On Wednesday night, the “big three” of ABC, CBS, and NBC refused to cover the Obama administration’s official unveiling of new regulations that aim to force neighborhoods to diversification or risk losing annual federal funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). As they often do when the networks fail to cover a story, the Fox News Channel (FNC) program Special Report was there to pick up the pieces and provided a full report from White House correspondent Kevin Corke on the plans that HUD says will “reduc[e] disparities in housing choice and access.”
Julian Castro
By Tom Blumer | June 22, 2015 | 7:07 PM EDT
A terse, five-paragraph June 14 Associated Press report on the results of San Antonio's mayoral election the previous day gave no indication of the party affiliation or political outlook of the winner or loser.
Readers could only determine that the winner, Ivy Taylor, became "the first African-American elected to the post," which of course had to mean that the handpicked candidate to succeed Julian Castro, who left to the post to become President Obama's Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, had triumphed. But it didn't. The AP report gave no indication that the Democrats' handpicked Hispanic candidate had lost a race they thought they were on track to win six weeks earlier.
By Curtis Houck | June 11, 2015 | 8:19 PM EDT
The major broadcast networks refused to take notice on Thursday night of plans by President Obama and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to force the diversification of American neighborhoods and particularly those mainly consisting of wealthy Americans. With the “big three” of ABC, CBS, and NBC on the sidelines, the FNC's pecial Report offered a full segment on the regulations that host Bret Baier noted has Republicans “charging that President Obama wants control over who lives in your neighborhood and [that] he’s using the power of the purse strings to pursue it.”
By Kyle Drennen | May 26, 2015 | 11:03 AM EDT
In a story for Tuesday’s NBC Today devoid of any Hillary Clinton critics, correspondent Andrea Mitchell highlighted “one Democratic ally,” Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, “considered a potential running mate by some should Clinton win the nomination,” dismissing the e-mail scandal still swirling around the former Secretary of State as a “side show.”
By P.J. Gladnick | May 18, 2014 | 1:25 PM EDT
The similarities between the two politicians are absolutely eerie.
Both are Mexican Americans from San Antonio who at age 27 became the youngest city councilmen in their city's history at the time of their elections. They both went on to serve as mayors of that city. While mayor both were prominent speakers at the Democrat national convention and were touted as future vice-presidential nominees. Later both were appointed as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development amid much media hype as "rising stars." One would be hard pressed to find two political figures so similar as Julian Castro and Henry Cisneros...with the exception of his own twin brother, Joaquin Castro. However, during all the reports about Julian Castro's announced appointment as HUD secretary (with the notable exception of The Atlantic), there is nary a word about Henry Cisneros who seems to have become a nonperson as far as the mainstream media is concerned.
By Jeffrey Meyer | May 18, 2014 | 10:29 AM EDT
On Sunday, May 18, ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Today hyped President Obama’s selection of Julian Castro, Democratic Mayor of San Antonio, to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Both NBC’s Jenna Wolfe and ABC’s Ron Claiborne beamed at how Castro is a “rising star in the Democratic Party” with Wolfe praising how “there’s been speculation that he could be vice presidential pick in 2016.” [See video below.]
By Scott Whitlock | April 16, 2014 | 4:29 PM EDT
Two Democratic politicians in Texas apparently warranted a front page, 1200 word story in Wednesday's New York Times. Writer Jason Horowitz profiled San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro and his brother, Congressman Joaquin Castro.
According to Horowitz, "The two brothers share not only looks, ambition and personal mannerisms — they both lower their heads, with almost monklike modesty, when greeting people — but also a childhood steeped in Latino activism, bunk beds and English." Horowitz also repeatedly hinted that one of the brothers could end up on a presidential ticket in 2016.
By Kyle Drennen | July 23, 2013 | 5:21 PM EDT
In an adoring softball interview with San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro on her Monday MSNBC show, host Andrea Mitchell eagerly wondered if the Democrat was leading the way in turning the solidly red state blue: "Take a look at Texas Monthly, both you and your brother [Congressman Joaquin Castro] and Wendy Davis are on the cover of Texas Monthly. Is there a Democratic revival coming up in Texas?" [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]
Castro seized the opportunity to proclaim: "It is an exciting time to be in Texas right now, as a Democrat....And the question is not if Texas is going to become a competitive state, and eventually a blue state, the question really is just when, how long is it going to take?...but it's going to happen. And you can feel that excitement right now in the air."
By Randy Hall | January 24, 2013 | 11:55 AM EST
Open mouth, insert foot. Just when it seemed that Piers Morgan was finally putting his ineffective crusade for stricter gun control behind him, the CNN anchor made an obviously stereotypical remark while covering an inaugural ball in Washington, D.C., on Monday evening.
At the end of an interview with Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro and his identical twin brother, San Antonio mayor Julian Castro, the liberal host asked: “By the way, I've never met any Latinos who can't dance, so are you guys going to be -- ?”
By Matt Vespa | September 7, 2012 | 2:22 AM EDT
During MSNBC’s Thursday night coverage of the Democratic Convention, Melissa Harris-Perry and Chris Matthews decided to further indulge in their unhealthy obsession with birtherism. You may recall that Matthews hijacked Andrea Mitchell’s interview of former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to ask a question about birtherism during the Republican Convention on August 29. On September 5, Matthews concluded his interview with San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, an alleged rising Democratic star, why there are so many birthers in his state of Texas.
Perry’s birther interjection concerned Obama’s speech dealing with the theme of citizenship. In fact, she called it a “brilliant” moment. However, she made the patently false claim that mainstream Republicans are birther enthusiasts and “redefined” the term herself to convey an overt collectivist idea of citizenship. On the other hand, Matthews, who sat down with Rep. Joseph Crowley and DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who declared that the "right wing" wants President Barack Obama's document because "he's black" and doesn't understand why people still don't "get it." Well, it's probably because conspiratorial drivel doesn't go mainstream all that often. (video after the jump)
By Ken Shepherd | September 5, 2012 | 8:47 PM EDT
MSNBC's Chris Matthews this evening finally got the chance to interview Julian Castro, the Democratic mayor of San Antonio, Texas, whom Matthews insisted had given one of the "greatest" political speeches he ever heard Tuesday night.
It was, of course, a thoroughly softball interview, but it concluded on an odd note, with Matthews delving into his unhealthy obsession with "birtherism" to ask Castro why his home state is so chock full of people who don't believe President Obama is a natural-born citizen [MP3 audio here; video follows page break].
By Clay Waters | September 5, 2012 | 5:07 PM EDT
Gov. Chris Christie's keynote address at the Republican convention didn't warrant a full story last week in the New York Times. Yet when San Antonio mayor Julian Castro delivered the keynote to the Democratic convention, Jeff Zeleny offered a full story in Wednesday's edition, giving the Democrats space from which to blast Republicans: "New Democratic Voice Challenges Republican Vision." Castro was also spared the fact-checking the Times afflicted upon Republicans last week in Tampa.
(Manny Fernandez had previously polished the mayor's resume in a flattering preview of Castro's keynote: "The speculation lately about Mr. Castro’s future has reached fever pitch; there is talk of his running for governor, earning a place in Mr. Obama’s cabinet and even becoming the first Hispanic president. A Fox News Latino headline this summer read: 'Julián Castro: Son of Chicana Activist, Harvard Law Grad, Future U.S. President?'")