While Oprah endorsed President Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential election, the “Hispanic Oprah” is making headlines in 2012.
Hispanic talk show host Cristina Saralegui publicly announced her endorsement of President Obama in a campaign video released Monday, The Hill reports.
“I came to this country when I was 12 years old because my parents wanted to give me new opportunities to succeed, “ Saralegui said in the video. Her family fled to the United States from Cuba after the Cuban Revolution.
A journalist, talk show host and actress, Saralegui has called the “Hispanic Oprah” after she rose to fame as the host of “The Cristina Show” on Spanish-language channel Univision. The show began in 1989. She was named as one of the “25 Most Influential Hispanics in America” by Time magazine in 2005.
“This is a critical time for our country and for the Hispanic community. Hispanics could very well decide the next election and I will do everything I can from now until November to ensure that President Obama is re-elected,” Saralegui said in a statement released with the video. “There’s simply too much at stake.”
The campaign video was released both in English and Spanish to appeal to a larger Hispanic audience. It is expected that Hispanic voters in swing states will play a crucial role in the upcoming election.
On Sunday, presumptive Republican candidate Mitt Romney insinuated that Obama’s newest executive order, which provides de facto amnesty for the children of illegal immigrants who were brought to this country illegally by their parents or guardians, is a political scheme to secure the Hispanic vote and electoral victory in November. The new legislation will protect nearly 800,000 illegal immigrants from deportation and award them the right to seek employment.
“I think the timing is pretty clear,” Romney said during an interview with CBS Sunday.