In the run-up to the mid-term elections and in lock-step with the Democrats, Univision’s evening news is once again deliberately and dishonestly portraying opposition to illegal immigration as if it also meant opposition to legal immigration and legal immigrants in the United States.
The latest example of chronically dishonest, electorally manipulative journalism took place when correspondent Luis Megid characterized Donald Trump’s determination to halt unauthorized entry into the United States as “attacking immigrants.”
From there and in sync with a pro-Democrat activist, Megid unequivocally lambasted the Republican candidates for Governor of Florida and Georgia (both of whom advocate for the enforcement of U.S. immigration law) as ‘anti-immigrant’ candidates.
DONALD TRUMP, ANNOUNCING PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDACY: They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists
LUIS MEGID, CORRESPONDENT, UNIVISION: Whether you like it or not, attacking immigrants worked for candidate Trump. That is why there is no reason to be surprised that in the upcoming election many candidates are following in his footsteps,
BRIAN KEMP: Just in case I need to round up criminal illegals and take ‘em home myself.
LUIS MEGID: like the one who wants to arrest immigrants and deport them in his pick-up truck, or the one who wants to teach his daughter how to build the wall.
According to the Univision correspondent, support for U.S. immigration law enforcement, such as is aired in the gubernatorial campaign ads of Brian Kemp and Ron DeSantis, respectively, amounts to “attacking immigrants.” The construct only works if, like Megid, one studiously avoids making any distinction between immigrants who are not authorized to be in the United States and those who are.
Megid’s report also deceptively and repeatedly features a commercial from Kemp’s May 2018 Republican primary opponent, Michael Williams, whose candidacy was not well-received, winning only 4.8% of the primary vote.
In tandem with pro-Democrat activist Orson Aguilar, Megid concluded his report by characterizing the opposition to illegal immigration (and corresponding support for immigration law enforcement) being enunciated by this year’s crop of Republican candidates as also constituting an “attack” against naturalized U.S. citizen voters, who should take said “attack” personally when they go to the polls on November 6.
Below is the complete transcript of the above-referenced segment, as aired during the October 17, 2018 edition of Noticiero Univisión.
PATRICIA JANIOT, NEWS ANCHOR, UNIVISION: And that issue of immigration has become one of the most debated among the candidates in the midterm elections. Parties and candidates have invested more than $150 million dollars in advertisements to promote their proposals related to immigration or to criticize those of their opponents. Luis Megid tells us that at the center of these debates are the drastic immigration measures of President Trump.
DONALD TRUMP, ANNOUNCING PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDACY: They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists
LUIS MEGID, CORRESPONDENT, UNIVISION: Whether you like it or not, attacking immigrants worked for candidate Trump. That is why there is no reason to be surprised that in the upcoming election many candidates are following in his footsteps,
BRIAN KEMP: Just in case I need to round up criminal illegals and take ‘em home myself.
LUIS MEGID: like the one who wants to arrest immigrants and deport them in his pick-up truck, or the one who wants to teach his daughter how to build the wall.
ORSON AGUILAR, POLITICAL ANALYST: The question is whether this will work this time. Right now it can be said that the economy is good. People have jobs. So maybe this time, it could be a message that is not going to work.
MICHAEL WILLIAMS, GEORGIA SENATOR: We’ve got the deportation bus
LUIS MEGID: Clearly analysis like these have not prevented anti-immigrant campaigns from gaining momentum. Candidates and committees have already spent more than $150 million dollars in commercials that talk about immigration during this electoral season. Much more than previous years, and very interesting because immigration is not the issue of greatest concern to voters.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: The wall is gonna get built and the wall is gonna stop drugs.
LUIS MEGID: Even so, Trump believes it is a winning strategy and predicts a red wave of Republican victories in November.
BRIAN KEMP: Kate Steinle, Edwin Jackson, and the Cannon family: all killed by illegal immigrants.
LUIS MEGID: But the critics of these campaigns see another possible effect.
ORSON AGUILAR: What is going to happen is that many Latinos who see this message, see the attack. What we have seen is that when there are attacks against immigrants the Latino vote increases.
MICHAEL WILLIAMS: And you want to see this bus filled with illegals.
LUIS MEGID: Reasons for voting will not be lacking. For many naturalized immigrants, the November 6 election is becoming something very personal. In San Francisco, Luis Megid, Univisión.
