Univision is receiving backlash from our communities after a controversial interview with former President Donald Trump. According to those calling for a boycott of the Spanish-language network, the interview painted Trump in a more favorable and “friendly” light than ever before. The interview happened at his Mar-a-Lago residency and was done by Enrique Acevedo, the most-watched news anchor on broadcast television in México.
In the interview, Acevedo didn’t challenge Trump on a number of falsehoods according to those boycotting. In addition, Acevedo didn’t press Trump on his policies and views that have directly and drastically changed the lives of Latine people like immigration reform, DACA, or how he wants to end birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. to undocumented parents.
The network also apparently canceled current President Joe Biden’s campaign ads in Nevada, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Florida which were set to air during the Trump interview. It’s also being reported that Univision canceled an interview with Maca Casado, the Biden team’s Hispanic Media Director that was set to air after Trump’s interview.
Well-known people from our communities like political commentator Ana Navarro and comedian/actor John Leguizamo have been taking to social media to encourage people to boycott Univision, with Navarro explaining her reasoning by saying: “To see the largest network, the most important network in the Latino community — Univision — giving this man a one-hour platform where there was no push… There were references by Donald Trump during the interview to his friends who were there, from Univision, Univision executives. It’s raised a lot of questions.”
Leguizamo similarly took to social media to criticize Univision, sharing that he felt compelled to do so because “Univision is becoming MagaVision.”
“I’m not asking for them to take off Trump, I’m just asking for parity, for equality and equity,” he said. “I’m asking they put all ads and be a real network.” Leguizamo then repeated the same message in Spanish.
In the days following the controversial interview, Univision’s most prominent news anchor León Krauze left the network, prompting many to believe that his departure was due to the way that Univision handled the Trump interview.
“After thirteen rewarding years, my journey with Univision Noticias concluded yesterday. It has been an absolute honor and privilege to be a part of this exceptional team of journalism professionals,” Krauze said on X, “My unwavering commitment, past, present, and future, is to journalism that amplifies the voices and illuminates the stories of those who so often go unheard and unseen. That will remain my guiding principle.”