Univision’s recent interview with former President Donald Trump has Democratic politicians and progressive activists outraged.
If they were denouncing a conservative media outlet like Fox News or Newsmax, it wouldn’t be a surprise.
But they’re blasting a Spanish-language network for supposedly being soft on Trump.
Longtime Democrat operative Maria Cardona accused Univision of working to “mask the pernicious and dangerous politics that Donald Trump is going to implement if he becomes president again,” while a group of 70 hard-left Hispanic advocacy groups fired off a letter to the network’s top brass declaring the interview had been a “betrayal of trust.”
Most media watchers, though, would acknowledge Univision is far from conservative.
Indeed, from top news anchor Jorge Ramos publicly advocating progressive policy positions on issues the news department covers to producers ensuring domestic news coverage is dominated by Democratic partisans, Univision has long adhered to a liberal editorial line.
So why is the left going after what’s been a reliably pro-Democrat platform?
The only reason for the left’s newfound interest in journalistic standards in Spanish-language media is that as it loses its grip on the Hispanic electorate, it’s counting on Univision’s support to push its tired argument that Trump is somehow anathema to Hispanics.
Univision seems not to want to play that game anymore.
It may have come to understand it’s not good business to take sides, as poll after poll shows Hispanics are increasingly moving toward the GOP and warming up to Trump.
And it would be disingenuous for Hispanic media to paint a rosy picture of the state of the nation under President Biden’s leadership.
Hispanic families are struggling due to the skyrocketing cost of living from higher prices.
Newly arrived illegal migrants are overrunning their communities, putting a strain on public resources.
And most Hispanics are turned off by the Biden administration’s aggressive woke agenda, which they see as contrary to their cultural values.
Not surprisingly, a majority of Hispanics disapprove of the president’s job performance in key battleground states — 57% per a recent New York Times/Siena College poll.
It would make perfect sense, therefore, for Univision to want to provide a more balanced approach to the news.
That is certainly what we saw in the interview with Trump. Contrary to what the left-wing critics argue, it was not a “softball” interview.
Enrique Acevedo, a seasoned reporter, asked penetrating questions about numerous issues.
It was not the standard Jorge Ramos interview where immigration dominates almost the entire discussion, as if that were the only or most important issue Hispanics care about.
Acevedo also allowed Trump to respond, rather than engaging him in a rancorous debate, as Ramos would have done, yet followed up on key points.
The interview was so effective that many media outlets referenced it for the substantive news it created.
Univision should pay no attention to the criticism from Hispanic progressive organizations or from elites like actor John Leguizamo or “The View” host and socialite Ana Navarro.
The former went as far as calling for a boycott of the network.
Most Hispanics do not care what these groups and individuals have to say.
The network’s viewers are going to continue watching its “telenovelas” and news shows because they enjoy them and want to be informed.
In fact, if Univision wants to preserve its loyal audience, it should reject, in its editorial focus and overall narrative about the Hispanic community, the condescending notion Hispanic progressive elites have advanced for decades that Hispanics hold the same views on most of the major issues facing the country.
This is simply not true.
Hispanics are not monolithic. They are diverse in their opinions and appreciate listening to a range of political perspectives.
Just like Democrats and their leftist acolytes erroneously thought for decades that Hispanics were beholden to them, they cannot stomach now that the arguably most-watched Spanish-language network in the country may have decided to provide equal time and fair treatment to Republicans and conservatives.
The only option they have to prevent this possibility is to try to bully Univision into reversing its course.
Buena suerte with that!
Alfonso Aguilar is the director of Hispanic engagement at American Principles Project.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
