Elizabeth Warren Says No To Fox News Town Hall

[still_one]

"Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) swill not participate in a town hall on Fox News, saying Wednesday that she turned down an invite to go on the conservative network.
“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 in a series of tweets. "


https://www.huffpost.com/entry/elizabeth-warren-fox-news-town-hall_n_5cdacf8ee4b0f7ba48ab6243

[NurseJackie]

1. Good for her!

[still_one]

2. I agree. Don't give them credibility.

[NurseJackie]

13. It also diminishes and tarnishes the candidate too.

I agree. Don't give them credibility.

It also diminishes and tarnishes the candidate too... in my eyes anyway.

[John Fante]

56. No, it does not.

Fox has more credibility than infowars, but not a lot more.

[NurseJackie]

57. I guess I just have higher standards and higher expectations.

[John Fante]

60. Than Elizabeth Warren? Yeah, you're not taken with yourself.

[NurseJackie]

61. No, why would you say that? Maybe you misunderstood...

No, why would you say that? Maybe you misunderstood, or perhaps I was unclear. I'm actually PRAISING Warren for snubbing Fox. Candidates who legitimize Fox only diminish and tarnish themselves.

Do you still think I'm "taken with" myself?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

3. Kudos

[titaniumsalute]

4. I wish she wouldn't hold back...

[George II]

5. I'm glad she stood up against them.

[barbtries]

6. good.

i don't think any democrats should give them air. i know my opinion is not shared universally, but that's it.

[katmondoo]

11. I like her even more now for refusing to appear on Fox.

[barbtries]

41. me too.

she's solidifying my support with each good decision. coming out in favor of impeachment made me switch on DU.

[TruckFump]

7. Good for Warren! EOM

[Moostache]

8. As if ANYONE watching that channel would EVER vote for her...

The audience on Fox would be yelling racist chants of "Pocahontas" and tomahawk chops the whole time and hear exactly ZERO that she has to say...

It is warmed over pap to insist that we need to 'reach out' to the Fox audience...fuck that, the only reaching towards them I would do would be an extended middle finger and a "fuck you very much".

[CaliforniaPeggy]

14. Are you aware that Mayor Pete did go on that channel?

He says and I think correctly, that a great many voters watch that channel and that we should not ignore them. They are also part of the electorate and he wants them to hear what he has to say to them, and about them.

I agree with him.

[a kennedy]

36. Amy K did as well......I thought she did a good job too.

[Moostache]

37. I did note that Mayor Pete appeared on Fox...

I have also noted an overall softening of his support and a stall in the meteoric rise he was on prior to that appearance. I don't want to lay the entire blame for that at the feet of his appearance on Fox, but I don't think it helped him any either...

(Joe Biden's entry into the field also was aligned with Pete's Fox appearance, so obviously there was an 800-lb gorilla in the room that was contributing majorly...)

My point is more along the lines that it is folly to believe the hardcore Fox news viewer is open to voting for a minority candidate - racial or sexual preference, a female candidate, or any other diverse candidate not named Trump or carrying the magic (R) behind their name. They are watching purely for sport and to hope that the audience or moderator "owns the lib" or backs them into a gaffe.

Our candidates on their preferred network allows that very network to reinforce the idea (patently false idea) that Fox News is really "fair and balanced". It also provides weeks worth of video clips for Hannity and Ingraham and the rest of their ghouls to pour over and slant.

Its not a zero sum game over there, its a rigged game that benefits them more than our candidates.

[Catch2.2]

45. I agree

I think it's a mistake to ignore Fox viewers. I believe you have to give an alternative to the crap that Fox spews. If you don't give an alternative, they will just believe Fox because that's all they are exposed to.

[thesquanderer]

38. Not all Fox viewers like Trump.

But I'd grant that they are unlikely to like Warren.

I happen to know one Fox viewer who told me she would vote for Biden over Trump. She seems to also be open to Sanders, but not Warren.

[Ninga]

9. Fox-News-Two-Facing their way into voters homes. Spot on Sen Warren!

So the anchors who conduct the Town Hall are not crazy Prime Time Hannity, Laura whatshername, Piro and bow tie monstrosity...

Fox gives with one hand and takes back with many.

[Mike Nelson]

10. This is not a...

… game-changer, for me, but I like how she jumps out and makes herself different from others. She's done this a few times and I hope she gets some traction in New Hampshire and does well in the debates.

[brush]

12. Woohoo! Way to go, Liz. She's coming up big in my book by not biting her tongue...

about the racist, divisive stinkhole that is FOX.

[Progressive dog]

15. Thank you to Sen. Warren

[CaptainTruth]

16. Considering how well the other town halls have gone, I disagree with her decision.

The other Dem candidates were well received at their town halls, they didn't turn into hate fests.

And yes, we can condemn the racist/conspiracy conduct of Fox while still holding a town hall for the benefit of folks who will watch & listen to what a Dem candidate has to say, but aren't going to change the channel to MSNBC. It's one way to start countering their Fox brainwashing.

[Hoyt]

17. Personally, I wish she'd lay out her viewpoint and say Hate-for-Profit on Fox. Otherwise, it's just

playing to the choir.

[CrispyQ]

18. "Hate-for-profit." Nice framing, Senator!

[SidDithers]

19. Excellent...

No respect for anyone who goes on Fox.

Sid

[SCVDem]

35. How about Adam Schiff?

Bill Maher urged him for those reasons and he did it.

[Politicub]

20. Smart, strategic move. While some candidates change their positions in the direction...

that the wind blows, Warren leads and stays true to her values.

I appreciate and admire that.

[delisen]

21. Warren is taking her message directly to Trump voters-impressive

[Qutzupalotl]

22. I don't disagree, but how else can we reach them?

I know not all are reachable.

When Buttigieg went on, he impressed a lot of Fox viewers. A Warren appearance would help them see beyond the “Pocahontas” smear and maybe find some issues of agreement.

She is correct that Fox News is a hate racket. But she had an opportunity to show their viewers a better way, and instead signals an unwillingness to engage, which is not in fact the case.

I love Warren, always have, I would be thrilled to vote for her in the general, but I think this is a mistake. While this is a principled stand, it would be better to go on Fox and tell their viewers directly that they’re being fed propaganda.

[Maven]

24. You can reach all kinds of voters without legitimizing a propaganda network

Warren is 100% right on this.

[Maven]

23. GOOD. I'm still all-in for Sen. Harris but I have to say Sen. Warren is REALLY impressing me

She just keeps being right all the time and she does NOT mince words.

[crazytown]

34. What's a Dem to do?

Let me quote Mayor Pete

Politics, at it's best, is being who you are in the cause of what you believe. Every time we try to do something else, we regret it. Every time we have psyched ourselves out by trying to focus on electability rather than what we thought was right for the country, we wound up getting neither.

Let's have a conversation about where America needs to go, not just in this election, but in the next era ... And let's put forward real human beings, and challenge voters and challenge our neighbors to judge us based on what we have to offer them - not based on some complex of prejudices that not only we, but also they, would be better off without.

[saidsimplesimon]

25. Thank you, Senator Warren

She has been on my short list since she announced. Everyday delivery of verbal gems keeps my attention.

[HopeAgain]

26. Bravo!

She gets it... others have been lending legitimacy to Fox by appearing on their channel.

[stonecutter357]

27. fox is not a legitimate news source .

[.99center]

28. Sen. Elizabeth Warren's full statement

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...

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.

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.

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).

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.

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

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.

Link to tweet

[ehrnst]

29. Good on Liz! (nt)

[Kurt V.]

30. K&R

[Tactical Peek]

31. This is a good day to kick in for a fundraising spike.

Link to tweet

https://my.elizabethwarren.com/page/s/ew-nofoxnews-om?source=WFP2019-LB-TW-NAT&subsource=WFP-DEMO-18

[jcgoldie]

32. Liz tells it like it is

Gloves are off.

[Kahuna7]

33. It didn't seem to help Bernie Sanders. nt

[thesquanderer]

39. How do you know? (n/t)

[Kahuna7]

40. His polls went down afterwards. They went down a lot. That's how I know!!!...

[thesquanderer]

48. That's not true.

Emerson poll for Trump vs. Sanders had Sander at +3 before Sander's town hall on Fox, and it went UP to +8 after. (Emerson has the only poll on that race taken shortly before the town hall and again more recently.)

It is true that his numbers for the Dem nomination have gone down. But I'll say three things about that:

* Dropping numbers would not be evidence that his appearance on Fox didn't help him... who knows, maybe they would have dropped more if he hadn't done the town hall. Because...

* ... the biggest factor in his drop was probably Biden entering the race. And even then...

* ... the biggest potential benefit of appealing to some Fox viewers isn't going to be climbing in polls of Democratic primary voters, because most Fox viewers can't vote in most Democratic primaries (though certainly some can, particularly in states with open primaries). The real benefit would be to make these Fox viewers more open to vote for this candidate if s/he ends up opposing Trump in November 2020. Which brings me back to the first thing I said in this post... that's the matchup that counts most when addressing a Fox viewer. So Sanders' appearance on Fox may indeed have been quite beneficial in that context. Though since Biden is more likely to be the nominee, I hope Biden will appear on Fox. I think it's where we can reach some potential WI/PA/MI persuadable voters.

Related thought: When polling outfits poll on who's ahead for the Democratic nomination, they poll Democratic voters and Dem-leaning independents. They probably poll few Fox viewers. But if a candidate's appearance on Fox persuades someone to vote for him/her in an open primary, that candidate will be helped, and that potential voter is probably never accounted for in the polls because they are not the target group who gets polled, so you may be less likely to see a bump in Dem-specific polls from a Fox appearance. And I suspect that, in states with crossover voting, we'll see more Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (read: Fox viewers) than usual voting in Dem primaries, because with Trump basically having a lock on the Republican nomination, Republicans may well vote in a Dem primary. Trump fans may vote for who they think is easiest to beat, but there are many Republicans who are disillusioned with (or who never liked) Trump, and may well look for a Dem they would prefer to vote for.

[Kahuna7]

50. It is true. Go bother someone else. I'm not in the mood. nt

[thesquanderer]

55. I didn't make up the poll numbers.

I should have provided the link, it's

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2020/president/us/general_election_trump_vs_sanders-6250.html

So you can see for yourself if you're so inclined.

As for the rest, I was under the impression this was a discussion board. If you don't want to engage, simply don't.

[KPN]

42. EW rocks! She's now my front-runner, but still looking at a few others

[Thekaspervote]

43. They will take those interviews out of context at a later date and use it against them

NO one should go on fux news!!

[sdfernando]

44. Don't mince words Liz, tell us what you really think! /nt

[ismnotwasm]

46. Good for her!

Fox News is disgusting

[La Coliniere]

47. Agreed!

Liz makes very solid points again and I do agree with her on her stance. Hate for profit, so true. Warren has been my first choice for a few weeks now. Go get'em Ms. Warren!

[ms liberty]

49. Good for her. What an impressive woman she is. K&R. n/t

[rainin]

51. That's what leadership looks like.

Lead with your principles, then build consensus.

[.99center]

52. Here's a thread that gives a bit more context to the Fox News advertiser issues that Warren referenc

Link to tweet

[mountain grammy]

53. I don't mind that other candidates will do Fox

but I applaud Warren for her stand and I agree with her.

[Ferrets are Cool]

54. Great news

[Cha]

58. +1 for Elizabeth!

She's right.

[crazytown]

59. +1

[sheshe2]

62. The time I met her...

She was making the rounds stumping for Edward Markey's senate run. She was stopping at all his campaign offices. When she got there the press was waiting for her and I got a great picture of her with Fox News shoving a microphone in her face. She didn't back down!

I love my Senator Warren. She persisted.

Thanks, still_one. Cool!

[still_one]

63. She is quite remarkable

[cynatnite]

64. I wouldn't mind seeing her or any other Dem talking some truth to power on their network....

The viewers should hear the unvarnished truth about how they're manipulated and lied to, that Fox is nothing more than a propaganda network for tRump.

I get her reasons for not appearing. It makes sense. But a part of me wants to see Warren or someone else tell it like it is on one of their shows live.

[samplegirl]

65. She's my girl

I’ve always liked her!!