The Democratic National Committee stands by its decision not to allow Fox News to host a Democratic primary debate in the 2020 presidential election, a party official told Cheddar on Thursday.
“Our role at the DNC is to make sure we have a fair process and we do not believe Fox News can have a fair debate,” the DNC communications director Xochitl Hinojosa said.
DNC Chairman Tom Perez announced the party’s decision earlier this week following a bombshell report from investigative journalist Jane Mayer in The New Yorker that outlined how Fox News’s coverage has moved far beyond its conservative bent and is now defined by the close relationship between President Trump and network executives. The report also cited sources who suggested that during the 2016 campaign, then-candidate Trump may been tipped off about some of the questions he would be asked during a Fox News-hosted debate.
“Fox has been both his shield and his sword,” Mayer writes. “The White House and Fox interact so seamlessly that it can be hard to determine, during a particular news cycle, which one is following the other’s lead.”
“Recent reporting has made it clear that we cannot rely on Fox to host a fair and neutral debate,” Perez said in a statement.
At the end of 2018, the DNC announced that 12 presidential primary debates will be held over the course of the 2020 election cycle, with six in 2019 and six in 2020.
Fox News urged the DNC to reconsider its decision. Fox reporters “embody the ultimate journalistic integrity and professionalism” and “offer candidates an important opportunity to make their case to the largest TV news audience in America,” the network's senior vice president, Bill Sammon, said in a statement.
Hinojosa added that the DNC’s concerns lie not with the reporters but with the network’s top brass. “If the top executives are in the pocket of Donald Trump, that is not a good thing and something that deeply concerns us. It is too much of a risk,” she said.
President Trump tweeted his thoughts on the decision:
Hinojosa acknowledged that Fox viewers are “an important audience” and people the DNC “needs to reach,” but urged candidates to go directly to them through other press events and campaign stops.
Yet, regarding the debates, “the damage is done,” Hinojosa said. “We have seen with Fox News that they have not been willing to be fair when it comes to their inappropriate behavior with Donald Trump.”
The first debate will be held in June 2019 and be hosted by NBC News, MSNBC, and Telemundo. CNN will host the second debate in July.
To accommodate the large number of primary candidates ー 14 and counting ー the summer debates have the option of taking place over two consecutive nights. The nightly lineups will be determined at random.
“My goal in this framework is to give the grassroots a bigger voice than ever before; to showcase our candidates on an array of media platforms; to present opportunity for vigorous discussion about issues, ideas and solutions; and to reach as many potential voters as possible,” Perez said in a statement.
During a joint press conference with Russian President Putin in Helsinki, Finland, Monday, President Trump refused to say whether he believed his own intelligence agencies about whether Russia interfered with the 2016 elections. The press conference drew criticism from Republicans and Democrats back at home.
These are the headlines you Need2Know:
*President Trump meets with Russian President Putin in Helsinki, Finland, days after the indictment of 12 Russian operatives for trying to disrupt the 2016 election.
*A federal judge blasts the HHS giving them one more week to reunite 2,000 families at the border after the administration missed the initial deadline.
*Protests erupted in Chicago over the weekend after a popular barber was shot and killed by the police.
*Novak Djokovic and Angelique Kerber won Wimbledon titles over the weekend. And France took home the World Cup.
Cheddar's Hope King gives us the details.
Before his private meeting with Russian President VladimirPutin, President Trump tweeted that the U.S.-Russia relationship has taken a hit because of the federal investigation into election interference, which Trump says is a "Rigged Witch Hunt!" Trump also labeled the EU as "foes" of the United States over the weekend, further alienating allies that he has been criticizing for the past week. Cheddar's J.D. Durkin brings us the latest from Helsinki, Finland.
President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin started their heavily scrutinized one-on-one meeting in Helsinki, Finland, on Monday. "[Putin] has been in power for a very long time, almost 20 years now, he is a former KGB officer, and he's not interested in playing nice," says Natalia Antonova, former editor of The Moscow News. The meeting comes just days after the U.S. Justice Department indicted 12 Russian military officers for trying to influence the 2016 presidential election. Before the meeting, Trump described the federal investigation as a "Rigged Witch Hunt!"
While the Trump baby blimp flew over London, tempers flared on the streets. Many of the same passions that help fuel Donald Trump's popularity in the U.S. are very much alive and well in the UK.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller's move Friday was the first time the probe has targeted the Russian government. The Russian-orchestrated conspiracy didn't, however, influence vote counts, says Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
The president denied that he criticized British Prime Minister Theresa May's handling of Brexit in an interview with The Sun newspaper, calling it "fake news." His comments come just a day after The Sun posted its recorded interview online. Trump and May held a joint press conference on Friday where they both confirmed that the UK and the U.S. would strike up a special trade deal after Brexit.
These are the headlines you Need2Know:
*President Trump is in England preparing for a joint news conference with Theresa May. While the duo dined last night, The Sun newspaper published a sit-down interview with the president where he criticized May’s handling of Brexit. Trump warned trade deals with England could be nixed if Brexit isn’t handled properly.
*FBI agent Peter Strzok was removed from working on the Hillary Clinton email probe and the Trump-Russia investigation after text messages were discovered in which he criticized the president.
*Stormy Daniels made an encore appearance at the same strip club she was arrested at the night prior.
*A Kansas City water park will not reopen after a 10-year-old boy died on a water slide.
*Serena Williams beat Julia Görges of Germany yesterday to reach her 10th Wimbledon final.
Cheddar Big News's Jill Wagner gives us the details.
President Trump, on his last day at the NATO summit in Brussels, declared that other members of the alliance had agreed to increase defense spending. Minutes later, however, French president Emmanuel Macron disputed those claims, saying that all members had committed to the previous spending target. Trump is now in London for his first visit to the British capital since winning the White House.
These are the headlines you Need2Know:
* Confusion at the NATO summit after President Trump said allies will add billions of dollars to defense spending. But French president Emmanuel Macron rebuffed those claims.
* Stormy Daniels was arrested after an alleged misdemeanor at a Columbus, Ohio, strip club. Her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, has also been working to reunite families at the southern border.
* The U.S. Senate voted yesterday on a non-binding resolution giving it a say on what tariffs are levied and against whom.
* New evidence prompted the Department of Justice reopened the case of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old boy who was killed in 1955 in Money, Miss.
* John Schnatter, founder and former CEO of Papa John’s, has resigned his chairman role after a racially-charged comment on a conference call.
* Americans made it to both the men’s and women’s Wimbledon semifinals, the first time since 2009.
Cheddar Big News' Jill Wagner tells us the latest.
