Within the space of one hour, Univision chose to omit mention of a protest (yet again), while giving the Democratic vice-presidential candidate celebrity treatment during a PR stint that included an "unannounced" visit to a Venezuelan restaurant in an effort to attract Latino voters.
As you can see from the following video that compares the Telemundo and Univision reports on Harris's trip to South Florida, Telemundo anchor Jose Diaz-Balart did acknowledge that “outside, there were also protesters with pro President Trump posters.” What he did not say was that the group, from Latinos for Trump, was there on behalf of Cubans, Venezuelans and Nicaraguans who suffered the hardships of socialist and communist regimes.
Univision, as can be expected, completely omitted the protest from its report, which could be considered a textbook case of what a Public Relations presidential campaign hit-piece should look like. See for yourself:
NOTICIAS TELEMUNDO 09/10/2020
JOSE DIAZ-BALART: Well, meanwhile, Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris campaigned today in the city of Miami, Florida, one of the most battled states of the election.
CARLOS ANDRADE: Welcome to Venezuela
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA): Laughs
DIAZ-BALART: During her visit, Harris made an unexpected lunch stop at a Venezuelan restaurant where she was heard using Spanish several times. Outside, there were also protesters with pro President Trump posters. Kamala Harris participated in a public discussion at Florida Memorial University where she had an exchange with Latino voters.
ANDRADE: A leader who comes with a different tone, who comes with one, with a campaign of hope, of promise, not with hatred and division, is refreshing...
DIAZ-BALART: Both campaigns intensify their campaigns in Florida, that with 29 electoral votes, is, like in past elections, a key state to reach the White House.
DESPIERTA AMERICA 09/11/2020
SATCHA PRETTO: And, over the past few hours, Kamala Harris traveled to Florida- accompanied by her husband- in order to attend a gathering with leaders from the African-American community. The Democratic vice-presidential candidate visited a Hispanic restaurant and clarified questions over her position regarding regimes such as those from Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. She also addressed key issues such as the potential defunding of police departments.
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA): We will always have police there to respond to crime, and in particular, serious and violent crime. We must also invest in the strength of communities.
PRETTO: The California senator criticized President Trump for his handling of the pandemic. She accused him of suggesting that Americans not use masks, despite knowing that coronavirus is transmissible through the air.
While Univision anchor Satcha Pretto emphasized that “The Democratic vice-presidential candidate visited a Hispanic restaurant and clarified questions over her position regarding regimes such as those from Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua”, these were not mentioned in the report.
Pretto did include a watered-down call by Harris to defund the police with ambiguous words like - “We will always have police there to respond to crime, and in particular, serious and violent crime. We must also invest in the strength of communities.” This sounds exactly like Biden's call to "redirect funding" from the police, and one wonders what Univision's polling on "defund the police" looks like if they're willing to provide this kind of cover.
Last, but not least, the Univision anchor made sure to insert the Orange Man Bad rhetoric: “The California senator criticized President Trump for his handling of the pandemic. She accused him of suggesting that Americans not use masks, despite knowing that coronavirus is transmissible through the air.”
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