On the night of the election, as it was becoming apparent that Donald Trump would win there were reports that the value of the Mexican peso dropped 2 percent. Since then the value has dropped even more, resulting in CBS to worry about their economy on Thursday’s CBS Evening News. “The Trump election, however, sent shivers through Mexico's economy. The peso dropped 12 percent in two days,” announced Anchor Scott Pelley.
Pelley also noted that Mexico’s Foreign Minister, Claudia Ruiz-Massieu, would not renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, before turning it over to reporter Manuel Bojorquez. “In this working class neighborhood, some fear the effects of a Trump administration,” he reported while talking with a fearful resident. Bojorquez spoke with another resident who exclaimed, “He is racist. He just talks about hating people.”
“Aside from insulting national pride, Trump has threatened to tear up the trade agreement between the U.S. And Mexico, putting millions of jobs at risk,” Bojorquez continued. An interesting argument for CBS to report, since most of Trump’s supporters’ concernsed center on their own job security and future prospects.
The CBS reporter sat down with Ruiz-Massieu where she stated that Mexico would not be funding any wall. The questioning seemed to turn dark as Bojorquez pressured her, “But if a Trump administration seems to be putting up a fight, is Mexico ready to fight back?” Ruiz-Massieu seemed to sense the nature of the question and deflected, saying, “Well, Mexico is ready to protect our people, but we are also ready to work with the next American administration.”
Bojorquez seemed to find a more combative Mexican official to fit his liking, in Mexican Senator Armando Rios Peter. “He's drafted a law that would stop Mexico from using public funds to pay fair border wall,” he said of the Mexican Senator, “He also said Mexico could retaliate by revising security agreements with the US.”
Closing out his report, he had good news and bad news for the Mexican peso, “The nation's central bank believes Mexico's economy is strong enough to weather through the peso's drastic drop, but, Scott, today, it remains at its lowest level in more than two decades.”
Wouldn’t it be nice if CBS showed this kind of concern for the economy and job market in the United States?