Update (10/16/24): On October 10, CNN reported that Univision would not fact-check Harris or Trump on stage during their respective town halls. Instead, Univision plans to fact-check the candidates following the broadcasts in an October 17 special called “Después de las respuestas,” or “After the answers.” According to the report, “a TelevisaUnivision spokesperson told CNN that the fact-checking decision was not a condition for any candidate’s participation.” It added, “It is possible that Acevedo will quickly correct the record on stage, a person familiar with the situation said.”

Univision’s elDetector project has worked for months to fact-check Donald Trump’s dangerous lies about abortion, immigration, and the January 6 insurrection. During an October 16 Televisa Univision town hall with the former president, journalist Enrique Acevedo — who in 2023 faced criticism for his interview with Trump — will also have the chance to push back against Trump's misinformation by fact-checking the GOP presidential candidate in real time. 

The event will also be an opportunity for Univision to restore trust among its viewers after concerns that the network’s corporate owners, Televisa Univision, have made attempts to become friendly with the former president, with whom the network had cut business ties in 2016 after a series of racist remarks against Mexicans. In 2023, the Washington Post reported that “Trump is treating Univision and its new corporate owners like long-lost friends” and that “he hosted a trio of its executives at Mar-a-Lago” during his interview with Acevedo.  

The town hall will broadcast out of Miami and will follow a dueling town hall with Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday, October 10. Univision and its streaming service ViX will air the town halls with a Spanish translation, with the full English-language version available on the Noticias Univision YouTube channel.

Univision’s elDetector has fact-checked Trump before

Univision’s elDetector, an online Spanish-language fact-checking project launched ahead of the 2016 presidential election, has spent the last several months pushing back against Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric, his false and racist attacks against Harris’ identity, his fearmongering about Democrats’ position on abortion, and his distortions about the January 6 insurrection. 

• Following ABC’s presidential debate between Harris and Trump, elDetector published an article debunking Trump’s false claims that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, are kidnapping and eating pets. The article outlined how Trump’s claims have “origins in an Internet theory that falsely suggests a group of Haitian immigrants in that town are kidnapping their neighbors’ pets.” It clearly stated, “It is false that people in Springfield, Ohio are eating dogs, cats or pets, as candidate Trump claimed on Tuesday.” The article also pushed back against Trump’s false claims that Kamala Harris “is a Marxist,” writing that Harris “has repeatedly stated that she supports the free market economy and recently received the support of some 88 business leaders who believe that Harris guarantees ‘stability and economic prosperity.'" [Univision, 9/10/2; Media Matters, 9/18/24,  9/26/24]
• In the days leading up to the Trump and Harris presidential debate, elDetector shared an article debunking Trump’s false claims that Harris would “get questions in advance,” which he made during an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity. The article also fact-checked “other falsehoods from Trump during his interview with Hannity,” like claims that Harris “was the first to abandon the 2020 Democratic primaries” and that she “doesn't want fracking.” In fact, “it is false that Kamala Harris was the first to drop out of the 2020 Democratic primaries,” and her campaign has repeatedly stated she does not support a ban on fracking. [Univision, 9/5/24; Media Matters, 9/5/24; CBS News, 10/2/24]
• In September, elDetector fact-checked “Trump’s false and misleading claims about Harris’ record on crime,” which he made at a campaign event in Atlanta. The article included debunks for “several of Trump’s claims [that] go beyond the facts or distort Harris’s position,” such as that Harris wants “all illegals” to have “a mass amnesty.” The Trump campaign has pointed to “comprehensive immigration reform” proposals that Harris has supported in the past, including her support for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. However, none of the proposals Harris has supported would give “mass amnesty and citizenship” to “all illegals.”  [Univision, 9/1/24; FactCheck, 8/15/24] 
• In August, elDetector debunked Trump’s false claims that under the Biden-Harris administration, “millions of people are coming here every month” and that “Kamala was the border czar.” The article wrote, “As of June 2024, there has not been a month of the Biden-Harris administration, which began in January 2021, in which the number of encounters with people trying to enter the country illegally reached 1 million,” citing data by Customs and Border Patrol (CBP). It also stated, “It is false that Kamala Harris has been given the title of ‘border czar.’” [Univision, 8/13/24; Media Matters, 7/22/24]
• elDetector also fact-checked Trump’s false claims about the deaths resulting from the violence at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, which he made during a press conference outside his Mar-a-Lago residence on August 8. The article said, “It is false that during the assault on the Capitol, perpetrated by Republican supporters on January 6, 2021, ‘no one died.’” It continued, “Four people who were part of the violent mob that entered Congress were killed. … The fifth fatality, Officer Brian Sicknick, died the day after the attack.” [Univision, 8/9/24; New York Times, 8/8/24]
• elDetector published an article fact-checking Trump’s racist claim that Harris “happened to turn Black” for political gain. The article wrote, “It is false that Kamala Harris did not identify ‘as black until a few years ago,’ as Donald Trump said at the annual NABJ convention in Chicago.” It continued, “At elDetector, we verified that there are records of statements by Harris, dating back to before she served as vice president, in which she identifies as a black woman or African American. In her political career, she has been noted for becoming the first African American to hold a variety of roles in the public sector.” [Univision, 8/2/24; CNN, 7/31/24; Media Matters, 8/1/24]  
• In April, Cristina Tardáguila published an article for elDetector outlining Trump’s false claims that Roe v. Wade allowed doctors to “execute babies even after birth.” Tardáguila is an investigative journalist and the founder of Brazil's first anti-disinformation hub, Lupa. She wrote, “This is not true. Nor is it new. Trump has been telling this lie since at least 2019, and the fact that he is repeating it now is no coincidence." [Univision, 4/14/24, Media Matters, 9/11/24; PolitiFact, 4/8/24]

Will Univision step up to the plate?

In September, ABC News anchors David Muir and Linsey David received plaudits for their efforts fact-checking Trump live during the presidential debate against Harris. Last week, however, CBS News threw in the towel before the vice presidential debate between Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) and Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) even began, allowing the Republican nominee to tell a staggering lie about Trump’s efforts to destroy the Affordable Care Act. 

Univision’s town halls could be the closest thing to another debate between the two candidates before the election, and it is a moment for the candidates to address Latinos, who represent a crucial slice of the American electorate. The network has a golden opportunity here to restore trust among its viewers and fulfill the “essential task” of checking Trump’s predictably misinformative appeals.

Correction (10/9/24): This piece originally misstated the order of the two town halls, while including the correct dates.