Brzezinski urges Warren to do Fox News town hall: Candidates should be able to ‘walk into any fire’

MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski on Wednesday urged Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) to agree to a Fox News town hall after the 2020 presidential hopeful turned the network down.

 

The “Morning Joe” co-host argued that a candidate “should be able to walk into any situation, walk into any fire” and answer questions if they hope to be elected.

The comment comes the day after Warren publicly declined a Fox News town hall invitation while calling the network a “hate-for-profit racket.”   

“I think just because there are a bunch of good journalists who work there doesn’t erase what’s going on there, which one could argue is exactly as Elizabeth Warren describes it: A direct connection from a corrupt president who is a racist, to megaphones, to people who parrot it, like a bunch of dupes,” Brzezinski said. “That does happen on Fox, that is clear.”

{mosads}“But I would argue that a presidential candidate should be able to walk into any situation, walk into any fire, and have the confidence and the ability to put it out by spreading the democratic values and his or her beliefs,” she continued. “And I think they should go into Fox and do all the town halls they can do because Fox, you could argue, is smart to be doing these.

 

“That is a sign of some sort of change, hopefully, or at least an opportunity for it.”  

Brzezinski co-host and husband Joe Scarborough made a similar argument earlier in the segment, saying that Warren should go on the network to try and “reach out to swing voters.”  

 

Warren’s denouncement of Fox News follows some of her 2020 competitors flocking to the network in an effort to appeal to Fox News viewers. Last month, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was featured in a live event from Bethlehem, Pa., that drew nearly 2.6 million viewers, making it the most-watched town hall of the year. 
 
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) appeared in a Fox town hall last week, drawing 1.6 million total viewers, making it the third-most watched town hall. 

And South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) will appear in a Fox News town hall on Sunday, while Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) will be featured on June 2. 

 

The Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, House Democrats’ official messaging arm, is also encouraging members to appear on Fox News, saying it “would be a mistake for House Democrats to write it off.” The moves come after the Democratic National Committee said it would not let the network host a Democratic presidential primary debate due to reported close ties between Fox News and the Trump administration. 

But Warren’s move to decline a town hall invite bucks the growing trend in her party. Shortly after announcing her decision via Twitter on Tuesday, she sent out a fundraising email to supporters, doubling down on her criticism of the network.

“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,” Warren wrote in the email.

“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,” she added.