Univision is there to ask loaded questions that not a single person who watches the network regularly agrees with or is asking themselves.
Dana Loesch, NRA spokesperson via Twitter
The play-by-play of a unique, if not socially damaging, GOP Primary Debate on Fox Business & Univision presented an unexpected view of what moderating could look like in the 21st century — yes, I wasn’t paying the same amount of attention to the politics of it all, despite my aggressive tweeting on the topic.
From 9 p.m. EST to the 11 o’clock hour, the country got a look at just how good or bad Dana Perino, Stuart Varney and Ilia Calderón are at keeping a seven-car train on its tracks. Perino, a host on Fox News, and Fox Business Network Host Varney provided an expected voice for the viewing audience from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. However, Univision host Calderón provided a change — perhaps even a challenge — to the rhetoric the Fox News viewing audience may be used to.
It was Calderón who gave viewers a warm welcome to the debate in Spanish after Varney stumbled through her introduction and transition. It was Calderón who, after attempting to tamp down cross-talk, pressed candidates on aspects of immigration and education. And, perhaps most interestingly, it was this Emmy Award-winning Univision anchor who provided a factual basis for questions and unexpected rhetorical caution.
No surprise — in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, she said moderating this debate would mark a “big responsibility to represent all of our community.”
At one point, questions that explicitly handled immigration and undocumented immigrants were given expressed separation — her questions didn’t include the phrase “illegal immigrant.”
She pressed candidate and former Vice President Mike Pence on the Trump-Pence administration canceling DACA, asking if he would provide a permanent solution for dreamers before pressing the former to clarify his point.
“Vice President, would you negotiate with Congress to give a solution to the problem that Dreamers have right now? They are [in] a limbo,” she restated for Pence.
Moreover, her question on crime and gun violence provoked a response from a noted spokesperson for the National Rifle Association, Dana Loesch.
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsThis Univision moderator is wasting all of our time. These questions are offensively stupid. #GOPdebate
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) September 28, 2023
“A Univision poll found that mass shootings and gun safety are one of the most important issues for Latino voters. Mental health concerns are not unique to the United States, but gun violence is,” Calderón said. “What is your specific plan to curb gun violence.”
An additional immigration question provided first-time viewers with something likely no one expected: information confirming that most fentanyl smuggling isn’t quite as clear cut as the “illegal immigrants” former president Trump characterized: “They’re bringing drugs… they’re bringing crime.”
“According to Customs and Border Protections, about 90% of fentanyl is seized at official border crossings, and 57% of the smugglers are U.S. citizens. How would you stop fentanyl brought into this country, mostly by U.S. citizens through ports of entry,” she asked.
More moderators, more chaos
Perino and Varney provided quality questions and food for moderating thought at times — Perino’s stalwart ‘No’ to a candidate definitely got some attention — but also featured a narrative that wasn’t present in Calderón’s questioning.
For example, Perino’s questioning on crime stated that “just last night, looters took over the streets of Philadelphia” before asking how a President Christie could “end the revolving door of criminality” for good.
“They just get out and come back and commit another crime,” Perino asked in a follow-up.
That isn’t to say the questions weren’t more measured than some would otherwise expect. At times, Varney and Perino tag-teamed questions in a way that provided a sense of balance and grounded itself in well-reported data inside and outside of their news organization.
“Prices are up 18% since 2020. More than half of the U.S. population has little access to childcare; 85% of Americans say their personal finances are a source of stress,” Varney said.
“Americans want to believe a leader who says, ‘You can follow me. I’ve got you, don’t worry. President Biden is trying to do that with Bidenomics,” Perino continued.
Unfortunately, it remains clear that the moderators could benefit from some shaping up in and around prominent news stories regarding the frontrunner. There were no questions or answers on the legal front when it comes to former president Donald Trump’s indictments and recent court judgments. In addition, moderators only occasionally jumped in to provide audiences and viewers with constructive fact-checks throughout the debate.
There were also some ridiculous, chaotic moments that definitely earned their time in the spotlight.
“Right now, we have a president who is sleeping with a member of the teachers union,” Governor Chris Christie said in response to a labor question. “They have an advocate inside the White House every day.”
Moments later, because chaos loves company…
“By way of full disclosure, my wife isn’t a member of the teachers union, but I’ve got to admit, I’ve been sleeping with a teacher for 38 years,” Pence said without anyone asking.
There was also an attempt to make Donald Duck a thing… we’ll see where that goes. And a quick swipe and Vivek Ramaswamy from Nikki Haley.
“Every time I hear you, I feel a little bit dumber,” she said.
Now that the debate is over, I’ll take the cue Perino sent to North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and mute my microphone before I get muted.
What We Know Now 
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