Elizabeth Warren Turns Down Fox News Town Hall, Blasts Network as ‘Hate-For-Profit Racket’
Elizabeth Warren is on the warpath against Fox News.
In a scathing Tuesday morning tweetstorm, the Massachusetts senator lit up Fox News — calling the network a “hate-for-profit racket” as part of a rant about why she is turning down an invite to appear at a town hall forum hosted by the network.
“Fox News has invited me to do a town hall, but I’m turning them down — here’s why,” Warren wrote. “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.”
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
Warren says she does not want to drive viewers to the network and help increase their profits.
“Fox News is welcome to come to my events just like any other outlet,” Warren wrote. “But a Fox News town hall adds money to the hate-for-profit machine. To which I say: hard pass.”
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’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
Warren’s stance is becoming something of an outlier in the 2020 field. Already, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) have done town halls on the network. And South Bend, IN Mayor Pete Buttigieg, will soon follow. Other candidates, meanwhile, have recently appeared on other Fox programs — including Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).
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