Univision News Says Woman Who Told Kamala Harris ‘I Voted For You’ While Posing As Their Reporter Is Not Affiliated With Them
On Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris held a press conference in Mexico City after meeting with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to discuss ways to curb migration to the United States.
At one point during the press conference, a woman identified as “Maria Fernanda at Univision” was called upon to ask Harris a question. She prefaced it with what would be a highly unusual disclosure by a journalist.
“Thank you, Madam Vice President,” she said. “For me it’s an honor because I actually got to vote for the first time as a nationalized citizen. I voted for you.”
“My question is, what would you say to these women, those mothers and also women of color on both sides of the border, farmers, many of them who I see every day as a message of hope but also as–what will you do for them in the next coming years?”
Harris thanked her and proceeded to answer her question.
After receiving some backlash on Twitter, Univision News president Daniel Coronell tweeted that the woman does not in fact work for Univision.
In Mexico an individual which has no association with @Univision claimed to be a reporter for @UniNoticias in order to ask the @VP a question and to compliment @KamalaHarris. Let it be clear to everyone that Ms. Maria Fernanda Reyes is not part of this media organization https://t.co/edxyzRVlt8
— Daniel Coronell (@DCoronell) June 9, 2021
Before Coronell’s clarification, some on Twitter were understandably miffed at what appeared to be a journalist attempting to flatter a politician she’s covering.
Not sure I’ve ever seen a reporter tell a politician that she voted for her, as a Univision reporter just did during the Kamala Harris news conference before asking a question.
— Noah Bierman (@Noahbierman) June 8, 2021
“It’s an honor… I voted for you,” says a Univision reporter before asking a question at VP Harris’ press conference pic.twitter.com/HsjRtTcJB1
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) June 8, 2021
?? Univision reporter @mafelopeztv tells Vice President Harris that she became a U.S. citizen right before the election so she could vote “for you.”
.@UnivisionPRTeam and @Univision23, are you okay with this?!?!?! https://t.co/wnVRvTFIMa
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) June 8, 2021
UPDATE [11:01pm]: Kamala Harris’s senior advisor and chief spokesperson Symone Sanders tweeted Tuesday night that the vice president’s team is looking into the matter.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We are looking into this. https://t.co/5gVsyOoudr
— SDS (@SymoneSanders46) June 9, 2021
