On Tuesday, MSNBC’s Morning Joe highlighted season two of John Leguizamo’s MSNBC show Leguizamo Does America, which featured the host exploring Latino culture across major cities in America. It would not be the liberal media if a jab was not made towards President Trump, to which Leguizamo made a comment claiming the Trump administration was “demonizing immigrants,” regarding the arrests and deportations of illegals by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The original show was a six-part series that toured a different city and focuses on Latinos’ way of life, which adds to the melting pot of America’s diversity. Latinos brought a special lifestyle to the country, but the left-wing media used their culture as an outlet to promote the victimhood mentality that Latinos should feel about the arrests and deportations by ICE.
Leguizamo descried how Trump was supposedly singling out Latinos:
And I find a plethora across America and celebrate it because you know, I think part of the problem and the damage that’s been done to our community with this Trump administration of demonizing immigrants. And we see the visuals, all these young moms and children and being harassed by ICE, and I think it's because our history isn't being told. We're the largest ethnic group in America, and we're totally erased.
The liberal media wants to focus on the empathy part of illegal immigration, but denied the truth: illegal immigrants broke the law by entering or staying in the country. By Leguizamo giving a false statement that Latinos are “totally erased” and yet was a producer for a show that celebrates Latino culture in America, was hypocritical.
Leguizamo continued to speak about being “targeted” and voiced:
It can’t help graze Latin culture because the majority of the people that we’re seeing being targeted are Latino people, and they are Latino moms, fathers, and dads. And it’s a disrespect to Latin life. I mean, I’ve talked to a huge swath of Latino organizers, activists, politicians, artists, and corporate leaders and we’re all aghast. We’re all heartbroken by these images and what’s going on-Demonizing people who are innocent, hardworking, the essential workers of America.
It’s not a “disrespect” to Latin life or a singling out of Latinos. It is the law and order of the land that if you’re here illegally, you should be removed. Additionally, it’s factual to note that it’s easier for those living in Latin and South America to travel north and cross into the country illegally. So, it’s reasonable to deduce that Latinos made up the largest democratic of illegal immigrants, thus that’s why they would make up the majority of arrests and deportations.
He also made the ridiculous claim that “The first language spoken in the America was Spanish, not English.” In reality, it was neither. Native Americans were using spoken languages for thousands of years before any Europeans came over.
Leguizamo described the arrests and deportation were “heartbreaking,” but was that the right word choice to describe law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line every day to protect American communities?
Latinos should be celebrated, but what was frustrating was the left-wing media taking Latinos' ethnicity and twisting it to fit their agenda for disparagement towards the Trump administration for restoring proper security and a strong border to protect the American people.
Click here for the transcripts:
MSNBC’s Morning Joe
7/1/25
7:49 a.m. Eastern(…)
WILLIE GEIST: That is award winning actor producer John Leguizamo, back with a new season of his six part MSNBC series Leguizamo Does America. That was a sneak peek. The series highlights Latino culture across the United States. In the second season now, John, takes us on a tour of six new cities celebrating the history, culture, food, and contributions of Latin people shaping America. He calls it a travelog with a sprinkling of politics and joins us now.
John, it's great to see you representing the Mets this morning. Also, of course, an executive producer on the project. Congratulations on season two. Season one was a hit for us here at MSNBC and on Peacock. So it makes sense that you'd come back for more. What are you exploring now in season two to kind of continue what you did in the first one?
JOHN LEGUIZAMO: Yeah. Well, you know, MSNBC is the home of my favorite news show, Morning Joe. So-
GEIST: You're contractually obligated to say that, John. That's good.
LEGUIZAMO: Yeah, just type it. And you know, the first season was such a huge hit, the number one original show on MSNBC. And with this show, I'm going to six more cities and looking for Latin exceptionalism, Latin brilliance, Latin ingenuity. And I find a plethora across America and celebrate it because you know, I think part of the problem and the damage that’s been done to our community with this Trump administration of demonizing immigrants. And we see the visuals, all these young moms and children and being harassed by ICE and I think it's because our history isn't being told.
We're the largest ethnic group in America, and we're totally erased. Johns Hopkins University did a study and found out that 87 percent of Latino contributions into the making of the US are not in history textbooks, and that's criminal. Because then you don't understand that we built the infrastructure of the southwest and the west. The first language spoken in the America was Spanish, not English. And you know, we’ve been coming here, being brought here by the Bracero Program and then in the late 1800s, early 1900s, and we service all the southwest and west, and then we were demonized in the 1930s by the Repatriation Act and the deported 2 million American Latino citizens. And then again with the Wetback Act in the 1950s, they deported a million and a half Latinos. Half of them were American citizens.
So we need to celebrate these teachers, activists, politicians, chefs – did I say musicians? And celebrate them in all the cities because we're everywhere.
ALY VITALI: John, it's Ali Vitali here in Washington, DC. I know this is a show that you say has a sprinkling of politics in it, but can you talk about the ways against this current backdrop that you just mentioned, that the conversations around politics are coming up in all of these different cities?
LEGUIZAMO: Well, absolutely. I mean, it can’t help touch politics. It can’t help graze Latin culture because the majority of the people that we’re seeing being targeted are Latino people, and they are Latino moms, fathers, and dads. And it’s a disrespect to Latin life.
I mean, I’ve talked to a huge swath of Latino organizers, activists, politicians, artists, and corporate leaders and we’re all aghast. We’re all heartbroken by these images and what’s going on - demonizing people who are innocent, hardworking, the essential workers of America.
So with this show, we go in there and we celebrate because we’ve contributed great things. We contributed $3.8 trillion to the U.S. GDP yearly. If we were our own country, we’d be the fifth largest economy, maybe the fourth in the whole world. Bigger than Brazil, bigger than India, bigger than France, bigger than England, and we feed this country. We serve this country, we build this country, and then we get treated this way? It’s heartbreaking.
So we need to find Latin joy and Latin celebration to keep going, to keep fighting, to keep organizing and fighting back, resisting.
(…)
7:54 a.m. Eastern
MIKE BARNICLE: John, the city of brotherly love. It seems to be, we live in a nation now where the idea of brotherly love is sort of missing in action. But I'm wondering from your point of view, you were born in Colombia. What happened when you got to America? Who helped you? What was the help like, and how did you get to where you are today?
LEGUIZAMO: Well, yeah. You know, I came here as an immigrant child. I was three years old to Queens where there was a huge Latin population. And, you know, there was a lot of government programs that helped me get where I am today. Affirmative action was a big help because, you know, geography is the new use – the new the way that racism is applied because you're segregated, you know, put in these certain areas where your educations the worst and your opportunities are nil. And, you know, I worked my culato off. And, you know, I got to NYU, I was at the top of my class. I was always at the top of my class, and here I am, you know, against a Hollywood that's not very welcoming to Latinos.
GEIST: Well, we cannot wait to see season two. It kicks off this weekend. Leguizamo Does America premieres Sunday at 9 p.m. Eastern Time right here on MSNBC. A follow up to the hit first season host, executive producer and proud Mets fan John Leguizamo. John, congrats on the new season and thanks, as always for joining us.
