Javier Ruiz, with a tendency towards sensationalism and scandal, indignantly lamented the interference regarding the interview he was about to conduct with José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, on Thursday at midday on Mañaneros 360: “The pressure in this studio is extraordinary. [...] The supervision is becoming unbearable. No supervision, no nonsense, on this program!”” To demonstrate this, he broadcast statements from the mayor of Madrid who anticipated qualifying the interview the presenter would conduct with him as a “bath and massage,” and warning that he knew they were friends and had recently had lunch together. The comment is proof of the PP's control over the lives of both.
Javier Ruiz conducted a structured and exhaustive interview. As soon as he began, he announced to Zapatero the three essential issues to be addressed: the Plus Ultra bailout, the jewels, and the role of his daughters. “President, have you become corrupt?”, he hit him with right at the start. “Have you sold influence? Have you trafficked in political favors?”, “Have you diverted money to your daughters?” This beginning allowed us to gauge how Zapatero would position himself regarding the accusations he had received. From here, the details were entered into. The short questions did not leave room for thinking about the answer. And they were so specific that they prevented evasions or discursive creativity.
Ruiz specified proper names, companies and off-shores. He recalled lunches from his agenda and meetings with Minister Escrivá. He read him fragments of letters in which, supposedly, Zapatero was cited as the instigator of different activities, including the rescue of Plus Ultra. Ruiz was blunt: “Have your daughters served as a strawman for Zapatero?” The answer, also: “I find the question incredible”. The legal advice was noticeable in the answers. The mystery of the jewels was not fully clarified, but not for lack of questions. Even the panelists on the show insisted on this matter. The name Gertrudis, Zapatero's secretary, was mentioned up to eight times. Pedro Sánchez's name, only once. And Felipe González's, also, but with a jab that was the masterstroke of the interview. Ruiz reminded him that González had joked about ZP's lack of knowledge in creating an off-shore: “I agree with him on that. He knows about that...”, he let slip, in a show of strength. Ruiz wanted to make a more personal aside about his state of mind. The camera then focused on his hands, in that visual cliché that is supposed to humanize interviewees. To conclude, Ruiz asked him about his sixty-five days of silence, and Zapatero took the opportunity to assert his transparency: “In the Senate I answered 300 questions. To the judge, 59. And I have not withheld any from you”. In the short term, the answers have been very clear to the audience. In the long term, when the facts are judicially clarified, they will serve to portray Zapatero as an honest man or a liar.
