The liberal Spanish-media giant Univision has been sold. Media executive Wade Davis is heading up a private group to buy a majority stake in the company and will be its new CEO.
Davis has given $8,300 to Democrat politicians since 2007 and is a contributor to former South Bend mayor and Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg’s campaign. He’s been a contributor to major Democratic candidates for years, raising major concerns about potential conflicts of interest.
Federal Election Commission records revealed that Davis gave $1,000 to Buttigieg’s campaign Nov. 3, 2019, while he was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Viacom, Inc., which would merge with CBS Corporation in Dec. 2019 to form the new parent company (ViacomCBS) of CBS News. Open Secrets records show that he contributed $1,000 to then-candidate Barack Obama’s (D) campaign in 2007, $2,300 to Hillary Clinton’s first presidential campaign in 2007, $1,000 to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) in 2009, $1,000 to former Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) in 2013, and $2,000 to Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) in 2016.
The only Republican recipient, based on Open Secrets Records of all Davis’ contributions while at Viacom, was former Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA), who received $1,000 from Davis in 2018 before Isakson’s retirement the following year. The individual contribution limit to candidate committees is currently $2,800, according to the Federal Election Commission.
He also supported the ViacomCBS super PAC, Viacom International. It has given significantly more to Democratic candidates $56,000 (59%) this election cycle in comparison to Republican candidates $28,000 (41%). In 2018, however, the PAC’s contributions favored Republicans $93,000 (55%) to Democrats $71,000 (45%) but by a smaller margin.
Davis will take over and head up “the largest Spanish-language broadcaster in the U.S.”
Investors from firms Searchlight Capital Partners and ForgeLight, LLC were led by Davis to purchase a majority stake in Univision (64%), according to Axios Feb. 25.
Univision has become notorious for its left-wing bias. Just recently, Univision Anchor Enrique Acevedo pushed back on liberal “Republican Strategist” Ana Navarro who fretted about the damage a Bernie Sanders nomination would have on Democrats’ electoral chances with Florida Hispanics. Acevedo simply dismissed Florida Hispanics as “manipulated.”
Univision anchor Jorge Ramos tried to wokescold pro-Trump Hispanic voters for their support of the president on Jan. 26, Univision segment of Al Punto.
Ramos began the segment with lefty talking points:
“If President Donald Trump wants to win reelection, he’s going to need the votes of millions of Hispanics. In the past presidential election, 29% of Hispanics voted for him, despite his having made remarks that many labeled as racist” [emphasis added].
Univision’s Sunday evening newscast July, 29. 2019, immediately tried to accuse Trump of racism for criticizing the terrible conditions of Baltimore City, Maryland.
MRC Business reached out to Searchlight Capital Partners on Feb. 25, but have since received no response as of the publication of this article.