Elizabeth Warren Rejects Fox News Town Hall Offer, Takes Implicit Shot at Bernie Sanders
Photos courtesy of Getty Politics Features Elizabeth Warren
Bernie Sanders took a good deal of flack for appearing on a Fox News town hall, with many on the left arguing that it legitimized a network devoted to dangerous right-wing propaganda, but most of that flack came before the actual event. When it went down, it was judged a success for Sanders, so much so that Trump got mad on Twitter. But now that original criticism has returned to the forefront, and it comes from an unlikely source: Elizabeth Warren.
Warren was invited to take part in a similar town hall, and in a Twitter thread Tuesday, she explained her reasons for rejecting it outright:
I love town halls. I’ve done more than 70 since January, and I’m glad to have a television audience be a part of them. Fox News has invited me to do a town hall, but I’m turning them down—here’s why…
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) May 14, 2019
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
Hate-for-profit works only if there’s profit, so Fox News balances a mix of bigotry, racism, and outright lies with enough legit journalism to make the claim to advertisers that it’s a reputable news outlet. It’s all about dragging in ad money—big ad money.
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) May 14, 2019
But Fox News is struggling as more and more advertisers pull out of their hate-filled space. A Democratic town hall gives the Fox News sales team a way to tell potential sponsors it’s safe to buy ads on Fox—no harm to their brand or reputation (spoiler: It’s not).
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) May 14, 2019
Here’s one place we can fight back: I won’t ask millions of Democratic primary voters to tune into an outlet that profits from racism and hate in order to see our candidates—especially when Fox will make even more money adding our valuable audience to their ratings numbers.
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) May 14, 2019
I’m running a campaign to reach all Americans. I take questions from the press and voters everywhere I go. I’ve already held town halls in 17 states and Puerto Rico—including WV, OH, GA, UT, TN, TX, CO, MS & AL.
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) May 14, 2019
I’ve done 57 media avails and 131 interviews, taking over 1,100 questions from press just since January. Fox News is welcome to come to my events just like any other outlet. But a Fox News town hall adds money to the hate-for-profit machine. To which I say: hard pass.
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) May 14, 2019
By calling Fox News a “hate-for-profit racket,” and asserting that anyone who participates in a Democratic town hall gives the network cover with potential sponsors and helps their business model (“that profits from racism and hate”), she’s taking a pretty direct shot at Sanders, one of her chief adversaries in the primary. Which isn’t to say she doesn’t believe what she’s saying—only that her ethical stand doubles as an attack on the other leftist candidate, whose supporters she will need if she has any hope of challenging for the nomination.
This is the first real sign of even a subtle attack between Warren and Sanders, and it will be interesting to see how it changes the tone of the campaign for two senators who have routinely expressed mutual respect.