Watch Telemundo’s José Díaz-Balart Repeatedly Confront RNC’s Sean Spicer On Trump’s Russia Comments

Written by Media Matters Staff

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Telemundo’s José Díaz-Balart had to repeatedly push Republican National Committee Communications Director Sean Spicer to get a comment on Donald Trump’s call for Russia to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails. Spicer ducked the question.

During the segment Spicer also pushed the debunked myth that Latino values are “more aligned” with the Republican ideology, a conservative talking point that has been refuted by experts who study trends in the Latino electorate. From the July 31 edition of Telemundo’s Enfoque:

Translated transcript:

JOSÉ DÍAZ-BALART (HOST): This convention here in Philadelphia was dramatically different from the one that we saw in Cleveland. Tell me what you saw in this convention.

SEAN SPICER: Well I think for all the hype of what Cleveland was supposed to be, some of the hiccups that we had, it was nothing compared to the chaos that we’ve seen in Philadelphia. People walking out, booing the speakers over and over again, backroom deals to try to get the Sanders team, the chair of the party resigning, I mean, I was -- I was, now in retrospect, having seen both, I would take ours any day of the week.

DÍAZ-BALART: Nevertheless, we have seen here over and over again representatives of the Latino community on the podium speaking Spanish, the very standard-bearer of the Democratic Party for the vice presidency Tim Kaine speaking in Spanish. We did not see that with the Republicans.

SPICER: Well, look. I get it. I speak a little bit, and I think, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, we have to do a better job of reaching out to the Hispanic community. It is a demographic that is not only incredibly important to the growth of our party, but also I believe whether it's faith, entrepreneurship, family, we align much better with the Latino community. We have done a horrible job articulating why we are a better home for Latinos.

DÍAZ-BALART: Well, because the standard-bearer of your party among other things said that a wall must be built, that another government would pay for it, the Mexican government, and that the solution to the problem of immigration was the deportation of 11 million undocumented immigrants that have been living in this country and contributing to the economy.

SPICER: Right, but there is -- I think to suggest that --

DÍAZ-BALART: That is the standard-bearer's policy.

SPICER: Yes, but there is much more I think, our stance and Donald Trump's stance on education, on small business lending, on faith, that's much more -- I understand the issue of immigration. That has been a problem. But we've talked about fencing and border security, and, frankly, I think for many Latinos in this country, they're equally concerned. They play by the rules. They came here and they brought their families and they obey the rules. And I think many of them struggle financially over the years to get where they are here, and I think they equally share concerns for a strong border.

DÍAZ-BALART: Finally, talking about rules and law, this week Donald Trump in Florida suggested that the Russian government should interfere with Hillary Clinton's emails. He requested that the Russian government look for those 30,000 emails.

SPICER: Let's talk about that because Hillary Clinton was trusted by this government with classified information. She took it, put a secret server in place that made that vulnerable to hack. So it's Hillary Clinton's actions, not Donald Trump's --

DÍAZ-BALART: I'll repeat the question. Donald Trump asked Russia to interfere and look for emails --

SPICER: Right, but that's not what he asked. His point, and he’s made it clear that he was joking around, but we wouldn't be having this conversation --

DÍAZ-BALART: Three times I’ve asked you.

SPICER: I get it, but this is ridiculous because the reason we are having this conversation is because Hillary Clinton put our national security at risk. That's it. Full stop.

DÍAZ-BALART: Do you think it's OK, for any reason, to ask another government to look for a United States citizen's emails?

SPICER: Again, I don't -- this is -- the only person of these two candidates who’s had the opportunity to get access to classified information was Hillary Clinton, and when given that opportunity, she violated the trust of the American people. Donald Trump's never done that. He's never had a relationship with Putin, he's never had a relationship with the Russian government. It's Hillary Clinton who's had a relationship, it's Hillary Clinton that's used that relationship to further her foundation's goals. That's it. The idea that they're able to defer this onto us is ridiculous.