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OPINION

MY TRUMP INTERVIEW HAD A PURPOSE: GIVING LATINOS A CHANCE TO HEAR HIM

By Enrique Acevedo
December 13, 2023 at 7:15 a.m. EST

A still image taken from Donald Trump's Nov. 9 interview with Enrique Acevedo on
Televisa-Univision. (Courtesy of Televisa-Univision/N+)

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Enrique Acevedo is the anchor of the news program En Punto on Televisa.

On Nov. 9, Televisa-Univision, the Spanish-language broadcast giant, aired an
hour-long prime-time special featuring my interview with former president Donald
Trump. The conversation was the first in 22 years of a current or former
Republican president on the network. After days in the headlines, reactions to
the interview took a turn straying far from a genuine engagement with its
content and instead mirroring broader political divisions. As I watched the
reaction unfold, I became concerned by the troubling innuendo in this criticism.



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Read this piece in Spanish.

Joaquin Blaya, a former president of Univision who left the network 32 years
ago, told The Post, “This was Mexican-style news coverage,” casting a shadow of
corruption over my interviewing style and overlooking how journalists in Mexico,
where I’m based, are killed more than anywhere else in the world for doing their
jobs. Some Latino celebrities employed the same nativist rhetoric they decry
from the far right to say “the Mexicans” were importing unscrupulous practices
to meddle in U.S. elections. Never mind, I’m American, and have been working
more than 20 years for some of the most prestigious news outlets in the world,
my record speaks for itself.

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Outdated prejudice about Mexico and its news media poses significant dangers,
validating decades-old perceptions that fail to reflect the modern, vibrant and
open society that defines the country today. Moreover, it underscores a striking
absence of humility in the face of our own democratic challenges. Given this
broader context, the irony of such false claims is glaring and concerning.

Amid intense partisanship with clearly delineated camps, my interview with Trump
wasn’t crafted to convince Democrats or my colleagues in the press that Trump is
an unsuitable choice. Instead, its purpose was to afford conservative Latinos
the opportunity to hear directly from him without confrontation or hostility.

My approach was shaped by personal and professional experiences as a Mexican
American journalist reporting from both sides of the border, including eight
years at Univision, where I led the networks’ coverage of the Trump
administration from our bureau in Washington. I drew insights from that
assignment as well as nearly a dozen previous Trump interviews through various
outlets; what I learned was that frequent contextual additions failed to
generate newsworthy conversations and alienated viewers.

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My firm belief was that, rather than imposing a personal stance, the goal was to
empower viewers to form their own assessments and process the information
rationally rather than emotionally.

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It worked. It made news. Trump discussed the possibility of weaponizing the
Justice Department against political opponents and went on record defending
family separation as a deterrent to try to stop undocumented immigration. The
interview covered more than 40 questions and follow-ups, hitting everything from
national security, foreign policy, Trump’s legal troubles, the Supreme Court and
women’s reproductive rights, Big Pharma’s role in the opioid epidemic, U.S. gun
policy, education and the economy. A comprehensive discussion for an audience
with diverse interests, just like the rest of the electorate.

In offering a fair platform for Trump’s views, which resonate with a growing
segment of Televisa-Univision’s viewership, I intentionally granted him ample
space. It was a soft interview by design, not by accident or imposition, like
some suggested. I treated him as a former head of state, not the host of “The
Apprentice.”

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Some critics argue that tactic allowed Trump to repeat false claims about the
2020 election, the nature of his legal issues and President Biden’s reputation.
No, I didn’t fact-check statements live that have already been debunked
repeatedly, and were debunked again after our conversation aired; what would
have been the point in blowing up the conversation to do so? I would have become
a protagonist instead of letting relevant information serve that role. (I did
intervene when he made false claims about Biden’s relationship with Iran, or
Russia’s behavior under his presidency.) Others labeled me a traitor for not
hammering even more on immigration, assuming Hispanics are interested in only
one topic, which I find overly simplistic at best.

While my friend and colleague Jorge Ramos champions confrontation as the only
way to hold those in power accountable, the downside to that approach became
clear in recent years as newsmakers across the political spectrum and beyond the
United States refused to engage with Univision, driving the network to the brink
of journalistic irrelevance. When an entire network is sidelined because of the
perceived confrontational bias of a single journalist, its ability to fulfill
the mission of serving and empowering Hispanics is severely compromised.

I believe as journalists, we are uniquely responsible for elevating the
conversation, cutting through the noise and providing a platform for
perspectives that question even our preconceptions. This is particularly crucial
in an era marked by polarization and historically diminished public trust in the
news media. True journalistic integrity lies not in sensationalism, but in
fostering a space for diverse perspectives to be explored, offering the audience
a deeper examination of critical actors beyond the confines of public
caricature.

Rescuing this great tradition is not just a journalistic imperative — it is a
pragmatic recognition that growing divisions undermine democracy and its
fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of the press and its independence
that we treasure and uphold on both sides of the border.


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