By MJ Lee, CNN
Sen. Elizabeth Warren announced Tuesday morning that she is rejecting an invitation from Fox News to participate in a town hall with the network, slamming the outlet as a “hate-for-profit racket that gives a megaphone to racists and conspiracists.”In a series of tweets, the Massachusetts Democrat said that what she sees as Fox News’ “hate-for-profit” model means that the network “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.”Fox News has already hosted Democratic Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota at town hall events this year. The network has also announced upcoming events with other White House hopefuls, including South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg and New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.Warren went on to say that a town hall featuring Democratic presidential candidates “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).””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,” Warren added. She did specify that journalists from the network are welcome to continue covering any of her campaign events.A spokesperson for Fox News did not immediately return a request for comment.[vemba-video id=”van/ns-acc/2019/05/13/PO-80MO_CNNA-ST1-10000000052bfcb1″]Asked whether this means Warren will boycott all Fox News appearances heading into the 2020 election, an aide to the senator told CNN that she currently has no plans to go on Fox’s air.”And we’re not giving them 60 minutes of her time for an exclusive major TV event so they can market it to their advertisers,” the aide said.According to the aide, Warren last appeared on Fox News in the spring of last year. The senator’s last few appearances on the network were alongside Senate colleagues to promote legislation, the aide said.Fox News has already hosted Democratic Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota at town hall events this year. The network has also announced upcoming events with other White House hopefuls, including South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg and New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.
