DID EVA LONGORIA JUST DEFEND DONALD TRUMP'S SNL GIG?
DID EVA LONGORIA JUST DEFEND DONALD TRUMP'S SNL GIG?
Excerpt: Latina.Com
While Latino activist groups, politicians and celebs call on "Saturday Night Live" to "Dump Trump," the controversial presidential candidate Donald Trump has an unlikely supporter of his Nov. 7 hosting gig: Eva Longoria.
MORE: Donald Trump Says SNL Ratings Will Be "Through the Roof" With Latino Audience
The Mexican-American actress-activist told TheWrap that groups trying to get NBC to disinvite Trump are going about it all wrong.
"This is part of freedom of speech, freedom of press," Longoria said. "He has his right — not only that, [executive producer] Lorne Michaels has a right to book whoever he wants."
She added: "We as a Hispanic community have a choice to not watch it. That’s our choice. … That’s what we can do. That’s what you’re supposed to do. Boycott that night, and then let that show feel that ‘oh, OK we did make a bad decision.’ You cannot limit that choice to producers or a network. That’s their choice to do that. But what you can do is [say], 'OK you made that choice, therefore we will do this.'"
However, many disagree with Longoria, believing that Trump shouldn’t receive the airtime not because of his conservative policies but rather because of his racist and xenophobic speech.
"Trump’s hate speech has had horrible real-world consequences for the Latino community. 'Saturday Night Live' giving him more of a platform is unthinkable," saidRobert Greenwald, president of Brave New Films. "Would they do that for someone saying hateful things about Jews, or black people, or gay people? Of course not."