Jorge Ramos, Univision’s top agitator on illegal immigration issues, implied that he was ousted from Donald Trump’s press conference in Iowa last week because he is Latino. Ramos also refused to state that Trump was not “xenophobic” or a “racist.”
When the Washington Post asked if Ramos last week if he felt that “Trump ejected you because you are Latino or because he does not respect Latinos,” Ramos said Trump “clearly does not understand Latinos or their importance in this country.”
“He wants to dispatch with millions of them. There is nothing clearer than that. He doesn’t want them here,” he responded. “Look, he’s talking about Mexicans and Latinos and national security while, by the way, Canada shares a border with the United States that is more than 5,000 miles long. It’s one of the longest in the world. Clearly, Mr. Trump’s problem is with Latinos.”
When the Post asked Ramos if he was saying that “Trump is racist or xenophobic,” Ramos replied refused to say that Trump was not a racist. Ramos replied, “I don’t like to put labels on anyone. I’m a reporter. I’d rather observe and describe and question.”
Ramos disrupted the press conference like a “Black Lives Matter” protester–and that was why he was initially booted–and even though Trump has arguably been the most accessible 2016 presidential candidate, Ramos claimed, in a talking point that he has constantly repeated since, that Trump “is putting a strain on freedom of press in the country.”
“He does not want to be asked questions,” Ramos, who tried to lecture Trump instead of actually asking him questions, said. “He does not want to be questioned.”
When asked if he was an advocate for illegal immigrants, the activist who said the issue is “personal” to him claimed, “I am just a reporter that asks questions.”
“If you want to be a good reporter — a really good reporter — many times you have to take a stand,” he said. “You cannot pretend that the other point of view has no potential effects, that it is not wrong or damaging. And in the case of Donald Trump, there are many instances in which human rights could be violated if his plans go forward.”
Ramos also said he did not want Trump to change the “dynamics of this country” and the “fabric of the United States” with tougher laws against illegal immigration.
“If he wants to get in the business of deporting babies and children and their parents, that would change the fabric of the United States,” Ramos said. “The vast majority of undocumented immigrants are Latinos. If you deport them, all of them and their children, it would change the nature and dynamics of this country.”
He insisted that “you can expect for me to keep on asking questions in many different ways. I will try to get an interview and try to get answers. I am going to keep doing my job any and every way that I can.”
On Sunday, Ramos continued to insist that Trump is “promoting bigotry,” saying someone who was attending the Trump event told him to “get out of my country” just “seconds” after Trump told him to “go back to Univision.”
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