Donald Trump has caused quite a stir with his presidential campaign since he announced his run last month. From attacking Mexicans in his campaign announcement speech to questioning John McCain's status as a "war hero," Trump has offended people from all sides of the political spectrum. But according to journalist Jose Antonio Vargas, the media is partly to blame.
Vargas, who is undocumented himself, thinks the media has the responsibility to hold Trump accountable when he makes outlandish claims, specifically with regards to immigrants. Speaking to HuffPost Live's Alyona Minkovski from the Netroots Nation conference, Vargas said:
When it comes to the politicization of immigration, we let Donald Trump get away with far too much, and when I say we [I mean] we in the media. And speaking as a journalist, the fact that he gets to talk about the border and be divorced from reality. How do we fact check that in a really effective way, not just in print and online, but on cable news? That's why I have to really commend The Huffington Post, Ryan Grim and Arianna Huffington, for making that decision to put Donald Trump in the Entertainment section. He's starring, right now, in a really popular reality television show. Unfortunately, he is also running for the highest office in the land.
Since lambasting Mexicans in his now notorious campaign speech, Trump has called for a boycott of Mexico altogether. After hearing about the remark, Vargas instead suggested a boycott of all things Trump.
"There are 33 million Latinos of Mexican descent in this country, 22 million of whom are American-born citizens. What if we all boycotted Donald Trump, ourselves? ... This is America, right? Money sometimes screams the loudest," he said.
Watch the HuffPost Live's full conversation with Jose Antonio Vargas here.
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