Politics & Government
Elizabeth Warren Takes 'Hard Pass' At 'Hate-For-Profit' Fox News
A fiery Warren went all-in on roasting Fox News in declining what she said was an invitation to appear on a town hall.
Elizabeth Warren, as Elizabeth Warren does, pulled no punches in declining a town hall invitation from Fox News. Calling the channel a "hate-for-profit racket that gives a megaphone to racists and conspiracists," Warren unleashed a series of tweets Tuesday morning explaining why she was taking a "hard pass" to the same opportunity other Democratic primary hopefuls jumped on.
Warren, the U.S. Senator from Massachusetts with an unapologetically sharp tongue, said that she has done more than 70 town halls this year, but she wouldn't take part in the one she said Fox News invited her to.
"... [Fox News is] 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," she tweeted.
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"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."
President Trump is among Fox News's most vocal supporters. Of course, Warren has been one of Trump's most vocal opponents.
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Fox News responded Tuesday afternoon, saying, "We will not be intimidated out of our journalistic mission with dangerous rhetoric by people in power like Ms. Warren and especially during a time when press freedoms are in danger. It’s a dangerous time to tell the truth in America."
Here's Warren's full tweetstorm from Tuesday morning:
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’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
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