Univision and the Republican Party won’t be bosom buddies any time soon

OPINION In what would ordinarily have been a non-news story, the Republican National Committee (RNC) last week announced their list of television networks selected to participate in the upcoming Republican presidential primary debates, but the omission of one very important TV network is turning heads. The debates begin in August 2015 and end in February 2016, and the omission of Univision from that list made headlines all across the country. Of course, Univision wasn’t the only network absent from the RNC’s primary debate list. MSNBC and Bloomberg TV were also left out, but that wasn’t what drove the headlines. It was the omission of the largest Spanish language network in America at a time when relations between the Republican Party and the Hispanic community aren’t their best. SEE ALSO: What President Obama could learn from Jorge Ramos It’s a fact that the Republican Party has never enjoyed majority support from the Hispanic community overall, whether its national, state or local elections. Lately that level of support seems to be dwindling even further — much of which has to do with the failure of the GOP to pass immigration reform legislation. Issue of immigration reform takes center stage It seems that the issue of “immigration” has hijacked all other issues in national debate between the Hispanic community and the Republican Party. Yet, poll after poll shows that Hispanics, like the rest of America, want our economy to improve so their lives can in turn, improve too. But, it seems there isn’t a member of the Republican Party that doesn’t get drawn in during media interviews about their stance on immigration. Univision, in particular seems to beat this drum more than any other network; criticizing the Republican Party for the lack of support of the Dream Act and their not supporting a path to legal residency for the millions here illegally. Anchors Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas in particular seem to spend more of their air time pursuing negative stories about Republicans than about important world issues. One can only wonder what drives them? But rather than answer the question, all one has to do is to look at their boss at Univision, Egyptian born, and a dual citizenship holder of both Israel and the United States, Haim Saban. Who runs Univision? It’s no mystery that Mr. Saban has long been a generous supporter of the Democratic Party, pouring millions into the Party’s coffers but especially contributing heavily to Bill and Hillary Clinton’s foundation and 2008 campaign respectively. For his generosity, Saban and his wife Cheryl Lynn spent many a night in the White House during Clinton’s administration. Which begs the question why is anyone surprised at Saban’s Univision, where he is the CEO and also the co owner with a couple of private equity firms taking on the Republican Party? The Rubio controversy Its been reported that in 2011 Univision wanted to do an interview with Senator Rubio, but when he balked, the network supposedly threatened to do a stand-alone story about his brother-in-law, who was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for drug related charges. The senator’s brother in-law, Orlando Cicilia, was sentenced in 1989 but had an early release in 2000. When Cicilia was arrested in 1987, Marco Rubio was only 16-years-old, yet Univision insisted on asking the senator about this incident in relation to his political career. Marco Rubio did not do the interview that year, but he did acquiesce in 2012 when he did an interview with Jorge Ramos. During that interview Ramos grilled Senator Rubio about his brother in-law. It goes without saying that political figures are fair game when it comes to the news media. Once they get a hold of a story, with credible validation or not, the media will chase that politician down until they either tackle him/her to the ground or bury them. They take no prisoners, and certainly Univision has proven to be on that path toward Republican politicians.   In the 2011 interview incident, words such as “blackmail” and “threatening” were heard throughout the media community when Senator Rubio refused to sit down with Univision to talk about his brother in-law Orlando Cicilia. In the meantime, its CEO Haim Saban inserted himself in the bashing of Rubio by calling him, “anti-Hispanic” because of his refusal to support certain aspects of immigration reform. I don’t remember the last time I heard the head of a major television network personally attack a sitting United States Senator. At the same time, I am wondering who died and made Saban the judge of what constitutes being “anti-Hispanic.” SEE ALSO: Hulu’s latest addition is Univision’s Flama online channel It seems Haim Saban is bent on using his network to bash Republicans anyway and any time he wants, and sadly his two Hispanic television anchors Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas seem to follow in their boss’s footsteps. So is it any wonder that the Republican Party did not include Univision in the televised Republican presidential primary debates? It’s the smart thing to do, and it would even be smarter if more and more Hispanics began to realize what they get with Univision.The post Univision and the Republican Party won’t be bosom buddies any time soon appeared first on Voxxi.