Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren turned down an invitation from Fox News to participate in a town hall, expressing frustration with the network’s discriminatory politics.
What We Know…
- Warren explained her reasoning on Twitter saying that she does not want to validate Fox News as a reliable news source by appearing in a town hall. She denounced Fox for giving a platform to hateful individuals.
Fox News is a hate-for-profit racket that gives a megaphone to racists and conspiracists—it’s designed to turn us against each other, risking life and death consequences, to provide cover for the corruption that’s rotting our government and hollowing out our middle class.
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) May 14, 2019
- Warren also explained she does not wish to force Democratic voters to tune into Fox to watch her speak because that would mean asking them to be complicit in Fox’s racism.
- Other Democratic presidential candidates have already participated in Fox’s town halls like Bernie Sanders and Amy Klobuchar. Pete Buttigieg and Kirsten Gillibrand are scheduled to participate in Fox town halls in the near future.
- While other candidates have vocalized frustration with Fox’s coverage of President Donald Trump, none have gone so far as to boycott the town halls.
- People have reacted differently to Warren’s position; while some feel inspired by her hard stance on the network, other fear Warren will not reach essential voters by refusing the town hall. Trump himself has criticized Fox for inviting and publicizing democratic candidates.
- Sanders explained “it is important to distinguish Fox News from the many millions of people who watch Fox News,” and that keeping a dialogue open between candidates and Trump supporters is essential for the 2020 election.
Warren’s previous appearances on Fox have been to promote legislation in her role as a senator, and she does not plan to appear on the network as a presidential candidate.
