Kamala Harris won’t participate in Fox News town hall: report

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, reportedly has no plans to appear on Fox News for a town hall hosted by the network.

Freelance journalist Yashar Ali, citing two sources familiar with the matter, reported in his newsletter on Wednesday that the California senator has no intention of going on the network. Her campaign has yet to inform Fox News of the decision, according to the report.

{mosads}An aide to Harris’s campaign told The Hill that the network has “reached out, but we haven’t entertained it.” Fox News did not immediately return a request for comment from The Hill. 

The news regarding Harris comes one day after fellow presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) blasted Fox News as a “hate-for-profit machine” while saying that she would never appear in a town hall hosted by the network. 

“I’ve done 57 media avails and 131 interviews, taking over 1,100 questions from press just since January,” Warren tweeted Tuesday. “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.” 

Warren’s decision came as the entire 2020 Democratic presidential field weighs the potential benefits of appearing on the conservative news network.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) appeared on a Fox News town hall in April that drew nearly 2.6 million viewers. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) followed suit by participating in one last week. 

South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) also have plans to participate in Fox News town halls. Buttigieg is scheduled to appear in one on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET. 

The candidates’ decisions to appear on the network came after the Democratic National Committee’s move to bar Fox News from hosting any of its 2020 presidential primary debates over a New Yorker report alleging an “inappropriate relationship” between the network and the Trump administration.

Multiple 2020 Democratic presidential candidates have condemned Fox News. But Sanders said in April that Democrats couldn’t completely dismiss the network considering the millions of viewers who tune in to its programs. 

“For better or for worse ― and it is for worse ― for whatever reason, you know, Fox has a huge viewing audience,” Sanders told HuffPost in an interview. “And to simply say that we’re not going to talk to millions of people who watch that network I don’t think is smart.”

–Updated Thursday, 11:56 a.m.