The Vice President’s office still has not explained how a phony reporter ended up attending a press conference with Kamala Harris in Mexico on Tuesday and was included on an approved press list.
“Our next question will come from Maria Fernanda at Univision,” senior advisor and chief spokesperson for Harris, Symone Sanders, said during the press conference, including the reporter on her list of approved questioners for the vice president.
C-SPAN
“Thank you, Madame Vice President. For me, it’s an honor because I actually got to vote for the first time as a naturalized citizen and I voted for you,” responded Maria Fernanda Reyes, after she was selected to ask a question.
Maria Fernanda Reyes, however, is not a reporter from Univision and not even a reporter at all but a San Francisco Bay area entrepreneur, according to Fox News.
Reyes told Fox News she was surprised to get called on, even though they mistakenly said she was from Univision. She said was invited to the Harris event through work connections and attended the press conference because she was asked by fellow entrepreneurs to do so.
Univision President Daniel Coronell swiftly denied Reyes had any association with the network after the fawning question was mocked by conservatives and reporters.
“In Mexico an individual which has no association with Univision claimed to be a reporter for Univision in order to ask the VP a question and to compliment Kamala Harris,” Coronell wrote on social media. “Let it be clear to everyone that Ms. Maria Fernanda Reyes is not part of this media organization.”
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
Reyes’ presence at the press conference demonstrates a security breach, as it remains unclear whether she misrepresented herself as a Univision reporter to gain access to the event. It is also unclear how Reyes ended up on the approved list of reporters selected for a question at the press conference.
The Vice President’s press office did not respond to questions from Breitbart News about the incident, but posted a comment on social media.
“Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We are looking into this,” Sanders wrote.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We are looking into this. https://t.co/5gVsyOoudr
— SDS (@SymoneSanders46) June 9, 2021
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