On MSNBC, former Univision president slams the network's Trump town hall as an “infomercial”
Joaquin Blaya: “Univision did not distinguish themselves as being a true news organization and served as a platform for close to an hour of his continuing recital of lies”
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From the October 17, 2024, edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe
MIKA BRZEZINSKI (CO-HOST): So again, you have a situation where former President Trump is being asked questions and he proceeds to lie, many times, and he's allowed to drone on and on with those lies unchecked. Joining us now is former president of Univision and former president and CEO of Telemundo, Joaquin Blaya. Thank you very much for coming on the show this morning. I'm wondering how you felt this town hall went on Univision last night, and if he was able to win over more voters from the community?
JOAQUIN BLAYA (GUEST): Well, Mika, you were talking a few minutes ago about this ecosystem that exists in Fox News. What happened last night at the Univision town hall, it was an extension of that. It was really not a town hall. It was an infomercial in where they brought in audience as props. They did ask tough questions.
But, of course, he went on to recite his concert of lies without any journalism integrity on the part of the network, without any fact-checking. And so he spoke for — uninterrupted, saying many of the things that we have seen him say for the last few months. But some of the things that he has been saying in the last few months, which are very relevant to Hispanics, were not brought up. For example, that we are poisoning the blood of this country.
BRZEZINSKI: Right.
BLAYA: That "we" includes me and my family. That he is working on the largest deportation project in American history, where he is planning to raid and put in camps millions of people. Obviously, he went on talking about the Haitians in Springfield, legal citizens of this country, which were invited by that city to help provide services and jobs. It goes on and on. I think you have covered the subject at length this morning. The question here is, Univsion did not distinguish themselves as being a true news organization and served as a platform, for close to an hour, of his continuing recital of lies.
WILLIE GEIST (CO-HOST): Mr. Blaya, good morning. As you say, there are so many issues central to the lives of Latino Americans in this country that were not addressed yesterday. And I guess the question is, why? Donald Trump went there, he only goes places where he knows he'll have a friendly reception. But on the example that we showed there about the immigrants eating the pets in Springfield, Ohio, which is so quickly and easily refuted by the facts. You can cite fellow Republicans, the governor, the mayor, others who said that's just complete nonsense. Why is it, in this case, do you think that he was not held to account, he was not pressed on some of his lies?
BLAYA: Well, truly I cannot respond for the network, but there was — the person that was conducting the, let's call it the town hall, was the same person that did that, what I call when I spoke with Rachel, what I call a propaganda project. The main anchor of the Univision network is Jorge Ramos, one of the most respected journalists in America. And if the network was serious about conducting this in a journalistic manner, you would have thought that Jorge would have to be the person doing the interview and the town hall.