The Congressional Hispanic Caucus issued a statement Monday asking "Saturday Night Live" and parent company NBC Universal to "disinvite" Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump from hosting SNL on November 7.
The CHC said in its statement that Trump's rhetoric "demonizing Latinos and immigrants has created fear within these communities around the country, many of which are represented in Congress by members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus."
CHC Chairman Xavier Becerra, D-CA, also issued a statement. "Racism isn’t funny and Trump’s degrading comments about the Latino community have no place on national television. It’s alarming to see NBC ignore Trump's record of hateful speech, from calling Mexican Americans rapists and murderers to vowing to build a wall on our southern border."
SNL told NBC Latino on Monday it was not making any comments on the CHC statement. Trump spokeswoman Hope HIcks did not immediately respond to an e-mail request for comment sent Tuesday from NBC News.
Several national and local Latino organizations are planning an "All Out for SNL Dump Trump Rally” on Wednesday, Nov. 4 outside of 30 Rockefeller Center, the location of the SNL studio. A few of the groups co-sponsoring the rally are the League of United Latin American Citizens, (LULAC), the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) and others.
Voto Latino’s VL Action Network called for supporters to sign their “Racism Isn’t Funny Petition” that asks for petitioners to tell NBC to “dump Trump.” VL Action Network also produced a parody video titled “I Won’t Vote For Trump #IWVFU.” Another online form petitioning NBC and Michaels to cancel Trump’s appearance has garnered over 200,000 supporters.
In recent comments, actress and activist Eva Longoria told TheWrap that instead of asking for SNL to dump Trump, Latinos don't have to watch it. She said the show's decision to invite Trump is part of "freedom of speech." Instead, she said people have a choice. "Boycott that night, and then let that show feel that ‘oh, OK we did make a bad decision.’"
