Though members of the press were quick to weigh in on Univision’s Jorge Ramos’ monetarily removal from a Donald Trump press conference Tuesday, there has been disagreement over who was in the wrong.
For one faction of media, the 2016 Republican presidential candidate was way out of line for having Ramos removed momentarily from the briefing. Another side argues, however, that the ejection was warranted as Ramos was acting out of turn.
“What Ramos did here was pure journalism in its classic and most noble expression: he aggressively confronted a politician wielding a significant amount of power over some pretty horrible things that the politician is doing and saying,” the Intercept’s Glenn Greenwald wrote.
Breitbart’s Ben Shapiro sharply disagreed, saying on social media Wednesday, “Trump vs. Ramos was the best moment Trump has had on a national stage. Ramos was treated exactly as he deserved.”
At a press briefing Tuesday, the Univision anchor tried to question Trump on his newly announced immigration platform.
This involved Ramos standing up and launching into a series of statements before Trump had actually called on anyone. Unimpressed with the anchor’s initiative, Trump signaled for his security detail to escort the anchor from the room.
“I have a right to ask a question,” Ramos, who works for the most-watched Spanish-language television network in the United States, objected as he was being removed.
“No you don’t,” Trump shot back. “You haven’t been called. Go back to Univision.”
Ramos was eventually let back into the room, and he and Trump were able to engage in a tense back and forth on the 2016 candidate’s stance on illegal immigration.
But even after being let back in the to ask his questions, debate over Ramos’ initial removal raged on in newsrooms.
Taking the middle road, the Washington Post published an article noting that the dust-up Tuesday between Trump and Ramos shouldn’t come as that big of a surprise.
In fact, the article read, it’s probably accurate to say now that Ramos is, “one part journalist, one part activist and now full-on Trump combatant.” A separate Post headline read, “Jorge Ramos is a conflict junkie, just like his latest target: Donald Trump.”
CNN’s Chris Cuomo told Ramos Wednesday morning that, “It’s [Trump’s] press conference. He runs the rules. You jumped the queue.”
MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough took it a step further, accusing the Univision anchor Wednesday of “looking for his 15 minutes of fame.”
Fox News contributor Richard Grenell suggested that the whole ordeal was nothing but a carefully orchestrated stunt from the Clinton campaign.
“It’s important to remember that Jorge Ramos admits he is an activist reporter. He isn’t a journalist. He picks sides. He works for one side,” he said.
But even if Ramos is an avowed activist, and despite that his daughter is in the employ of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, his wasn’t wrong to press Trump for answers, certain reporters and commentators argue. Rather, it was wrong how he was treated.
“Very upsetting that Ramos, an American citizen, was treated this way,” the Huffington Post’s Laura Barron-Lopez said on social media.
Her colleague Gabriel Arana said separately, “Jorge Ramos is the Latino Walter Cronkite. What is Trump thinking? GOP leaders must be terrified.”
New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof declared, “When Donald Trump’s security kicked Jorge Ramos out, Trump might as well have told Hispanics: Don’t vote Republican.”
Ramos, who has made his distaste for Trump’s immigration platform well known, defended his conduct, while also decrying the treatment he received at Trump’s press conference.
“I’ve been a journalist for 30 years of my life,” Ramos said in an interview Wednesday on ABC News. “Never in my life have I been thrown out of a press conference. What I would expect is that I could ask a question as a journalist. I would expect Mr. Trump to answer honestly.”
Trump, meanwhile, has no regrets for what transpired Tuesday.
“I will tell you, he was totally out of line last night. I was asking and being asked a question from another reporter,” he said Wednesday in an interview with NBC News’ Matt Lauer. “I would have gotten to him very quickly, and he stood up and started ranting and raving like a madman. And frankly he was out of line.”
