republican-controlled Senate is just a waste of time?
SENATE MINORITY LEADER CHARLES SCHUMER (D-NY): It is not a waste of time. First, this is the biggest power that the Founding Fathers, the Constitution gave the Senate. When the president breaks the law, crosses the line, this is the power that’s there. If we ignore it, if we don't have a full and fair trial, then the next... this president and other presidents will do even worse, and our democracy could erode.
So many Latino people have fled dictatorships, and prize our democracy that I think there’s an understanding in the Latino community, maybe more than in other communities, people that have been here for generations, that we have to guard our democracy.
And so, all we're asking for is a fair trial. The witnesses: we asked for four, only four hours each, we’re not trying to delay...who actually saw what happened, why did the president withhold aid. We’ve asked for the documents that surround that. And there the truth- and you know, we don't know what they’ll say. All of these witnesses are appointed by President Trump. They may say something that exonerates the president. They may say something that further condemns the president. But at least they should be heard. Because if future presidents, when they do wrong, will never have a trial, or a fair trial, it’s just short of a sham, you know- like in a dictatorship...forget it. This country's democracy is significant trouble.
And so we are asking simply for a fair trial, not to delay it, but just fair.
ACEVEDO: Congressman Kennedy addressed his sons- his children to explain why he was voting to impeach President Trump. What would you say to your children, to your grandchildren...to explain what’s happening?
SCHUMER: I have a little baby grandson...Noah. I wished all your listeners have the joy of being a grandparent, there is nothing like it. And I would say we are doing this for our children and our grandchildren. This has been a grand country for 200 years. It’s hardly perfect, but the Founding Fathers, when they created America, called it God's Noble Experiment. I believe in all three words today: God. We are one nation under God. We are noble. No one has had the ideals we have had for so long, but we are an experiment. We keep growing and changing. Are we going to change for the better or the worse?
ACEVEDO: Finally, Senator Schumer: Looking at the evidence and after knowing more about President Trump's conduct in office, do you personally support the idea of removing President Trump at this point?
SCHUMER: As a juror, you know, when you’re in the Senate, and you’re on the trial you’re sort of a juror. So I’m going to wait to hear all of the evidence. I think the charges are very serious and very concerning. I certainly don't think we should sweep them under the rug. But that’s why we’ve asked for these witnesses. And if these witnesses say things that are exculpatory, it may change people's minds. If they say something that’s even more condemnatory of President Trump it may change people's minds, so before making, you know...Leader McConnell seems to be making the final judgment even before the trial begins.
ACEVEDO: Some...some Democrats also.
SCHUMER: Yes.
ACEVEDO: The case of Sen. Warren...others that are running for president.
SCHUMER: Few. But I think that’s wrong when... no matter which party is...does it. I think we should wait...and hear...have a good trial...not a- not a...you know you know what the American justice system is: a speedy trial. Fair and speedy. It should be fair. It should be speedy.
ACEVEDO: And you think President Trump can have a fair trial in the Senate.
SCHUMER: He can if he wants to- if he tells Mitch McConnell to do that.
ACEVEDO: Thank you so much for your time, appreciate it. A pleasure.
SCHUMER: Enrique, a pleasure and Feliz Navidad.
ACEVEDO: Happy Holidays. Felices Fiestas. Thank you. Feliz Navidad.
