Donald Trump cut short a question from MSNBC and Telemundo journalist Jose Diaz-Balart at a press conference Thursday after his visit to the border near Laredo, Texas, then used the interruption to accuse Diaz-Balart of "typical" press "misinterpretation" of comments Trump has made about Mexicans.
Diaz-Balart remained in Texas on Friday after the Trump appearance, with
MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program showing a clip Friday morning of the businessman and GOP presidential candidate also telling the Hispanic journalist that he was "finished."
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"It's almost like the reporters are being played, quite effectively, as props," host Joe Scarborough commented after a clip of the exchange.
Trump jumped on the Spanish-speaking journalist after he reminded him that many Hispanics are offended by the candidate's campaign announcement speech that included comments about Mexicans sending criminals across the nation's southern border.
"Many feel that what you said, when you said that people that cross the border are rapists and murderers," said Diaz-Balart, before Trump jumped in.
"No, no, no, we're talking about illegal immigration and everybody understands that. And you know what? That's a typical case, wait, that's a typical case of the press with misinterpretation," Trump told him, to applause from people attending the conference.
"They take a half a sentence — by the way — they take a half a sentence, then they take a quarter of a sentence. It's a typical thing. And you're with Telemundo and Telemundo should be ashamed. And I tell you what— what's really going to be fun? I'm suing Univision for $500 million and I'm gonna tell ya — we're going to win a lot of money because of what they've done."
And then, refusing to let Diaz-Balart ask his question, Trump told him "You're finished," and moved on.
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Diaz-Balart, in addition to hosting a morning news show on MSNBC, is the co-anchor of "Noticiero Telemundo," and told viewers that "Trump declared to the press that he's certain of the Latino vote and insisted that he hasn't insulted anyone,"
reports The Washington Post.
Both Telemundo and Univision covered the Trump visit, reports the Post, with Univision devoted six minutes of coverage and Telemundo nine. The stories were reported in Spanish, and Trump's comments were translated from English into Spanish.
"The magnate said that the United States needs a wall that divides it from Mexico," Jorge Ramos, the host of "Noticiero Univision," told the audience.
Diaz-Balart is a large star on Telemundo, as his show, along with Ramos' popular program on Univision, are viewed by more Latinos in major markets than news programming offered by the major networks.
The Post reports that Telemundo correspondent Cristina Londono noted in the network's story of the day that Laredo was full of "controversy, thanks to Donald Trump ... Trump insisted that he has the Latino vote locked up."
Even though he said he was going to bring jobs, Londono said, "the majority of people I saw here are opposed to him. This afternoon, they're celebrating — because he's left."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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