León Krauze, a veteran news anchor for Univision and its Los Angeles TV station, has resigned in the aftermath the Spanish-language network’s recent interview with former President Trump.
“After thirteen rewarding years, my journey with Univision Noticias concluded yesterday,” Krauze wrote Wednesday on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter). “It has been an absolute honor and privilege to be a part of this exceptional team of journalism professionals.”
Krauze’s statement did not give a reason for his departure.
Parent company TelevisaUnivision said in a statement that it “expresses our heartfelt gratitude for the outstanding contributions, expertise, and insightful analyses delivered by León Krauze throughout his tenure with our news division…We extend our best wishes to Leon in all his future professional endeavors.”
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Krauze became anchor of Univision’s late-night newscast in January 2022. He was a staple of Los Angeles station KMEX for 10 years before moving to the network and is a widely respected voice in the Latino community who has written for various publications.
Univision news personnel have reportedly been concerned in recent days over the network’s hour-long broadcast with Trump, where the contender for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination went on at length with incorrect statements that received little pushback. The Nov. 10 sit-down was not conducted by a Univision journalist, but by Enrique Acevedo, an anchor from Mexican network Televisa.
Trump has a reputation for not being a fan of Univision. During the 2016 campaign, he had anchor Jorge Ramos physically removed from a news conference after the journalist aggressively questioned him about his immigration policy.
But that changed following Univision’s 2021 merger with the Mexico-based Grupo Televisa’s media, content and production assets. The Washington Post recently reported that executives now running the company have a comfortable relationship with Trump.
The former president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner reportedly brokered the interview with Trump. Trump complimented the network’s executives during his interview when asked a question about Latino voters.
“All you have to do is look at the owners of Univision,” he said. “They’re unbelievable entrepreneurial people, and they like me.”
Having Univision as a friendly platform for Trump is likely to create angst in the Democratic party and President Biden’s re-election campaign. Trump has polled surprisingly well with Latino voters despite his harsh policy proposals for immigration.
During the interview, Trump falsely claimed the partial wall built along the southern border was paid for by Mexico and that former President Barack Obama started the practice of child separation at the border to deter illegal crossings. Acevedo provided no pushback on either claim.
Trump, who faces four criminal indictments, also made headlines by telling Acevedo he would use the FBI and the Department of Justice to go after his political opponents.
The Post reported that an advertising campaign buy for the Biden campaign was canceled on Univision stations in several key states. The company cited a policy in which they were not accepting commercials from opposing candidates on a program that features a single candidate interview.
