1. Mediaite
  2. Gossip Cop
  3. Geekosystem
  4. Styleite
  5. SportsGrid
  6. The Mary Sue
  7. The Jane Dough
  8. The Braiser
Advertisement

Four GOP Candidates To Boycott Univisión Debate Over Alleged Sen. Marco Rubio Blackmail

» 90 comments

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.

(h/t Fox News, Miami Herald)

Follow us on Twitter.

Sign up for Mediaite's daily newsletter.

Email Twitter Facebook Digg Reddit Stumble Upon Yahoo Buzz LinkedIn Tumblr Delicious
  • Michelle

    Good for them!   Liberals are scared to death of future POTUS Rubio and they should be.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_VPZXYCU6GM2A2JSG5S66SPYC3U TyS

    I’ve come to expect a complete absense of integrity and ethics from the Latino community in general.

  • Anonymous

    Why would liberals be afraid of this welfare recipient? We embrace all lifestyles Michelle. Even yours.

  • Anonymous

    Univision, desperately trying to go lamestream. Same shabby tactics.

  • Go gNOpigs

    Three Florida Latino Republicans

    REPUBLIPIGS

    I wonder why they feel offended…

  • Anonymous

    Sounds like a rather convenient excuse to avoid talking about immigration issues to America’s largest immigrant group.

  • Anonymous

    Someone needs to ask Marco Rubio about the “Cuban Adjustment Act”.  A secret the GOP has kept quiet for years.

  • Anonymous

    So you support what Univisión did?

  • Anonymous
  • Anonymous

    You and TyS should get together and drive off a cliff.

  • We heart Ron Paul

    Not even a gNOpig supporter.

    But a Ron Paul supporter.

    I rest my case.

  • Anonymous

    And I rest mine. You make it so easy.

  • Anonymous

    Who owns Univision?  oh right…

  • We heart Ron Paul

    Go Ron Paul!

    Perennial loser! Go!

  • Michelle

    I always find it interesting that you libs assume legal immigrants support illegal immigration. 

  • Valerie

    Too bad Rubio’s birth certificate cannot be found!

  • clever

    Seem a little racist there Libtard

  • clever

    Libtards have always been the biggest racist there are. They have there house boys, as long as they are with them they use them, go against them and they will unleash racism like the vermin they have been since the 1700′s.

  • Mr Hyperbole

    moo-chelle! LOL where are the birthers now?
    oh thats right! sweetie, he’s republican!

  • Valerie

    Rush Limbaugh has Dominican house boys. 

  • Mr Hyperbole

    The pot calling the kettle black

  • Mr Hyperbole

    theyre trying to compete with nbc’s telemundo

  • Pablo

    Why is that? And how, exactly, do you keep a federal law secret?

  • Anonymous

    >> “Why would liberals be afraid of this welfare recipient?

    That’s true! Liberals LOVE welfare recipients. After all, without them, who else could you offer free smokes and booze to on election day, in order to get cheap votes and to swing elections!

  • Mr Hyperbole

    Why do you assume this? Even Moo-chelle tells you not to assume.

  • Anonymous

    I’m envious. I only have one stalking harasser. What’s your secret?

  • Anonymous

    These name-calling Troubling Economic Activist(TEA) party-ers are trying to push Rubio as a future president of America What a crock! This so called “Prince of the TEA party” is nothing more than a lawyer with grandiose desires to shut down the American Social Programs. That is what the Troubling Egotistical Anarchist(TEA) party stands for! Name-calling has no place in American politics except with the Tragic Erratic Activist(TEA) party membership who openly decry every effort of the president! Just today there were 50 Treasonous Economic Antagonistic(TEA) “no” votes in Congress trying to block a congressional budget agreement! I believe it’s more than “Polar Politics”! American would frown on “Pulpit Politics”! Groups like this Treasonous Erratic Activist(TEA) party want to challenge “Pulpit Politics” in our political system! Recent polls suggest 78% of America would frown on such actions and require preachers and churches to abide by the laws of the land! This action points to Terrifying Egotistical Anarchist(TEA) party inserting their wants and desires to circumvent the norms and create outside issues rather than abide by normal standards and rules like everyone else! Intermixing one persons religious beliefs and political positioning is one reason America was founded! Now these Perverted Painful Perpetrators preach their lies and falsehoods over and over to get the most gullible to believe! I would go so far to believe this is a planted story to generate side issues rather than converse on the jobs issue and taxation of the top 5% Richest Americans!

  • joe

    ya like we are afaid o sarah the quitter palin, michele WHODAT bachman;Rick flair-no cattle-perry and the pizza dude..

    hahaha-one this we are NOT afraid of—current presidential gop wannabes~

  • TbagsRstupid

    exactly

  • Anonymous

    If it wasn’t for,  get this….. “an entitlement” ..his parents received just on the mere fact that they were Cubans, Rubio probably wouldn’t even be a citizen in American today.  google “The  Cuban Adjustment Act”.

  • Hawkeye

    Univision is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s Newscorp.

  • Anonymous

    It’s actually not secret in the legal terms but it is relatively unknown for because it has been kept hush, hush by the GOP. The Cuban People are very, very powerful in politics in S. Florida. I live there. With all due respect, there is not one innacuracy in that article. If you don’t believe me google everything in that article.

  • Anonymous

    Where’s your sidekick?

  • Anonymous

    What? Allegedly say they would take it easy on somebody if they come on their station to do an interview?  That’s not blackmail, that’s doing business. They are not even accused of making threats, they are accused of offering to hold back the punches and play nice if he threw them a bone.  “Blackmail” wasn’t even mentioned in the original article.

    Why is Rubio so scared to be interviewed on a station with a spanish speaking audience?

  • Anonymous

    There is a question mark at the end of my sentence. If you want the local Community College offers basic English 101.

  • Mr Hyperbole

    Your last sentence is not correct.

  • Anonymous

    No, it is not.

    On February 9, 2006, Univision Communications confirmed that it was putting itself up for sale. Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corporation, stated that his company was considering buying Univision, but backed off that position.
    Univision was acquired on March 29, 2007 by a consortium led by Haim Saban’s Saban Capital Group

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Univision

  • Anonymous

    how has it been kept hush hush and you happen to know about it?  Again, made up crap to further your sliming of someone.

    Nothing secret, hush hush or anything else.  So according to you the GOP hid it from view.  lol

    Are you for real?

  • Anonymous

    so what do you call it?

    Since they said “you come on – we won’t slime your family”.  To you that’s how business is done?
    Where the hell did you learn those business tactics and how far have they gotten you?

  • Anonymous

    Last I heard the birthers are still alive and kicking – didn’t McGuinness mention them?  Guess what, they’re all liberals.

  • Anonymous

    But, don’t you like entitlements? Isn’t that what you always preach?  Don’t you support social security and medicare? Don’t you support programs that help immigrants? Or is it only illegals you support? You obviously have a problem with Latinos/Cubans that are here legally. Why is that?

  • Nacho_ii

    Get a clue, it was more of a case of “if you come on, we won’t spill the beans as much as we have evidence of.”

    They didn’t make threats, they are accused of offering to hold back and take it easy on him and his family.  They are accused of offering a favor to him if he provides them one.  That’s called “playing ball,”  it is how business is done, even your prized Fox”News” does it all the time.

    It’s a big world out there, I can understand how a stay at home wine chugging mom can fail to get a grasp on it.

  • Anonymous

    I guess in my world men have honor and deal with each other accordingly.  My husband has always been admired for his honesty and integrity and recognized for same.  Sorry, my world is not much into “you play ball and I won’t blackmail you.”  For some reason it didn’t seem to hurt him not to play these games that get you places! lol

    Please, don’t even attempt to tell me what works and what gets you known as a morally bankrupt individual.  

  • Anonymous

    I got about one sentence into your rant and then I fell asleep. It’s amusing how much the left fear Marco Rubio. Immigrants have flocked to this country for decades, not for the handout the libs willing push at them, but for the proven potential of what hard work can give them. The left hates Rubio because he won’t conform to the liberal view of what a good hispanic/latino should be.  

  • Anonymous

    and I suppose Rubio being able to lay down at night knowing that the ‘big threat’ of exposing his brother-in-law or else was allowed to play out and he no longer has to worry about the “big threat’.  

    Something to be said for standing up for your principles and letting the blackmailer eat dirt and show the world what type of business they run was kind of fun in a perverted sort of way, wouldn’t you say?

    Or – you could say their blackmail failed and they are exposed forever more. lol

  • Anonymous

    And what was Univision trying to do anyway?

    Get an interview with a public elected official?  Scandalous…

    Why is Rubio avoiding them?  What does this public official have to hide?  I highly doubt this was their first attempt to get him to join their discussion.

  • Anonymous

    If Rubio was a man of honor he would appear on the television station to address his spanish speaking constituents with a candid interview.

    Obviously he does not want to do that for some reason. Sorry…lol

  • Anonymous

    If Rubio was a man of honor he would appear on the television station to address his spanish speaking constituents with a candid interview.

    Obviously he does not want to do that for some reason. Sorry…lol

  • Anonymous

    Rubio is a man of honor and appears on television stations all the time.  

    Obviously he thinks this particular station is not honorable. Sorry lol

  • Mr. Hyperbole

    All? Haha! Not One!
    Orly Taitz is no liberal!

  • Jason

    So when FOX threatens to out another one of Obama’s illegal alien freakshow family members unless he grants Hannity’s interview requests, I bet you’ll be here to defend their actions.

  • Jason

    Racist!!

  • Jason

    Racist!!!

  • Jason

    Because Cubans are the only minority group that votes Republican.

  • Jason

    If he were actually gay, would that be a problem?  Once again, liberals using bizarre, inaccurate homophobia to attack people. Bigots.

  • Jason

    It’s going to be sad and amusing at the same time when the left trashes Rubio once he’s on the ticket. That kind of shit worked with Palin because she played into it by responding to it, and she’s of average intelligence. Rubio is extremely intelligent, and will completely ignore it. Can you imagine Rubio in a debate with Joe Biden? Hah

  • Anonymous

    went right over your head. lol

  • Anonymous

    A welfare recipient is usually someone down on their luck or in a bad position, what kind of lunatic automatically assumes it’s someone trying to steal money from their taxes. Kind of scary how paranoid you freaks are, lol. 

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/ObamaRelease-YourRecords/100000555737985 ObamaRelease YourRecords

    Alive and well. You see, the “birther” issue is a constitutional issue that crosses party lines. It was us “birthers” that had a large and growing voting segment doubting Obama’s eligibility and it forced Obama to post another phony birth certificate on the Internet. Unfortunately for Obama he was forced to show his hand sooner than he would have liked. He was hoping to save it for Oct/Nov 2012 when it actually may have worked to deceive the people before the big vote. Unfortunately for Obama the number of people doubting Obama’s eligibility will continue to grow and he will have nothing to combat it with come 2012. And just wait until more people learn about Obama’s social security number reserved for Connecticut applicants. Can you say Jimmy Carter?

    And for Mr. Rubio. If he attempts to run for POTUS/VPOTUS he will get the same scrutiny from us as you can see at the link below.

    http://obamareleaseyourrecords.blogspot.com/search?q=Marco+Rubio

  • joe

    i think it is funny how every NEW gop hopeful becomes THEIR OBAMA…
    but liberal never say, “our reagan’ or ‘our bush’ or ‘our palin’..
    consevatives are just copy cats…they have no orginal ideas at all–they all hate obama so much–they do their best to bring climb to his level of prestigue and accomplishment..
    one thing is for sure..there has been no conservative to take the nation by storm as obama did..
    and he will show them again in 2012–
    funny conservatives—they all want to be as good as liberals when they grow up–they are jus to lazy to do they work~

    so thee cheat, lie, copy and cry—

  • L_Salazar

    Joe – you have issues – get some help!

  • Anonymous

    Other than the blackmail, I don’t see an issue with this. The ones boycotting are those that would want his endorsement or use him to win an election (by selecting him as a VP candidate). Other than that, whats the fuss? 

  • Anonymous

    Ironic how you use “Latinos/Cubans” together in one sentence when I’m sure you know the Cubans and the rest of the Latino population are treated miles apart. And I’m glad you brought up entitlements again because of the “wet foot/ dry foot policy” again is only afforded to Cubans which means for those who are not familiar with this “special privelege” is that when Cubans illegaly come to the U.S., they touch land they are 90% of the time allowed to stay when every other Hispanic person is not, even when a Cuban immigrant is caught coming thru Mexico.   So who is supporting who..  the hush, hush  “wet foot/ dry foot policy”

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_UIUTYRY4RUDL2KNY63S3DF5HWE Ironhenge

    What the hell kind of rambling incoherent babbble are you trying to get across. Shut it down for a while and collect your thoughts.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_UIUTYRY4RUDL2KNY63S3DF5HWE Ironhenge

    Wow…Let’s see how many Lame Irrational Baseless Egotistical Ridiculous Asinine Laughable acronyms you can come up with in 30 seconds. See what I did there the begining letter of each word spells LIBERAL!!!!

    Man I am clever!

  • Anonymous

    Quite the contrary. Why aren’t the rest of the hispanic illegal immigrants afforded the same priveledges as the Cuban illegal immigrants. google “the Cuban Adjustment Act” and the “wet foot / dry foot policy.” It always helps to do a little research before you call someone names. Especially when that someone is very, very familiar the two sets of rules applied by politics.

  • Anonymous

    Of course it’s hush, hush. With all the illegal immigrant problems going on right now when was the last time you heard any Republican decry the unfairness “the Cuban Adjustment Act” and the “wet foot / dry foot policy”. Never. So who is sliming who?

  • Anonymous

    love your first sentence.  “other than blackmail” – there really isn’t a story – and hell, what is wrong with a little blackmail between friends?

  • Anonymous
  • Anonymous

    I don’t understand what your point is…

    The Cuban Refugee Adjustment Act of 1966 was signed into law by Lyndon Johnson – a Democrat. So I guess what your saying is that Democrats are racist against certain groups of Latinos.

    BTW – The law has continued under every Republican and Democratic Administration.

  • Anonymous

    ….and refuse to support a station that dabbles in blackmail.  Those damn conservatives have no moral fibre at all!  They’re just like the democrats!  Well, maybe not….

  • Anonymous
  • Anonymous

    correct and the above article I pasted is why.

  • Anonymous
  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_FSPIVAFYI672OH5NOKVRTEZA4U MadCharles

    I’d rather have a welfare recipient than a Ghetto Thief as president..

  • Anonymous

     Dems because of their immigration policy and GOP because they will be voted right out of office. Cuban politics is very, very strong down here. Now since why do you think the law has continued under both partys? Both party’s are to blame.   http://tucsoncitizen.com/arizona-hispanic-republicans/2011/07/23/marco-rubio-tea-party-apologist-hates-moderate-hispanic-republicans/

  • Anonymous

    The Cuban Adjustment Act (signed by a Democratic President) is an old artifact of the Cold War, and has little to do with race.  If it did have some racist element to it, you should probably be upset with the Democratic President and Democratic majority in the House and Senate.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Refugee_Adjustment_Act
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_elections,_1966
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections,_1966

    Damn those racist DEMOCRATS !

  • Indigo710

    Herman Cain
              B.A. in Mathematics
              Masters in computer science
              Mathematitian for the U.S. Navy where he workd on ballistics
            Computer systems analyst for Coca Cola. 
            V.P. of computer data systems and services for Pillsbury
        Took charge of Pillsburys 400 Burger KIng restautrants is Philadelphia  ( worst in the chain) and tuned them around to be the best in  the chain,He worked in Burger King  learning every aspect of the business from the bottom up.
    Was asked by Pillsbury to take over their Godfathrs Pizza chain , which was the verge of bankruptcy and turned it around in 14 months.
     Advisor the Federal reserve system,
       Chairman of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank.

              pizza dude?     NO !      Look up his resume and you’ll find out more.

  • Anonymous

    GREAT !!!!!!…i suggest ALL republicans boycott the debate…..stand by your principles…after all when has a republican EVER blackmailed anybody….or committed a crime of any type????……NEVER…….truth is the wingnuts know they wont get any hispanic voters anyway so why kiss any hispanic ass…..theres enuff votes to elect rick perry just from the southern crossburning n-rock jesus freak wing of the teabagg party…….GOOD LUCK WITH THAT

  • Anonymous

    heyyyyyy wingnuts…..u better support mitt romney….that way you wont have to be lying when you say the president doesnt celebrate christmas, easter or wont support the national day of prayer as a paid holiday…..and dont none of u stupid as wingnuts show up at my door with copies of the book of morman instead of a holy bible

  • Anonymous

    Typical lemming liberal – has no concept of there being a view other than your own or of a yesterday.  If you’d like to educate yourself (obviously not) try looking up past elections.  

  • Anonymous

    After all, that’s the Chicago way…

  • Anonymous

    I am upset with the Dems. on that. That’s why I’m an Independent. I don’t walk in lock step with either party.

  • Anonymous

    right…..

    love the first sentence that didn’t seem to tip you off “tea party extremist”?  lol

    Get a life – no apology where you think you’ve proven your ridiculous point.  

    Broaden your reading.

  • Mr. Hyperbole

    obviously you do not understand english but thats what I thought

  • Anonymous

    “Corporations are people my friend”

  • Anonymous

    Marco Rubio is a stand uo guy. It is and will continue to be interesting to see who defends Univision’s despicable actions.

  • Anonymous
  • Anonymous
  • Anonymous

© 2012 Mediaite, LLC | About Us | Advertise | Newsletter | Jobs | Privacy | User Agreement | Disclaimer | Power Grid FAQ | Contact | Archives | RSS RSS
Dan Abrams, Founder | Power Grid by Sound Strategies | Hosting by Datagram