Presidential hopeful Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has taken to social media to announce that she has turned down an offer to do a town hall with Fox News, taking the opportunity to lambaste the media outlet.
“Fox News has invited me to do a town hall, but I’m turning them down—here’s why … 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 & death consequences, to provide cover for the corruption that’s rotting our government and hollowing out our middle class,” she wrote as part of the series of tweets she posted on May 14.
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
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
Since January, the Massachusetts Democrat said she has done 57 media avails and 131 interviews as part of her campaign.
Compared to her fellow Democratic candidates, Warren decided to do things differently by rejecting Fox News’s invite to participate in the town hall that is moderated by the network’s reporters and calling for her supporters to take a stand against the media outlet by signing a petition.
I won’t do a town hall with Fox News because I won’t invite millions of Democratic primary voters to tune in, inflate ratings, and help sell ads for an outlet that profits from racism and hate. If you agree, sign our petition. https://t.co/zAyBN7i8Jf
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) May 14, 2019
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) have already participated in a town hall, while Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) are expected to participate soon.
Despite criticizing the network, she said Fox News is still welcome to attend her campaign events, adding that “but a Fox News town hall adds money to the hate-for-profit machine. To which I say: hard pass.”
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
Warren formally announced her bid for president on Feb. 9 where she called for a fight against economic inequality and to build “an America that works for everyone.” The candidate participated in two CNN town hall meetings earlier in the year.
At one of the meetings in March, she said she would back a plan to abolish the Electoral College and replace it with a system based on the national popular vote.
“My view is that every vote matters,” Warren said in Jackson, the state’s capital, in the middle of a three-day swing through the South. “And the way we can make that happen is that we can have national voting and that means get rid of the Electoral College—and every vote counts.”
