A woman claiming to be a reporter associated with Univision Tuesday told Vice President Harris that she “voted” for her before asking the vice president a question.
Harris was conducting a press conference during a visit to Mexico when she called on what she thought was a Univision reporter by the name of Maria Fernanda Reyes.
Before she asked her question, she told the Vice President that the 2020 Presidential election was her first presidential election she was able to vote in as a nationalized citizen, and followed up by saying she voted for the Biden-Harris presidential ticket.
“It’s an honor… I voted for you,” says a Univision reporter before asking a question at VP Harris’ press conference pic.twitter.com/HsjRtTcJB1
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) June 8, 2021
In a tweet in response to The Media Research Center’s Jorge Bonilla, the President of Univision News Daniel Coronell denied that Fernanda is associated with the network.
In Mexico an individual which has no association with @Univision claimed to be a reporter for @UniNoticias in order to ask the @VP a question and to compliment @KamalaHarris. Let it be clear to everyone that Ms. Maria Fernanda Reyes is not part of this media organization https://t.co/edxyzRVlt8
— Daniel Coronell (@DCoronell) June 9, 2021
Harris was also asked during the press conference if she would commit to visiting the border “soon.”
“Yes I will,” Harris responded. “And I have before. Listen, anybody, especially if you’re from California you know, I’ve spent a lot of time on the border – both going there physically and aware of the issues. But the reality of it is that we need to prioritize what’s happening at the border and we have to prioritize why people are going to the border.”
Reyes told Fox News on Tuesday that she was surprised to be called upon and said she does not work for Univision. Univision told Fox News that a reporter named Maria Fernanda Lopez does work for the organization and is based in Miami.
“My name is Maria Fernanda LOPEZ, I have never traveled in my life to Mexico,” Lopez told Fox News. “I was in Miami during the incident where a lady named Maria Fernanda REYES was presented by mistake as a Univision reporter, which is incorrect….”
Senior Advisor to the vice president Symone Sanders tweeted late Tuesday evening that they were looking into the situation.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We are looking into this. https://t.co/5gVsyOoudr
— SDS (@SymoneSanders46) June 9, 2021
Reyes is an entrepreneur and reportedly works with farmers in Mexico, India and the U.S. She was in Mexico City on Tuesday helping Mayan farmers and working with the poor when she was asked to attend the press conference, according to Fox News.
Editors note: This post has been updated to include new information about the incident.