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“I Couldn’t Be A Bystander”: Emmy-Winning Latina Journalist On Why She Left A Career In News To Take On Trump

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For Emmy-winning journalist Viridiana Vidal, the thought of her US citizen daughter being seen as less of an American because of her Mexican heritage was just too much.

For years, Vidal had already been reporting on deportations and abuses faced by immigrants, and as journalist and a professional, she “wasn’t allowed to get involved or become too attached.”

One Presidential candidate’s speech a year ago changed everything. “I was standing in the middle of the newsroom when I heard Donald Trump speaking,” Vidal says in a series of new English and Spanish-language videos filmed for America’s Voice.

“He said, ‘When Mexico sends its people, they send the worst of its country.’” Vidal is the daughter of a Mexican immigrant who came to the United States without papers. “For me,” Vidal says, Donald Trump’s accusation “was a personal attack.”

“She’s one of the bravest women I’ve ever met,” Vidal says about her mom. “She left everything she knew just to give me a better future. My anger, it was the anger of thousands. I couldn’t be a bystander.”

It’s why — against the advice of some of her fellow colleagues in news — Vidal made the life-changing decision to leave an Emmy-winning career in journalism and television to take on Donald Trump full-time.

“I’m fighting not for my dreams, but for my daughter’s dreams,” Vidal says in the videos, saying it’s one of the best decisions she’s ever made in her life.

“I’m fighting for my daughter’s future, and for the future of millions of families that are here in this country to fight for a better future for their families.”

“It is a sacrifice to leave your own career, but every sacrifice with a good reason always has a good ending.”

Vidal’s story of going from journalist to activist has already gone viral in a Las Vegas Sun op-ed. Vidal hopes to use her visibility and platform to stand up for the dignity of all undocumented families, and urges all to get out on Election Day this fall to do the same.

“I hope that you vote this November. We can vote for these families that have no voice. For these millions of undocumented families that cannot go out and vote, we can be their voices.”