NBC News posted an article this morning about a new conservative Spanish-language satellite radio network and chose to highlight Democrats who are very worried and concerned about this:
First U.S. Spanish-language conservative network launches, opening a new front in the political information wars targeting Latinos. https://t.co/4DSKS9JCj0
— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 7, 2022
Because nothing could be more scary for Democrats than Latinos hearing the truth about who Democrats really are: radical socialists.
Which is why they are so quick to label it as misinformation before it’s even begun. That’s right, it doesn’t start until tomorrow morning but it’s already misinformation.
Here’s more from the article:
The nation’s first Spanish-language conservative network launches Tuesday morning on satellite radio, opening a new front in the political information wars targeting Latinos in the United States and beyond.
The network, called Americano, arrives during a crucial inflection point in U.S. politics, as more Hispanic voters show signs of drifting right and Democrats continue to sound the alarm about Spanish-language right-wing disinformation on social media and local radio, particularly in Miami, which is also Americano’s home base.
It’s scheduled to launch first on SiriusXM radio, then on streaming TV this summer, offering a mix of news programming and commentary. The network has close ties to former President Donald Trump’s campaign, as well as to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who now represents the more moderate wing of the Republican Party. Ahead of the Tuesday broadcast, Democrats in Florida raised concerns publicly and privately that the programming would contribute to the spread of misleading claims targeted at Spanish-speakers that skyrocketed during the pandemic and the 2020 campaign.
Americano’s founder and CEO, Ivan Garcia-Hidalgo, bristled at the notion that the privately funded network is going to purvey disinformation or misinformation, and accused Democrats of trying to cancel speech they don’t like.
“They’re scared. And they should be,” Garcia-Hidalgo said of Democrats in an interview. “Democrats took Hispanics for granted for too long, and no one thought to create a home for us in conservative media. There is an appetite for this. You see it on social media. You see it in elections.”
DEFCON 1 MOMENT
Pollster Fernand Amandi, a Miami-based consultant who oversaw Barack Obama’s successful national Hispanic outreach, fretted that Americano could be a success — at least politically — even if it doesn’t spread falsehoods or conspiracies.
“For those concerned about the disinformation problem harming Democrats’ chances with Hispanics, this is a Defcon 1 moment. We should worry,” Amandi said. “The Democrats’ response to all of this Hispanic outreach from Republicans — whether it’s disinformation or conventional campaigning — is to do the bare minimum. Unfortunately, some Democrats are deluding themselves. The ultimate act of disinformation is to pretend that this is not a big problem.”
Democratic consultant Evelyn Pérez-Verdía, who first sounded the alarm about the proliferation of Spanish-language disinformation and conspiracy theories in WhatsApp chat groups and on websites in 2020, called the launch of the network “concerning” amid what she says is a fresh wave of false or misleading information ahead of the midterm elections.
A native of Colombia, she said she fears her home country is a major source of right-wing conspiratorial social media content that ricochets across borders, fueling the rise of an international organized right.
“Is this new network going to be one more organization, one more group, that just amplifies what we see right now? That’s really concerning,” Pérez-Verdía said.
She said she sees the patterns of 2020 repeating themselves, and that it could have electoral consequences in crucial battlegrounds like Florida, Texas and Arizona this year.
“It’s intensifying. It’s getting worse because it’s getting closer to the election,” said Pérez-Verdía, who also addressed a congressional committee that traveled last month to Miami to examine the issue.
Trump really changed the game when it comes to the right getting support from Latinos and if this new network succeeds, it will certainly be because of him in part.
Which is why the left is so scared because Trump showed that Latinos aren’t just an automatic vote for Democrats. But it’s not just Trump. DeSantis has 50% support from hispanics in Florida according to a poll conducted last month.
I think Garcia-Hidalgo is right, that the left should be scared.