CBS Evening News and CBS This Morning each ran an Adriana Diaz story underlining that Latinos are suffering from the coronavirus in greater proportions, and she ended by feeling the pain of “undocumented” immigrants who can’t access federal money.
But neither program reported what CBS reporter Ed O’Keefe wrote up online: Joe Biden’s support is soft among Latino voters, with only 49 percent saying they will vote for him in November, and another ten percent saying they’re leaning that way. The poll came from Latino Decisions, a Democratic polling firm.
“Typically, a Democratic presidential candidate needs to earn Latino support at least in the mid-to-high 60% range nationwide to pad a White House victory,” O’Keefe explained. “Hillary Clinton won 66% of Latino voters in 2016 while Barack Obama won 71% of them in 2012.”
Other outlets also drew attention to this problem on Friday, including AP and the Los Angeles Times.
CBS did report polls it liked more. Paula Reid lashed into Trump with one on Wednesday night: "New CBS News polling shows more Americans are looking to their state governors for guidance on what to do as top White House officials can't even agree on basic facts….A new CBS News poll reveals Mr. Trump's decision-making is being called into question. Over 80% of Americans think governors and local officials should choose when to reopen for business, not the president."
On Thursday's CBS Evening News, Diaz reported "roughly half of Latino households have experienced job losses or cuts in the pandemic, and have $500 or less in savings."
ADRIANA DIAZ: Organizer Leone Jose Bicchieri of Working Family Solidarity says Latinos are more likely to be in low-wage and now high-risk essential jobs, like in the food industry.
BICHIERRI: Many of them are balancing, on the one hand, I don't want the crisis of getting sick. On the other hand, I don't want the crisis of being homeless because I can't pay rent and I can't buy food.
DIAZ: Just look at this food pantry line in Chicago's Mexican neighborhood of Pilsen. The undocumented immigrants here don't qualify for unemployment or the federal stimulus, like Rosa, who has two kids. Can you sleep?
ROSA: No. [Speaking Spanish]
DIAZ [translating?]: You're not able to sleep. You have insomnia because you don't know how you're going to get through this.
[To Bicchieri] What of the argument that folks here illegally shouldn't have access to these public benefits?
BICCHIERI: This is a wartime situation. You're not going to make anyone safer by having any portion of the population sick, because you're gonna be sick.
It doesn't matter what the dominant political story of the day is. The networks are going to find a way to advocate for more sympathy and money for illegal immigrants.
