Sorry, Fox News, you can’t serve as the propaganda arm of the Donald Trump administration, spend almost every other minute demonizing Democrats and then claim that your network would be a great place to hold a Democratic presidential primary debate.

Although the Democrats shouldn’t have needed Jane Mayer’s New Yorker bombshell to push them definitively into deciding against holding a debate on Fox News, the decision was better late than never. Today’s Washington Post reported this statement from Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez:

“I believe that a key pathway to victory is to continue to expand our electorate and reach all voters,” said Perez in his statement to The Washington Post. “That is why I have made it a priority to talk to a broad array of potential media partners, including Fox News. Recent reporting in the New Yorker on the inappropriate relationship between President Trump, his administration and Fox News has led me to conclude that the network is not in a position to host a fair and neutral debate for our candidates. Therefore, Fox News will not serve as a media partner for the 2020 Democratic primary debates.”

Among other things, the New Yorker article reported that Fox News spiked a report on Trump’s hush money to Stormy Daniels before the election (the rest of us found out afterward) and that debate questions were fed to Trump in advance of its 2015 Republican primary debate.

As The Post noted, presidential debates are great vehicles for both prestige and ratings. So it’s not surprising that Fox News would try to put its best lipstick on its propaganda pig by groveling.

In a statement, Fox News Senior Vice President Bill Sammon said: “We hope the DNC will reconsider its decision to bar Chris Wallace, Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, all of whom embody the ultimate journalistic integrity and professionalism, from moderating a Democratic presidential debate. They’re the best debate team in the business and they offer candidates an important opportunity to make their case to the largest TV news audience in America, which includes many persuadable voters.”

There’s something really pathetic about a cable news network having to promise “ultimate journalistic integrity and professionalism,” as if that would not be a given. It all but acknowledges that top ratings-getter, prime time host, and Trump's unofficial chief of staff and Bedtime BFF Sean Hannity is something less than.

But even worse than the pro-Trump bias is the steady diet of demonizing Democrats. On Fox, Democrats are regularly smeared as dangerous enemies of America.

So, Fox News, you’ll have to do more than suggest nobody will ask the candidates why they hate America and love “illegals” so much or whether they support the Mueller “witch hunt” or if they’ll promise to re-open an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails during a debate. You’ll have to start displaying the same integrity and professionalism you promise on debate night even when it’s not so expedient. Because that’s when it really counts.

For a good example of why Democrats should never have considered Fox as an appropriate debate platform, watch Fox Business host Lou Dobbs get a friendly platform to accuse Democrats of “destroying a nation” as they “foam at the mouth and [have] blood drip from their fangs” below. It was part of the prime time Tucker Carlson Tonight show’s September 28, 2018 coverage of the Senate confirmation hearings of Brett Kavanaugh.

(Hannity image via screen grab)