The founder and CEO of a new Spanish-language conservative network says Democrats are "scared" of Americano—with good reason. "Democrats took Hispanics for granted for too long, and no one thought to create a home for us in conservative media," Ivan Garcia-Hidalgo tells NBC. "There is an appetite for this. You see it on social media. You see it in elections." The network launches on SiriusXM radio Tuesday, with a launch on streaming TV planned for this summer. The network's home base is Miami, home to a large population of conservative Cuban Americans.
Garcia-Hidalgo—a staunch Trump supporter who has expressed support for the former president's election fraud claims—rejects accusations that the network will spread disinformation on COVID-19 and other issues. A Hispanic Republican consultant, speaking under condition of anonymity, tells NBC that to ensure the first-of-its-kind network's appeal is as "broad-based" as possible, Americano's lineup does not include many of the far-right commentators popular on Spanish-language radio in the Miami area. The network has ties to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a moderate, as well as the Trump campaign.
Miami-based Fernand Amandi, who worked with Barack Obama's campaign, says the launch of Americano should be "a Defcon 1 moment" for Democrats worried about the growing number of Latinos voting Republican. The party's response to GOP outreach to Latinos, whether it is disinformation or traditional campaigning, has been to do the "bare minimum," Amandi tells NBC. While the Latino vote still favors Democrats by a wide margin, recent polls show that Republicans are holding on to the gains made in 2018 and 2020, CNN reports. (More radio stories.)
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