The Fox News town hall with Bernie Sanders begins at 6:30 PM ET today. What do you all think about it? Share thoughts and observations before, during and after in our comments section.
I was somewhat ambivalent when I first posted about Sanders doing a town hall on Fox, on April 4:
I think it’s quite possible for him to do well though I hate to see him give undeserved cred to Fox News. My hope is he publicly recognizes the fact that the network is his electoral foe as much as Trump.
But since then, Fox has proven that it’s on a campaign to dangerously smear Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), with an eye toward using her to damage all Democrats, deliberately tried to scare viewers into thinking Democrats will destroy the country and more.
So why is Sanders doing an event that will give Fox News undeserved credibility and probably serve as fodder for attacking him after the fact? Sanders is currently leading or near the top of the pack of Democratic rivals. How many Democratic primary voters will he reach via this town hall? Why not wait until after he secures the nomination (if he secures the nomination) to go fishing for votes among Fox viewers?
As I said in my last post, I’m adamantly in favor of Democrats appearing on Fox but not in such a way as to give Fox undeserved prestige as a legitimate news operation. Sanders could easily do a series of interviews on Fox. I’m sure either or both of the town hall hosts, Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier, would host him on their shows. Why not go that route instead of taking part in a kabuki theater of public questions that Fox will almost surely script against him?
But since it’s all but a done deal, it’s my hope that Bernie will at least confront Fox News over the hate mongering and propaganda it spews and not just play along.
Unfortunately, my internet has been out all day (I’m writing and posting this from the library, which will close soon). I do not know when my service will be restored. But I will be watching and recording the event and hope to post about it either later tonight or tomorrow.
You can watch the Bernie Sanders town hall from 6:30-7:30 either on TV or online if you have the right television-provider subscription. If Fox News had any true public spirit, they’d make it available to all the public for free.
So share your thoughts below and I’ll catch you again later.
(Sanders image via screen grab)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4ozAACcc8I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSnxuzDm7C0