Elizabeth Warren rejects Fox News town hall and calls the channel a "hate-for-profit racket"
Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren said Tuesday she is giving a "hard pass" to holding a town hall on Fox News, calling the channel "a hate-for-profit racket." Her decision comes after some other 2020 presidential contenders agreed to appear on the network, seeing it as an effective way to reach voters.
"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," Warren wrote in one of several tweets explaining her decision.
"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," she wrote.
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 added in other tweets, "Hate-for-profit works only if there's profit...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."
Fox News did not immediately return a request for comment from CBS News.
The Democratic National Committee announced earlier this year that it would not let Fox News host primary debates. The DNC said this decision came after a report in the New Yorker magazine revealed direct ties between Fox News and the Trump administration, which often receives glowing coverage on the network.
But that hasn't stopped some 2020 Democratic candidates from appearing on Fox News anyway, even if they have been critical of the channel.
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont drew more than 2.5 million viewers when he appeared on Fox News for a town hall in April, according to Nielsen data. That makes it the most-watched 2020 town hall so far on any network. Sanders said on "The Daily Show With Trevor Noah" that he wanted to talk directly with President Trump's supporters, and he distinguished the network itself from "the many millions of people" who watch it.
At least two other 2020 contenders — Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg — have agreed to hold town halls on Fox News.