A reporter was apparently kicked out of Trump Tower for speaking Spanish
Freelance journalist Marcos Stupenengo was granted an audience with Donald Trump but promptly sent packing when the campaign heard him answer his telephone in Spanish, BuzzFeed reports.
Stupenengo was working on assignment for TV Azteca when he reportedly received a call while waiting to be shown in to see Trump. After he answered the call in Spanish, the campaign apparently informed him they had no interest in participating in his interview, a source told BuzzFeed. BuzzFeed additionally writes that Stupenengo "has green eyes and would appear to many as a non-Hispanic white male."
Stupenengo has since clarified on Twitter that he did not have a personal interview arranged with Trump, but rather a film request that was approved over the phone and then denied on site. A Spanish-speaking Secret Service agent working for Trump is said to have apologized to Stupenengo, claiming he didn't know why the request was so suddenly denied after initially being granted.
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Stupenengo did not answer BuzzFeed's request for comment other than to say that "after 13 years of journalism, worse things have happened to me."
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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