Across the United States, Latinos are expressing deep concern and outrage in response to Donald Trump’s sit-down interview with Univision.
The President of the United States granted a historic interview to Univision’s Jorge Ramos. The news anchor promised an exclusive chance to interview the leader of the largest democracy in the Western Hemisphere.
The interview kicked off with direct questioning from Ramos. He challenged Trump on his hard-line stance on immigration and the administration’s hardline policy of separating migrant children from their parents. Trump responded to Ramos’ concerns with intermittent phrases peppered with his brand of rhetoric.
The response of Trump’s answers were not enough to satisfy many in the Latino community. Many felt that the President had a duty to properly address the issue of family separation and immigration. Trump only used semantics to skirt around the issue of family separation and immigration.
Trump’s interview with Univision had some Latinos viewing this as an endorsement of the administration policies. Members of the Latino community quickly took to social media outlets and criticized both the President and the network for facilitating the interview at the same time.
“Univision is complicit in endorsing a message of exclusion,” commented Julio Suárez, who works for a Latino-rights organization. Daniela, a young Latina student stated, “Allowing Trump on your airwaves is simply unacceptable. We need to stand up for ourselves and condemn Trump to avoid his extreme agendas.”
The backlash was only amplified when Univision posted the interview to their website. People felt that the media network was serving as a platform to normalize Trump’s policies and further divide Latinos instead of being an ally. Among them are leaders of the Latino Community, such as Mayra Macías and Viola González, who both called on a boycott of Univision until changes were made.
The public outcry over the interview was intense, condemning the media network for allowing the President to spread his divisive rhetoric unchecked. The outcry was even echoed by Ramos himself, who apologized for hosting the President for an interview. In the end, the interview may have done more harm than good to the Latinx community.