As we’ve often exposed here at MRC Latino, the last decade of Univision’s news coverage has been driven by reflexive opposition to Donald Trump and by Latino identity politics. A recent news report engages in both while casting a soft spotlight on one New York Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani’s transition chairs.
Watch as anchor Elian Zidan frames a puff piece of United Way of New York CEO and Mamdani transition co-chair Grace Bonilla (no relation):
ELIAN ZIDAN: Grace Bonilla, the daughter of Ecuadorian immigrants and a New Yorker from Queens, is the first Latina president of The United Way, New York City's largest nonprofit organization, which helps hundreds of thousands with food and healthcare. Now Bonilla is also a transition co-chair for Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, and spoke with Fabiola Galindo about the challenges they face under the Trump administration's policies.
The framing is intended to inflame Univision’s viewers into watching the entire report by expecting more Trump derangement. This frame is a false bill of goods, as there is only one exchange where the reporter, Fabiola Galindo, could be seen as seeking to elicit an adverse reaction to “Trump administration policies”. Bonilla refuses the bait and stays on message:
FABIOLA GALINDO: How do you feel about working for an elected mayor whom the president has labeled a communist?
GRACE BONILLA: That's secondary. What matters most to me is moving this city forward so we can keep our young people here and they can see a future in this city.
That’s it. This is the sole mention of the Bad Orange Boogeyman in the report, whether on policy or otherwise. The frame was clearly a hook to hold viewers who might otherwise reach for the remote on Black Friday.
So what purpose does this report serve, then? It is to bolster a cloak of “Latino by association” identity on Mamdani with which to make his policies more attractive to viewers. Hence the focus on Bonilla as an ethnic “first” and her role within the campaign. The constant focus on identity and race fill time and foreclose the opportunity to scrutinize more important things such as identity and track record.
All these things are concealed behind identity politics fluff. Par the course for Univision.
Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned report as aired on Noticiero Univision on Friday, November 28th, 2025:
ELIAN ZIDAN: Grace Bonilla, the daughter of Ecuadorian immigrants and a New Yorker from Queens, is the first Latina president of The United Way, New York City's largest nonprofit organization, which helps hundreds of thousands with food and healthcare. Now Bonilla is also a transition co-chair for Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, and spoke with Fabiola Galindo about the challenges they face under the Trump administration's policies.
GRACE BONILLA: My family. I think I come from parents who are very helpful, right? It wasn't at all unusual for us to have people in our house who shared at our table.
FABIOLA GALINDO: A New Yorker, daughter of Ecuadorian immigrants and a public servant, Grace Bonilla says she grew up amid need and by extending a helping hand.
BONILLA: I know that my parents, out of pride or ignorance, didn't take advantage of services that were there for us, right? And that was something that made life at home a little more stressful. And I don't want a child living in this city to have to feel that.
GALINDO: She grew up in Queens, New York. Her mother, who made her quinceañera dress by hand, worked as a seamstress so that she could graduate law school. She is the first Latina president of The United Way organization, which has distributed millions of pounds of food and health services to the poorest people. Now, she is a co-chair for the transition team of Mayor-elect Zohan Mamdani in the country's largest city.
BONILLA: We already have the police commissioner and that's what we're doing, looking at those key positions that we need to have in place before January 1st.
GALINDO: He inherits a city where more than half of Latinos struggle to make ends meet, according to figures from The United Way.
BONILLA: We need to have a city where they feel good, safe, and secure, because we depend on their economy for the economy of this city.
GALINDO: How do you feel about working for an elected mayor whom the president has labeled a communist?
BONILLA: That's secondary. What matters most to me is moving this city forward so we can keep our young people here and they can see a future in this city.
GALINDO: Analysts don't rule out the possibility that Grace Bonilla will hold not only a temporary but a permanent position, to help shape the city's policies alongside the new mayor. In New York: Fabiola Galindo, Univision.
