In case anyone wondered that Univision really thought of Congresswoman Mayra Flores (R-TX), one need look no further than the post-midterm edition of Al Punto con Jorge Ramos, which kicked off by giving her opponent the opportunity to take a victory lap.
Watch Congressman Vicente González (D-TX) spike the ball with a series of baseless and bigoted statements what went unchallenged by Jorge Ramos:
RAMOS: Congressman, in spite of everything and although this was not a red wave, the Republican Party will surely control the House of Representatives. Do you think that many Latinos feel disillusioned with the promises of the Democratic Party that have not been kept?
GONZALEZ: Well look. I think we have to keep on working. At the end of the day, Latinos in this country have much more in common with the Democratic Party than with the Republican Party. There is still a lot of hate, and racism, and the proposed policies of the Republican Party that are anti-Latino. And for sure they fool a percentage of Latinos in this country but they don't fool the majority, and we’ve seen that here in this last election. Republicans didn’t win a single county around the Rio Grande. Not one. So they like to talk and say that there is a red wave and that this is coming and that is coming but at the end of the day Latinos, at least in Texas, know which party they belong to.
You would think that Ramos would’ve immediately called González out after talking about “hatred and racism”, whether for the publication of misogynistic statements against Flores by a blogger paid with campaign funds, or for González’ claim to be the “real Texan” in the race vis-a-vis the immigrant Flores. But you’d think wrong. Ramos did none of the things that he would’ve certainly and relentlessly done had there been an R after González’ name. Instead, he meekly wrapped up the interview. Mission accomplished.
Ramos tread very lightly with Flores throughout the campaign, but singled her out as the face of the failed red wave as soon as he had a chance. The truth, of course, is that Flores overperformed in a district that was drawn D+16, slashing that difference by half. That important fact went unmentioned. But, as we know, the truth is a rare commodity at the nation’s corporate Spanish-language networks, which studies have shown to be the largest spreader of Spanish-language disinformation.
Gonzalez’ last line proves to be the most valuable to identitarians scrambling to deny the existence of a Hispanic shift, or diminishing the shift in the case of Univision. If “Latinos know what party they belong to”, then it follows that they also know what media they belong to.
The Spanish-language news market continues to cry out for alternatives.
Ironically, this segment was sponsored by Lysol. Their information can be found here.
Click “Expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned interview as aired on Univision’s Al Punto con Jorge Ramos on Sunday, November 13th, 2022:
JORGE RAMOS: Without a doubt, one of the most symbolic races occurred in the 34th District of Texas. There, Republican Congresswoman Mayra Flores became an example of how Hispanics were shifting to the right. But Democrat Vicente González defeated her resoundingly. To explain how he did it, we invited him to the program.
Congressman González, thank you for joining us. You come off of the toughest campaign of your entire life. You went up against Congresswoman Mayra Flores, who was portrayed by the Republican Party as the great example of how Latinos could vote for the Republican Party, and then you went and beat her. What did you do? How did you win?
US Rep. VICENTE GONZALEZ (D-TX): Well, the truth is, that's the community in which I have been working for almost… seeing as this is my fourth term in Congress. We have brought over $6 billion of resources to our region, to our district. And the lies that the Republican Party used in negative attacks, I think they spent as much as $5 or 6 or 7 million dollars against us – they didn't work. The people here are much smarter than the Washington Republicans who were running this campaign believed. But more than anything, we knocked on 210,000 people's doors here in South Texas. And we communicated the message of the work that we have done and the work that I continue to do.
RAMOS: You and Congressman Henry Cuéllar are, perhaps, among the most moderate Democrats. Do you think that Hispanics are actually shifting from the left to the right? That they are much more conservative than many suppose?
GONZALEZ: I think that in South Texas we are conservative in a certain way. But we don't forget how we got there. In other words, the Democratic Party is the party that gave the American people Social Security, and Medicare, the party that has given women the right to vote, the right to women to earn the same salary as men for the same job. It was the party that gave veterans the right to study and have medical care when they leave. It is the party that has lowered the prices of medicines for the elderly. And we keep on working. We just spent $1.2 trillion in infrastructure funding that is directly impacting regions such as ours. And the people here are much smarter than they imagine in Washington.
RAMOS: I would like to ask you about the immigration issue. Your 34th district is precisely on the border with Mexico. In recent months, we have seen hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants pass from Mexico to the United States and many arrive directly to your district. And you have proposed a new safe zone law. Can you briefly explain to me what it consists of?
GONZALEZ: That's right. Look, what is happening on the southern border of the United States is a disgrace for everyone. And whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, or on the right or on the left, you have to see it that way. My proposal for safe zones is to create a safe zone on the border between Mexico and Guatemala, which is the first- where migrants who are going to come to our southern border can arrive directly there and complete their asylum process. And if at the end of the day we are going to let them enter here anyway, let them do it there and they can go to an airport and fly directly to their final destination. It takes the pressure off of our border. It allows the Border Patrol to do their job and removes the element of the cartels that have spent billions of dollars bringing people to our border.
RAMOS: Congressman, even though this was not a red wave, the Republican Party will surely control the House of Representatives. Do you think that many Latinos feel disillusioned with the promises of the Democratic Party that have not been kept?
GONZALEZ: Well look. I think we have to keep on working. At the end of the day, Latinos in this country have much more in common with the Democratic Party than with the Republican Party. There is still a lot of hate and racism, and the proposed policies of the Republican Party that are anti-Latino. And for sure they fool a percentage of Latinos in this country, but they don't fool the majority, and we have seen that here in this last election. Republicans didn’t win a single county around the Rio Grande. Not one. So they like to talk and say that there is a red wave and that this is coming and that is coming, but at the end of the day, Latinos, at least in Texas, know which party they belong to.
RAMOS: Congressman González, thank you for joining us.
GONZALEZ: Thank you.
