Trump and Ramos Are Meant For Each Other

SAN DIEGO -- Donald Trump insists he's no politician. Now, after what happened at a dramatic news conference in Iowa, we know that Jorge Ramos is no journalist. At least not a real one.

The Univision anchor is an activist, a professional victim, the star of his own telenovela. He is a "commentator" when he feels the insuppressible urge to share his opinion, and a "reporter" when he wants access to a press event at which pundits, columnists and cable hosts would not be welcomed. Ramos is also an egomaniac who loves the sound of his own voice just as much as Trump adores his.

Yet the GOP front-runner doesn't like to share the spotlight. So when Ramos jumped up without being called on, and rudely drowned out another reporter, Trump had him ejected.

I was glad to see that. This is what you do with a heckler. Ramos wasn't even asking questions at first, as much as giving a speech about how Trump's immigration proposals won't work.

Then, after a few of the reporters in the room pushed back, the real estate developer allowed Ramos to return and ask questions.

I was also glad to see that. Trump is wrong about ending birthright citizenship, building a border wall, confiscating remittances and other ideas to combat illegal immigration. But he isn't afraid to face his critics, including Ramos.

In fact, I'd say that Trump just found his new best amigo. These two people -- neither of whom seems to understand the immigration debate as well as he thinks -- put on a great stage show. Is Caesar's Palace available on Cinco de Mayo? If the goal was to get attention, both Trump and Ramos came away winners.

The losers include Hispanic journalists who every day have to fend off the charge that they're biased and ethnocentric. Many folks think that an anchor, reporter or columnist named "Sanchez" or "Rodriguez" -- or "Navarrette" -- is Hispanic first, journalist second.

Once a week, I'll get an email saying I "write like a Mexican" or that my columns have a "Latino slant" or that I'm "pursuing a Mexican agenda" or -- in my favorite piece of reader feedback from years ago -- that asking me how to stop illegal immigration was "like asking the Germans for advice on how to plan the D-Day invasion."

Welcome to my world, folks.

...continued

swipe to next page