Latino Media Tout Jeb Bush As A “Hispanic Candidate” While Glossing Over His Important Policy Positions

*Wait. Latino media? Here’s what’s ironic about this Media Matters article: The writer calls-out “Hispanic” media for covering Jeb Bush through the lens of a single, immigration, issue while downplaying his opposition to the ACA and his danial of climate change and calling him the Hispanic candidate because his wife is Latina. And yet the article reduces Hispanic media to Spanish language TV and newspapers, not once mentioning Englush language Latino media outlets, as if they don’t exist or are unimportant. VL

By Jessica Torres, Media Maters

Following former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s announcement that he is exploring a 2016 presidential run, Hispanic media outlets have celebrated his Mexican-American family and fluency in Spanish, portraying them as appealing to Latino voters. This focus on biographical details has come at the expense of reporting on Bush’s positions on health care and climate change — issues on which his positions are at odds with the interests of most Latinos.

For instance, Jorge Ramos, host of Univision’s Al Punto, helped feed the narrative of Bush as a “Hispanic candidate” (Spanish-language video clip) during a January 18 conversation with Carlos Gutierrez, who was commerce secretary under George W. Bush. Throughout the discussion, Ramos left Bush’s policy stances unquestioned, relying on Gutierrez’s glowing review of Bush’s personal leadership qualities. At one point, Ramos suggested that Bush could be grouped with other potential Republican presidential candidates who are Latino.

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