No Democrat Debates On Fox News Channel

New Yorker Illustration

The Democratic National Committee said Wednesday (March 6th) that Fox News won't be hosting any of its 2020 presidential primary debates.

Party chairman Tom Perez cited a New Yorker article from earlier this week about the cozy relationship between Fox News and its personalities and President Trump.

“Recent reporting in the New Yorker on the inappropriate relationship between President Trump, his administration and Fox News has led me to conclude that the network is not in a position to host a fair and neutral debate for our candidates,” DNC Chairman Tom Perez said in a statement provided to Reuters.

Perez had been considering choosing Fox to host a Democratic primary debate, although that had drawn criticism from some activists, having said it's important to expand the electorate and reach all voters.

Fox said it hoped Democrats would reconsider the decision.

Democrats just blocked @FoxNews from holding a debate. Good, then I think I’ll do the same thing with the Fake News Networks and the Radical Left Democrats in the General Election debates!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 7, 2019

After the DNC's decision was announced, Trump tweeted a threat to not participate in the general election debates on, quote, "the Fake News Networks."

Trump has criticized CNN and MSNBC, among other media, as “Fake News” for their coverage of his administration.

The DNC’s decision is a rerun of the 2016 primary election, when it turned down Fox’s multiple offers to host a debate, citing the network’s longstanding conservative bent and prominent criticism of Democratic policies. At that time a Democrat, Barack Obama, occupied the Oval Office.