Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., became the second Democratic presidential contender to turn down a Fox News town hall.
The senator’s announcement comes a day after Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., announced she would not attend one either.
“They’ve reached out but we haven’t entertained it,” a spokesperson for the Harris campaign told a Huffington Post contributor.
Warren tweeted out Tuesday that she would not attend a town hall with Fox News because they are a “hate-for-profit racket.”
“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,” the senator said.
“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,” Warren said.
[Related: Backfire: ‘The View’ scorches Warren for ditching Fox News]
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
Harris and Warren are both front-runners in the more than 20-person race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. Warren is third in RealClearPolitics’ polling average at 8.3% support, and Harris is fourth with 7.7% support. They both trail Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden in the polls.
Sanders, South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, and New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand have all attended or scheduled Fox News town halls after the Democratic National Committee announced they would not host a Democratic debate saying the network is “not in a position” to hold a fair debate.
