In a series of succinct, perfectly-worded tweets, Sen. Elizabeth Warren explained why she will not be helping “hate-for-profit” Fox News draw in Democrats for the sake of higher ratings, legitimacy and ad dollars.
Apparently, Warren was invited to join some of her Democratic competitors in the presidential primary who see nothing wrong with doing a Fox News town hall. Without criticizing any other Democratic candidates, Warren laid down a serious marker.
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
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
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).
— 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
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.
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) May 14, 2019
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
Memo to Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Julián Castro, Rep. Eric Swalwell and Rep. Tim Ryan, each of whom have reportedly scheduled or are in the process of scheduling town halls: There’s still time to change your mind and withdraw.
Here's a NewsHounds round of applause for Warren:
(Warren image by Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons )
I frankly wish Warren had spoken like this rather than dignifying the nonsense attacks on her ethnicity earlier.