Only four? I’d be surprised if any of the GOP candidates show up for the Univision debate on January 29 after this gets around.
Several Republican candidates are planning on boycotting Univisión’s proposed January 29th debate in Miami after a report surfaced that the network allegedly tried to blackmail Florida Senator Marco Rubio into an exclusive interview. Governors Mitt Romney, Rick Perry and Jon Huntsman, and Rep. Michele Bachmann have announced they will boycott.
The boycott arose from news broken by the Miami Herald that Univisión News President Isaac Lee offered to “soften or kill a story” about a 1987 drug bust of the senator’s brother-in-law if he agreed to an interview with Jorge Ramos on the show Al Punto. Rubio declined Lee’s offer and the report aired July 11.
Three Florida Latino Republicans spearheaded the debate boycott, saying in a letter to the GOP candidates, “Given the reprehensible nature of Univisión Television Network’s behavior, we are advising all of the Republican presidential candidates not to participate.”
“I always knew Univisión to be a professional organization until this happened,” Sen. Rubio said, according to the Miami Herald. Lee has denied the claim he strong-armed Sen. Rubio.
“The Miami Herald‘s article is accurate. Univisión employees themselves were the first to come forward with this account, and we confirm it,” added Sen. Rubio press official Alex Burgos.
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