New NBC Anchor Asked If Trump DEI Assault ‘Muted’ His Achievement As First Latino

A reporter asked NBC News anchor Tom Llamas if President Donald Trump’s assault on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies “muted” the achievement of being the first Latino to anchor nightly news.

Llamas took over the NBC Nightly News anchor chair from Lester Holt on Monday, making him the first Latino person to helm a major English-language network nightly newscast.

In advance of the promotion, he visited local newsrooms across the country on something of a listening tour, and gave interviews to promote the change.

During an interview with the Los Angeles Times’s Stephen Battaglio, the subject of Trump’s DEI push came up:

STEPHEN BATTAGLIO: President Trump basically declared war on diversity, equity and inclusion policies. [The Federal Communications Commission has called for an investigation into NBC’s parent firm Comcast for what it describes as “DEI discrimination.”] Has that muted the achievement of being the first Latino to anchor an English-speaking nightly newscast?

TOM LLAMAS: I don’t think I got this job because I’m Hispanic; I think I got this job because I’m the best person for the job. And I know that’s what NBC believes, too.

My life story is something I’m very proud of. [My parents] essentially came to this country with nothing. They had no money, they barely spoke the language, and this incredible country gave them a second chance. It gave them a new home. And they taught me hard work, but they also taught me to love this country. And I do, I think this is the greatest place in the world, hands down. To become the anchor of “Nightly News” tells me that the American dream is still very alive.

Since Trump took office, DEI has morphed from a poorly coded campaign talking point into a batch of executive orders, a go-to scapegoat for air disasters, and a target for a wide range of actions that include shuttered government offices and scattershot website deletions.