It was announced that Fox News will televise a Town Hall meeting with Bernie Sanders on Monday, March 7th, in Detroit a day before the primary in Michigan. Fox News had noted that they invited Clinton who declined the last minute non-DNC sponsored event.
What is so bizarre is that a Democratic debate is scheduled in Flint, MI on Sunday March 6th, just two days before the Michigan primary. So why is Sanders and Fox News working together for this questionable out-of-the-blue Town Hall when they just debated in Michigan the day prior? It feels sleazy for Sanders to work together with Fox News for this event. Hopefully, this is not what we will expect going forward in the primary.
*Update* the wheels have come off the wagon, via the Washington Post
Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs said there had also been discussions about having Republican front-runner Donald Trump appear at the same forum, an idea Sanders welcomed. Sanders has long said he would like for there to be debates in which candidates from both parties participate.
Maybe they could talk penis size. The Sanders campaign seems to be losing control.
*Update II*
Clinton will now be participating in the Town Hall event. It’s politics, Sanders’ move to work with Fox News for free advertising a day before the primary. Fox News could not get Clinton to come to the program for two years, seems like they both played each other well. Maybe Michael Briggs could shed some light to the Trump, what did he say?
I think you’re reaching.
He’s behind and will take free, incredibly broad media coverage. Tough to blame him for that. Clinton is choosing not to (she does not appear to have any public events scheduled for that night). Just because they had a debate doesn’t mean that they should forgo more discussion (a debate is also scheduled for that Wednesday). Nothing about that seems nefarious. It’ll only be sleazy if Sanders indulges in attacking on the email issue for an hour, but there’s no indication he’s interested in that.
Fox News has asked for debates but been rejected by the DNC.
You can and should blame him and there is nothing misleading about the headline. Pretend you are in real-life for a second, Fox News has a last minute offer without negating with the party, obviously the candidates would say no. But not Sanders, his quote on Chris Wallace’s show:
He’s already guilty by accepting. This whole thing stinks to high heaven.
Now you add this ….
There is something very, very wrong with this guy.
Here’s the video of the Chris Wallace interview.
It is very clear he is responding to a question about a debate. He says that he would not have a problem with a Fox News debate as long as the rules were understand and fair and the DNC sanctioned it.
The event on Monday is a town hall, not a debate. If you can find some evidence that it was intended to be a debate and Sanders agreed to a debate, I’ll concede that he went back on his word from what he told Chris Wallace about the need for the DNC to sanction (although he never said no to Fox News like the DNC has). I can only find evidence that this is a town hall. Town halls and debates are quite different.
As far as the second quote, the last sentence is the key one. Sanders has been in favor of cross-party discussions. He’s said that for a long time. I’m not sure how that statement changes anything.
I don’t see much to come to a conclusion that Sanders is teaming with Fox News to create an hour-long Clinton attack show.
pretend all you like, but it’s specifically against Clinton.
That seems overly paranoid.
We all know how this town hall is going to go down. 45 minutes on income inequality and a rigged economic and political system and then a few obvious attacks on Hillary’s ties to Wall Street and being a hawk. If Bret Baier baits Sanders into talking about Beghazi or the emails, I will be shocked (and also disappointed in Sanders).
Democrats shouldn’t be scared of Fox News. They should happily go on there (except for maybe the obnoxious Hannity type shows) and bring their message. Dems can’t be afraid to make their case on someone else’s turf.
this is an obvious end-around for free publicity for Sanders. Part of Fox News attack on Clinton. It is painfully obvious, Sanders and his campaign are Fox’s tool. Sorry if you don’t like it, but it is what it is.
And the content is rubbish. Sure, I’m a Sanders voter but I’ve gone after his supporters here who are dishonest or intemperate in their criticism of Secretary Clinton and the same is happening here. He choose to do a forum, nothing dishonest about that. Clinton could’ve participated and choose not to, that choice is hers alone and not part of some vast right and left wing conspiracy to discredit her.
This is classic politics. Sanders was slimy, I know he’s your candidate but it was a slimy move. It’s funny now we see the Trump effect with Sanders, he can do no wrong. If anyone points out anything, you move to vote down, yell down. It’s funny.
What’s slimy about attending a forum you were invited to, particularly with Clinton also in attendance? You doth protest too much.
Dems had normally said no to Fox News, Sanders decided to work with Fox. But it does seem like Fox got what they wanted, and it’s Clinton and Sanders gave her to them on a silver platter.
will you, we’ll see how Fox lines up for questions. But can I come back here if the questions relate to Benghazi and alike.
Hillary’s coming too.
Carry on, Governor.
This conspiracy is even bigger than was originally reported. Even Hillary is participating! LOL
No conspiracy. Fox is “Fair and Balanced” after all and are fine with the DNC so they haven’t had a debate in decades, but that was just dumb luck. Thanks for you astute reasoning.
When you wrote this upthread
you made it clear you think it is a conspiracy to nail HRC.
As I noted, Fox is the most watched network in the US, especially by the voters that Dems need to attract. Porcu puts a little sharper but accurate edge on it down thread.
enough already.
Yes, Fox is the most watched network. Not sure how that relates to you other comments. But that is true.
I didn’t watch the recent Fox News Republican debate but Josh Marshall’s reporting on Talking Points Memo indicates that it was the very opposite of fair and balanced. In asking Trump to defend various of his positions, Fox helpfully provided elaborate graphic representations to bring home to viewers that Trump’s arithmetic didn’t add up. Neither Cruz nor Rubio are blessed with reality-based approaches to taxation, healthcare, or foreign affairs but Fox did not see to it to hold their positions up to carefully prepared refutation.
One can only imagine how they’d handle having a Democrat in a debate.
And Cruz thinks Fox is unfair to him. There was a very testy interview of Cruz by Chris Wallace (it is comical to see Cruz whine) who called him out on dishonest campaign tactics. See this right wing interpretation along with the video of the interview:
http://therightscoop.com/ted-cruz-calls-out-fox-news-for-going-easy-on-trump-full-interview/
I think we have all long known that Fox is not serious journalism and that they are unfair to everyone this year, whereas in the past they were unfair to Dems and progressives. Their news room probably reflects the schisms among the GOP and conservatives, which BTW are no longer synonymous groups.
I think Sanders and HRC know they are going to get hammered by the host(s) but since they are both more civil than Trump, Cruz and now Rubio, it won’t be so nasty as the last GOP debate. We can all thank Debby Wasserman Schultz for f-ing up the Dem debate schedule and forcing Sanders and HRC into accepting every opportunity to appear on the national tv screen, even in a place as distasteful as Fox, lest they be ignored by the voting public.
The largest group of voters in the US are independents and are not easily reached by the old methods. If the Dems are not on the tube, in particular the nation’s most watched tv outlet, then neither gets their message out.
Since I mentioned DSW, let me give another shout out to her for co-sponsoring an effort to gut Sen Warren’s CFSB. There are many reasons why people are leaving the Dem Party and people like her are one of them.
I think it was the Medicaid question? I can’t recall a debate moderator ever countering a candidate with a ready-made chart.
In fact, Candy Crowley got raked over the coals for merely confirming that President Obama said what he said. (That reads funny — anyway Obama was referring to a comment he made on a certain day, Romney disputed it, Crowley said, “Yes, the President said that,” and Republicans went nuts because she was “taking sides.”)
Fox did exactly what I was hoping networks would do all along rather than allow the national partisan committees to hold the debate/forum opportunities hostage. They offered to host a town hall and invited both candidates. It sounds like originally Sanders accepted and Clinton declined, but that is their prerogative. If I were a candidate I’d take any opportunity for exposure too. I really do think the diarist sees a conspiracy where none exists on this one.
if it has to be repeated several times. You are trolling. It is very clear in my comments.
You’ve downrate nearly everyone who commented and an even number of Clinton and Sanders supporters came to the reasonable conclusion this wasn’t a big deal. Having watched the forum, I came away impressed with both candidates answers and happy the Fox audience got exposed to a rational debate at least once this election.
Maybe you didn’t use the word conspiracy, but that definitely sounded like what you were suggesting. You did say work together.
when you just keep repeating ….
…is that you simultaneously whine about how working class people have suddenly become immune to your blandishments, vote against their interests, etc., and we need to win them back to the True Cause, and agonize about how to reach out to them.
But you won’t appear on the largest cable news network becasue they are too icky. And you don’t even pretend to see that Fox is what the very people you are chasing watch, and it might be a way to reach out tho them.
Because they aren’t going to be checking your analyses in Mother Jones anytime soon.
On one hand, I have long advocated that anyone who dabbles in public policy, and certainly any elected official, should be wiling to appear anywhere, answer any question, etc.
But I can only get so worked up over Democrats who draw the line at Fox. Yes, Fox is occasionally critical of Republicans, but it is not even remotely fair to Democrats.
I suppose you’ll say that “We have the rest,” but we don’t.
the media. As you point out, it’s most often Republicans who voice this. We’ll see how it appears in the general. If it’s Clinton vs. Trump I bet most people tune the media out due to exhaustion.
Not that any of you will.
Sanders just finished up a solid half hour, no gotcha questions, no name calling, cheers from the audience, time to finish what he is saying and explain in depth….
THE HORROR!!!
I still have it on but Hillary is muted as I type…waving and pointing a lot…silence is charming…
The Fox audience got exposed to a debate about the size of government rather than the size of…well this is a family site
Here’w the Transcript and Video
This was one of my favorites, go FOX!
Clinton on the other hand, Libya and email servers:
4 questions and/or back on forth on Libya
9 questions and/or back and forth on the email server
Fox was just lining them up …