Welp. The DNC will not let Fox News host one of the 2020 primary debates:
they bothered to cite an article lol pic.twitter.com/mCoyBMmMde
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) March 6, 2019
DNC Chairman Tom Perez cited the new article out from the New Yorker which accused Fox News of spiking the Stormy Daniels hush-money story before the 2016 election:
In light of The New Yorker article from @JaneMayerNYer, @TomPerez has closed the door on the DNC giving Fox News a primary debate. https://t.co/SFETG3lH5z pic.twitter.com/RbJAPznnnz
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) March 6, 2019
Bret Baier’s response to Perez is PERFECT:
That’s really a shame. When it comes to fairness – our news product speaks for itself. We will continue to cover this 2020 race fairly & will continue to invite Democrats- Republicans & Independents on to talk about key issues & substance with our very large viewing audience https://t.co/z0TdftcVmz
— Bret Baier (@BretBaier) March 6, 2019
But it was always going to be problematic for Dems if Fox News got a debate:
I.e. if DNC gives Fox News a debate, it’s going to have a p.r. nightmare on their hands when candidates back out
— Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) March 5, 2019
Does anyone think it would have happened anyway?
<whispers> The DNC was never going to hold a debate on FNC.
— Drew McCoy (@_Drew_McCoy_) March 6, 2019
So much for “expanding the electorate”:
It's an interesting decision by the DNC. Perez says that he wants to expand the electorate and reach out to nontraditional voters. A debate on Fox certainly would be one way to do that. (And its not like the DNC didn't know where Fox was coming from before the New Yorker report) https://t.co/kwWImL73ZZ
— James Oliphant (@jamesoliphant) March 6, 2019
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And the best thing is it won’t even please the far-left. Here’s Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas who called out Perez not just for considering Fox News, but for refusing to let Dems have “small multi-candidate forums”:
1) What the hell is happening at the @DNC? Thanks to @TomPerez, not only is the Party considering giving Fox News a Democratic presidential primary debate, but it is refusing to allow allied groups to host small multi-candidate forums.
— Markos Moulitsas (@markos) March 5, 2019
2) Consider the absurdity of this—@TomPerez is more concerned about Fox News, than it is about the groups that will be helping Democrats win up and down the ballot. According to him, it's either all 20+ candidates on stage, or just ONE.
— Markos Moulitsas (@markos) March 5, 2019
3) If @NAACP wants to highlight black candidates on stage, @TomPerez says NO. If @emilyslist wants to feature female candidates, @TomPerez says NO. Why? he claims he's protecting "major campaigns" from having to do too many events. But no one is forcing campaigns to do anything.
— Markos Moulitsas (@markos) March 5, 2019
4) I've been asking around, and most campaigns would LOVE the extra free exposure! But @TomPerez is holding fast. Everyone is pointing fingers at @JoeBiden, and Perez' DNC is apparently intent on making the same mistakes they did limiting debates in 2016 on behalf of Clinton.
— Markos Moulitsas (@markos) March 5, 2019
5) I've asked DNC comms director @XochitlHinojosa multiple times—why is the @DNC more interested in giving Fox News a debate than to allow allied groups to host small candidate forums, and she can't even bother offer a response.
— Markos Moulitsas (@markos) March 5, 2019
6) DNC is happy to ask the @DailyKos community and other progressive allied groups for money and volunteers. But apparently because @JoeBiden wants to limit his exposure, they're going to shut down free exposure for every other campaign. But yeah, keep Fox News in the mix, right?
— Markos Moulitsas (@markos) March 5, 2019
Wow. Stacking the deck worked so well for Hillary Clinton in 2016. Why wouldn’t they try it for Joe Biden in 2020?
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