As I’ve stated many times, the Latinx Grievance Industrial Complex is up in arms over the perceived (and, perhaps, imagined) loss of air supremacy on one of its cornerstone institutions- Univision. Which is how we end up with Ana Navarro, on The View, DEMANDING to know how and why this is happening.
After having to endure this segment, I’ve gained an even greater appreciation for our friend Nick Fondacaro, who watches this nonsense on a daily basis so you don’t have to. Anyway, heeeeeeere’s Ana:
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Why is Univision going through this, and what is- what's happening here, Ana? I'm going to ask you.
SARA HAINES: What the hell is going on there?
NAVARRO: I’ve gotten so many calls in the last 10 days, saying: ¿Qué carajo está pasando en Univision? What the hell is happening in Univision? Because, look. Univision, as you said, is the giant in Spanish news and in Spanish news, there's a ton of misinformation in our community newspapers and our radio stations. This is the place where Latinos- Spanish-speaking Latinos go to get informed, to form educated opinions. To get engaged. To help get people out to vote- they’ve been really great corporate citizens and community citizens. They have a tremendous co-anchor named Jorge Ramos, who's been there for decades, and they’ve got great credibility. I've seen many a strongman, many a corrupt person, leader, squirm under the questioning of Jorge Ramos, but they didn't have Jorge Ramos do this interview. They had a guy named Enrique Acevedo who is supposedly a good journalist, I don’t know him, but he sat there like he was interviewing a panda. And, you know, somebody described the interview, a Politico writer as so soft it could have been pillow stuffing and all the things you've mentioned happened. And so it's led to all of this speculation, and then we learned that Jared Kushner is somehow involved, greasing the wheels with Televisa, the Mexican side that has bought part of it. This is what I would say to televisio- to Univision viewers. Use your voice. Use your remote controls. Use your purchasing power with advertisers. If you've got questions, let them know. If you are disappointed and troubled, let them know because Univision has held people accountable. It is time for us Latinos to hold Univision accountable. [ Applause ]
The section in bold very neatly explains why the left is in such a frenzy. Univision, a reliable Democrat talking point regurgitator for decades, is both a gatekeeper institution into the Latino community, as created and organized by the left, and an approved purveyor of information to the community. Thus, the Trump interview is seen as a major breach. Univision is perceived to have breached its fiduciary responsibility towards the rest of the Professional Political Latinx class, by having the temerity to allow Donald J. Trump to sit down with a journalist and answer questions in a normal, conversational tone.
This is the basis upon which Navarro, John Leguizamo, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, along with the rest of the Latinx Industrial Complex, have demanded that Univision reverse course and go back to being a reliable Democrat talking point machine- which it never stopped being in the first place. Had the shoe been on the other foot, these very groups would be denouncing these activities as a gross attack upon a free and independent press.
I use such words as “imagined” and “perceived” because there is no actual editorial shift at Univision, and no substance to the conversation beyond what I described in the previous paragraph. And so it is that we have to endure five minutes of the Viewteratti’s discourse on Univision- which, honestly, felt like five hundred.
Once you get past the screeching and the lamentations over Trump not being yelled at by Jorge Ramos, there’s nothing. Nothing, except for this throwaway bit of casual racism by Whoopi Goldberg. Or at minimum, an inappropriate cultural appropriation, wherein Goldberg announces a legal notice in a bad Tony Montana accent:
It is unclear to me why Whoopi Goldberg decided to announce this legal notice RE: Univision with the affectation of an accent that leads one to believe she is about to direct Chi Chi to go get the yayo, but alas, she did. And, per the rules, that is a racism, @ABC @TheView. pic.twitter.com/TnyHBANZbh
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) November 20, 2023
What a hot mess.
Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned segment as aired on ABC’s The View on Monday, November 20th, 2023:
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Welcome back. Univision, the largest spanish-speaking channel in America is under fire for what critics are calling beyond a softball interview with you-know-who, plus canceling a rebuttal from a Biden administration official and pulling Biden campaign ads before the interview. Now top Univision anchor Leon Krauze abruptly left after this, and Latino celebrities like John Leguizamo and you-know-who --
ANA NAVARRO: Don't call me you-know-who. Call me Ana.
GOLDBERGi: That's right.
NAVARRO: That's like being called Lord Voldemort.
GOLDBERG: -- and Ana are kind of saying, what the hell is going on over there? And some folks are calling for a boycott. Why is Univision going through this, and what is- what's happening here, Ana? I'm going to ask you. What the hell is going on there?
NAVARRO: I’ve gotten so many calls in the last 10 days, saying: ¿Qué carajo está pasando en Univision? What the hell is happening in Univision? Because, look. Univision, as you said, is the giant in Spanish news and in Spanish news, there's a ton of misinformation in our community newspapers and our radio stations. This is the place where Latinos- Spanish-speaking Latinos go to get informed, to form educated opinions. To get engaged. To help get people out to vote- they’ve been really great corporate citizens and community citizens. They have a tremendous co-anchor named Jorge Ramos, who's been there for decades, and they’ve got great credibility. I've seen many a strongman, many a corrupt person, leader, squirm under the questioning of Jorge Ramos, but they didn't have Jorge Ramos do this interview. They had a guy named Enrique Acevedo who is supposedly a good journalist, I don’t know him, but he sat there like he was interviewing a panda. And, you know, somebody described the interview, a Politico writer as so soft it could have been pillow stuffing and all the things you've mentioned happened. And so it's led to all of this speculation, and then we learned that Jared Kushner is somehow involved, greasing the wheels with Televisa, the Mexican side that has bought part of it. This is what I would say to televis- to Univision viewers. Use your voice. Use your remote controls. Use your purchasing power with advertisers. If you've got questions, let them know. If you are disappointed and troubled, let them know because Univision has held people accountable. It is time for us Latinos to hold Univision accountable. [ Applause ]
ALYSSA FARAH: And I think that this underscores -- I think this underscores how seven years into Trump, the media still grapples with how to cover him effectively, and I -- I think many can be guilty of it where we talk about a lot of things. Like this civil suit in New York, yes, it matters. That does not impact tens of millions of Americans. What doesn't and what I don’t think is getting enough attention is he's talking about rounding up undocumented migrants and putting them into essentially concentration camps. He's talking about agenda of retribution against former government officials like myself, like Mark Milley and others when he's back in office. He's talking about reinstating the Muslim Ban, which applies to my [unint]. (CROSSTALK)
GOLDBERG: So where was- where was- where was- where’s the anchor? Why wasn’t the anchor-
NAVARRO: He's sitting there smiling at Mar-a-Lago like if he was interviewing Barney the dinosaur. ♪ I love you, you love me ♪ ♪ we're a happy family ♪
SUNNY HOSTIN: One of the problems with the interview is it was hours long. He was rambling. He was- There was very little pushback. He was allowed to lie about what his administration accomplished and didn't accomplish, what they did, what they didn't do, and the other piece of it I think that's troubling is that three executives went to Mar-a-Lago for dinner and to hang out. Like, there is supposed to be a separation between your interview subject and the interviewer and especially the network. You're supposed to cut- call it… you're supposed to be neutral as a journalist, and we see a lack of neutrality. We also know that the- I think the debate -- one of the Republican debates was co-sponsored by Fox, Fox Business Channel and Univision, and so it seems like they're sort of putting their thumb on the scale for the Republican party, and the Latino vote is a very important vote.
HAINES: When did this shift happen though? Because there was a time where --
HOSTIN: It seems to have happened in the pa- well-- (CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: Well, Televisa which is a Mexican network, the largest Mexican network in Mexico has bought 45% of Univision which is all they are allowed to buy under current law because a foreign entity can't own the majority of a network. And that's part of what people are speculating. Do they want that law changed?
HOSTIN: Maybe.
FARAH: Even so, journalists themselves, regardless of the parent company, have a duty to be neutral, to try to be as objective as possible and to try to fact-check and that’s the challenge with Trump is he bulldozes people, the most seasoned journalists. I think pre-taping interviews with him and then allowing yourself to edit in fact checks throughout- because the public doesn't even know what is real and what's not with him.
NAVARRO: He wasn’t even bulldozing anybody because there was literally nobody to bulldoze.
FARAH: And again, go through and fact check.
GOLDBERG: Hold on. There is a legal note. (in Scarface accent)
HOSTIN: Because that's what we do here on ABC news. TelevisaUnivision CEO Wade Davis sent a note addressing the controversy writing, quote, our goal is to cover candidates from all political parties, Democrats, Republicans, and independents, and to assure Hispanics of the most comprehensive access to information that will help them make educated decisions at the ballot box, end quote.
GOLDBERG: When are they going to do that?
HOSTIN: Well, that-
NAVARRO: Not with this interview. They didn't educate anybody with this interview.
HOSTIN: It strikes me odd that the rebuttal interview with President Biden was canceled.
HAINES: Yeah, was canceled.
NAVARRO: Yeah, and the ads were canceled after they had been purchased.
GOLDBERG: Univision, watch out.
NAVARRO: We watching you!
