The Republican National Committee voted Friday not to work with CNN and NBC News in holding presidential primary debates during the 2016 election cycle. RNC aides say this decision extends to the networks’ Spanish-language channels: Telemundo and CNN Español.
The decision was based on the RNC’s disagreement with NBC’s and CNN’s plans to air programs about former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said the networks are clearly showing favoritism toward a 2016 election bid for Clinton.
“I am proud that we stood united today to a pass a resolution not to partner with these biased networks that plan to spend millions spotlighting Hillary Clinton,” Priebus said.
Since the 2012 presidential election loss, the Republican Party has launched an effort to rebrand itself in order to win over Latino voters. Latinos overwhelmingly voted for President Barack Obama over Republican Mitt Romney in 2012, 71 percent to 27 percent. People are raising the question about how this latest move by the party may affect their relationship with the Latino population.
Alexandra Franceschi is the RNC Hispanic Media Press Secretary. She says the group will continue an aggressive campaign to connect with Latinos though various media platforms.
“CNN and Telemundo are not the only Hispanic media outlets; there are radio stations, Fox News Latino, Univision, Spanish-language papers and we will continue engaging the Hispanic community. We would continue working with CNN Español and Telemundo if they oppose the Hillary Clinton programs as well,” Franceschi said.
Univision is a powerful media outlet to still have as a partner. Last month, it was the first Spanish-language network to lead TV ratings among young adults for an entire month. (Fronteras Desk is a partner of Univision's Fusion.)
Recent polls have shown that Latino voters feel anti-immigrant sentiment among Republicans is prolific. But other data shows a significant number of potential Latinos voters do not strongly identify with the Democratic Party.
The GOP has most recently been tainted by the media frenzy over Rep. Steve King’s comments calling some young undocumented immigrants “drug mules.”
