Opinion: Trump and Ramos: Both were wrong

The press corps covering the Donald Trump beat can’t possibly be happy with what happened in Iowa.

Here you are, following the GOP’s worst nightmare, a candidate who is generating headlines by the hour, and he’s giving you a shot to get a question in that will make your editor smile – and in comes Jorge Ramos. 

Out of nowhere, the Univision anchor – who also happens to be one of the biggest names in Latino media – decided that since the poll-leading novice wasn’t granting him a one-on-one interview, he would parachute into Iowa. Ramos left his comfy studio seat to do just that, and after patiently – he claims – waiting for two beat reporters to ask their questions he would try to show Trump up. 

One thing is certain: Ramos made The Donald’s day.

Ramos’ grandstanding served as a deterrent to the inevitable pin-down from reporters looking for specifics on the multitude of meaningless ideas Trump has spouted on the campaign trail – ideas that have been devoured like a tender steak by the red-blooded Republicans eager for Trump to be their nominee.

To be clear, I think Donald Trump is a mojón (turd). My opinion of the self-promoting egomaniac is nothing new – I’ve always thought of Trump as a well-financed piece of fecal matter whose spewing of offensive, racially tinged and, at times, sexist remarks is part of his DNA.

On the other hand, I’ve never been much of a Ramos admirer either. I do recognize his standing as the most influential Latino journalist in the United States, and I have great respect for his uncompromising defense of undocumented immigrants. However, I do not believe that gives him – or any news anchor of similar stature – the right to crash the beat of journalists who, day in and day out, are following the Trump political phenomenon.

Ramos can declare from the mountaintop that he has the right to ask tough questions of anyone. He’s also entitled to indignation at the fact that in his three-decade career he’s never before been thrown out of a press conference. He can play the victim all he wants. However, the fact is that his conduct at the Trump press event was, at a minimum, arrogant. Ramos didn’t act like the anchor of one of the most viewed newscasts in the nation. What we witnessed was the behavior of an activist who acted as a provocateur.

There’s nothing wrong with Ramos’ view that Trump’s xenophobia was directed at him. Ramos is, after all, a proud immigrant. My problem with Ramos’ posturing is that his actions shouldn’t be defended as being carried out by an objective news anchor doing his job. Ramos engaged in a verbal mano a mano with the potty-mouthed billionaire.

Donald Trump relishes playing the bully. It’s clear that his now infamous nod to his security detail induced the Lurch-like thug to physically remove Ramos from the room. In doing so, Trump demonstrated his intolerance for tough questions. The problem, though, is that Ramos wasn’t simply asking tough questions. He was there to debate Trump the candidate, and that’s not the role of an objective journalist. How could Univision have allowed their flagship news anchor to do this? I believe it’s because they were in on this publicity-seeking stunt. How else can one explain this aberration? If Ramos was truly seeking a sit-down interview, this was not the way.

Univision and other Latino media outlets have been excluded from hosting or sponsoring any of the Republican presidential primary debates. It is very possible that Ramos’ mission was to get his news organization some of the attention that Fox News and Megyn Kelly have received so far. I certainly hope not, as that would be a true disservice to the Latino community both Jorge and I care so deeply about.

Gerson Borrero is editor-at-large at City & State. Email him at GersonBorrero@gmail.com or find him on Twitter: @GersonBorrero