TelevisaUnivision CEO Wade Davis is fending off Democrats’ fierce criticism of the network’s interview with former President Donald Trump.
Mr. Davis vowed in a memo to Univision staff that the network will not be “deterred by partisan interests and agenda-driven advocacy.”
Left-wing media outlets and liberal personalities were outraged by Univision’s Enrique Acevedo’s interview with Mr. Trump at Mar-a-Lago earlier this month. They said Mr. Acevedo failed to confront Mr. Trump aggressively enough.
Actor and liberal activist John Leguizamo called for a boycott of Univision and nicknamed the network “Magavision.”
“I am asking all my brothers and sisters who are actors, artists, politicians, activists to not go on Univision,” he said.
In the memo, first obtained by Variety, Mr. Davis said Univision exists to cater to their audience, not a political party and “engaging with the entire Hispanic community in all spheres is the foundation of TelevisaUnivision’s mission.”
“Univision is not a tool of any party or organization. Univision is an independent news organization, and we will not be deterred by partisan interests and agenda-driven advocacy.”
He explained that the interview with Mr. Trump was the first in 22 years of a current or former Republican president, and there have been many interviews of a current or former Democratic president during the same period.
He said the network has offered to do a reciprocal interview with President Biden.
“Interviewing the current Republican front-runner, according to the polls, the sitting president, and any other candidates is our responsibility if we are to present the full landscape of ideas,” he said.
Still, Mr. Trump’s detractors wondered why Univision’s liberal host Jorge Ramos did not conduct the interview.
Mr. Acevedo anchors the Televisa newscast En Punto. He previously worked as a journalist on CBS’s “60 Minutes” and moderated a 2016 presidential debate for Univision.
During Mr. Trump’s first run for the White House, the Trump campaign kicked Mr. Ramos out of a press conference in 2015 when he criticized Mr. Trump’s rhetoric toward immigrants.
Following the Univision interview, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Democratic lawmakers from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus wrote a letter to Mr. Davis requesting a meeting to discuss their concerns about the Trump interview.
Ana Navarro of “The View” aired her grievances about the interview on social media after the interview was broadcast.
“It was a ridiculous interview. It was embarrassing. It was an interview with no pushback,” Ms. Navarro wrote on X. “You would have thought they were interviewing Barney the dinosaur. It was a love fest.”
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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