Spanish-slanguage media's coverage of an “explosive” New York Times story on President Donald Trump's tax returns once again confirms that Univision is a radical pro-immigration PAC with a broadcast signal, willing to trade journalistic integrity for a chance to spew its TDS venom onto their audience.
Telemundo, on the other hand, while giving credence to the questionable NYT piece, at least offered the opinion of a Republican analyst, Alfonso Aguilar – along with that of a Never Trumper.
Watch the striking difference between the remarks offered by the political analysts at Telemundo and Univision, regarding the President´s alleged tax information:
JOSÉ PARRA, POLITICAL ANALYST: This is undoubtedly one of the biggest tax frauds in the history of the nation. It is unheard of that the President of the United States is paying less tax than the vast majority of the citizens of this country, including working-class people.
[…]
ALFONSO AGUILAR, POLITICAL ANALYST: The report does not publish the records, the tax returns that they claim to have in their possession. The president's own lawyers tried to talk to the New York Times reporter to see what their findings were based on, but they didn't want to share those tax returns.
Though his point of view barely made it to the very end of a three-minute-plus story on the morning news talk-show, Un Nuevo Día, Aguilar offered that “The report does not publish the records, the tax returns that they claim to have in their possession,” and that while the president´s lawyers tried to talk to the New York Times reporter about their findings, the newspaper refused to share said tax returns.
At Univision, the morning kaffeeklatsch Despierta América, delivered a report jam-packed with speculative, editorialized remarks meant to portray the president as a lawless, anti-immigrant, usurper of the poor; all based on a radical left newspaper report that lacked hard evidence to support their claims about Trump cheating on taxes (and being a horrid businessman), that also violated the law regarding the confidentiality of a taxpayer´s information.
Furthermore, to provide insight on the “charges” against Trump, Univision brought in pseudo political analyst José Parra, a controversial figure known for slandering Mitt Romney by falsely accusing him of tax evasion in 2012.
After framing the story with “And we start with a new scandal this morning that puts President Trump's finances under scrutiny”, anchor Satcha Pretto turned the report over to Washington, D.C. correspondent Edwin Pitti, who then furthered the tax evader spin with speculative comments insinuating that the President is abusing his power. However, he failed to explain – or bring in an expert to explain – the concept of depreciation and also the difference between salaried taxpayers and entrepreneurs, when talking about how “the president has apparently taken advantage of deduction figures to try to reduce what he might owe in taxes.”
Amazingly, Pitti also managed to insert class demagoguery, stating that it is “very clear that the domestic taxation system in this country, its tax system, definitely benefits billionaires”, adding that “the average American pays over $10,000 in taxes a year which is much more than President Trump paid in 2016 and 2017, and this of course includes undocumented immigrants who pay billions of dollars in taxes.”
Yes, you read correctly: even undocumented immigrants were pulled into the rambling, slanted and highly opinionated Univision report. Another example of what advertisers like Coca-Cola enable at the Hispanic media.
Click here to read Media Research Center Founder and President L. Brent Bozell’s letter to the FCC in strong opposition to the proposed rule change that would allow Univision to become 100% foreign-owned, which would only further embolden Jorge Ramos’ brand of activist journalism.
Press on “Expand” to read the complete transcript of the above mentioned news reports as they aired over Univision´s Despierta America, and Telemundo´s Un Nuevo Día, on Monday, September 28, 2020:
SATCHA PRETTO: And we start with a new scandal this morning that puts President Trump's finances under scrutiny. The New York Times obtained over two decades of tax returns that would indicate that Trump did not pay a cent in taxes for 10 of the last 15 years prior to arriving at the White House. In 2016 and 2017 he paid $750. According to the report, he would owe hundreds of millions of dollars to the IRS. Edwin Pitti is live from Washington, D.C., to tell us about the president´s reaction. Edwin, good morning.
EDWIN PITTI: Good morning Satcha. That's correct- at a White House press conference yesterday, President Trump was confronted with this report from The New York Times newspaper and he said it was fake news, that in recent years he has paid billions of dollars in taxes, and that it was a total farce. But the reality, Satcha, is that President Trump is the only president in history who hasn't published his tax returns and perhaps now we know why. Because according to this report by The New York Times where they had access to over two decades of President Donald Trump's tax returns, it is clear that in 2016 when he won the election, he only paid $750 in federal taxes, as he did in 2017. Which makes it very clear that the domestic taxation system in this country, its tax system, definitely benefits billionaires as the president claims that he incurred many losses at the time and that is why in 10 of the last 15 years he did not pay a single cent in taxes in the United States. He says that right now, an audit is taking place, and when done, the president might even end up paying the government over $100,000,000 in taxes. Now, speaking of losses, I can tell you that according to The New York Times’ report, in recent years, since 2000, the president has reported over $300,000,000 in losses on all of his golf courses, including at the hotel he opened here in Washington, D.C., where there are already over $55 million in losses. But, the president has apparently taken advantage of deduction figures to try to reduce what he might owe in taxes. We report that at the time he had The Apprentice program in New York, the president would have filed a $70,000 deduction for personal expenses including hair care. You heard correctly. This is what a Democratic analyst told us about it. Let’s listen in:
JOSÉ PARRA: This is undoubtedly one of the biggest tax frauds in the history of the nation. It is unheard of that the President of the United States is paying less tax than the vast majority of the citizens of this country, including working-class people.
PRETTO: Satcha, in the coming days The New York Times has said it will continue to publish more information about these documents that they have had access to, but I can tell you that the country's Tax Policy Center has said that the average American pays over $10,000 in taxes a year which is much more than President Trump paid in 2016 and 2017, and this of course includes undocumented immigrants who pay billions of dollars in taxes. Live from Washington, Satcha, back to you.
SATCHA: And they pay for it through the ITIN. Thank you Edwin Pitti for reporting this morning live from the country's capital.
TELEMUNDO UN NUEVO DIA
NICOLE SUREZ: With two words, President Trump tweeted his response to The New York Times' revelations about his taxes and said it was fake news. Documents in the hands of that newspaper would reflect a Donald Trump that is trying to save his businesses. According to the newspaper, Trump only paid taxes five times over the last fifteen years, and they were insignificant amounts. Vanessa Hauc explains these tax returns.
VANESSA HAUC: He only paid $750 in federal taxes in 2016; the same amount he would pay in his first year as president and he paid nothing in ten of the previous fifteen years; those are the explosive revelations by The New York Times, who had access to the president's tax returns for the past years. According to the newspaper's inquiry, Donald Trump's properties lose millions of dollars each year and are in the midst of an IRS audit as to the legitimacy of a $72 million refund he received after declaring million-dollar losses. Today at a press conference, the President lashed out at the newspaper.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: It's fake news. It's totally fake news. Arranged. We went through the same stories, you could....
HAUC: His attorney said the data presented were inaccurate. This investigation completely belies the image of the successful millionaire and businessman that he sold as a candidate, and reveals a Trump with over $300 million in debts and who year after year loses millions more, and avoids paying taxes. Congressional Democrats immediately offered a reaction from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who tweeted: “Raise your hand if you paid more in federal income tax than President Trump.” Trump's taxes have been a mystery since he launched his candidacy in 2016 and refused to disclose them. He's the only president in modern times not to have published his tax returns. Vanessa Hauc, Telemundo News.
SUAREZ: And Joe Biden didn't hesitate to echo that news. The Democratic nominee retweeted a video previously posted by his campaign comparing the $750 paid in taxes by the president to what a teacher, firefighter, or nurse should normally pay. Reactions to these revelations on both sides of the political spectrum quickly surfaced. Two analysts give us their perspectives: let's take a look.
ROSARIO MARIN: Obviously, it is offensive that this president has cheated and ripped off the government, the United States and the voters. Today we realize why he's a liar and a failed businessman.
ALFONSO AGUILAR: The report does not publish the records, the tax returns that they claim to have in their possession. The president's own lawyers tried to talk to the New York Times reporter to see what their findings were based on, but they didn't want to share those tax returns.
