Univision President Alberto Ciurana compared Donald Trump to a mass murderer–and now, he’s been forced to apologize.
Earlier this week, Ciurana posted a photo on Instagram comparing Donald Trump, the billionaire businessman now running for the Republican nomination for President, and Dylann Roof, the man who murdered nine African-Americans in a Charleston, S.C., church.
Further, on Thursday, Univision announced it would be cutting ties with the Miss Universe pageant (and its nationally affiliate, the Miss USA pageant).
All because the pageants are partially owned by Donald Trump’s Trump Organization, and the Spanish-language channel doesn’t seem to like his personal political views.
“At Univision, we see first-hand the work ethic, love for family, strong religious values, and the important role Mexican immigrants and Mexican-Americans have had and will continue to have in the building of our country. We will not be airing the Miss USA Pageant”
Ciurana and Univision learned the hard way: don’t mess with Donald Trump.
“I’m going to have to sue Univision now… They have a signed contract,” a furious Donald Trump said. “They’ll have to pay me a lot of money.”
He wasn’t joking: he already had his lawyer, Michael Cohen, on the case. And a lawsuit against Univision–for both breach of contract for cancelling the Miss Universe pageants, and for defamation for comparing Trump to a mass murderer–is already in the works.
Further, Cohen called for Ciurana to resign:
“It was a totally insensitive act and I would call for his immediate resignation fro Univision,” Cohen said.
Cohen also suggested that Univision, which plans to co-host a presidential debate, is unfit to be a fair moderator–considering Donald Trump is likely to participate in the debates, after these comments.
Trump echoed that sentiment: “It’s a total conflict of interest” for Univision to moderate.
Following the snafu, Ciurana apologized:
“I’m Mexican who was very upset by Mr. Trump’s recent comments about Mexican immigrants, but I should not have re-posted the photo.”
That might not have the desired effect. Trump, succinctly, responded: “Apology not accepted.”
