Buttigieg condemns ‘voices on Fox’ for spreading ‘fear’ and ‘lies’ ahead of town hall appearance

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg (D) condemned Fox News opinion hosts who “spread fear and lies” while explaining why he is appearing on the network for a town hall Sunday night. 

“There’s been a lot of debate recently about whether Democratic presidential candidates should go on Fox News,” the South Bend, Ind. mayor said in an email released by his campaign late Saturday. “First, let me be clear: I strongly condemn the voices on Fox and in the media that uncritically amplify hate and the divisive sort of politics that gave rise to this presidency.”

{mosads}Buttigieg is scheduled to appear in a Fox News town hall moderated by anchor Chris Wallace on Sunday at 7 p.m. Buttigieg said that he had pledged to appear on the network because of the opportunity to promote his message to millions of viewers who likely have different policy opinions than him. 

“Just because many of these opinion hosts don’t operate in good faith, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t Fox viewers tuning in in good faith,” Buttigieg said in the email. “If we ignore the viewers of Fox News and every news platform that doesn’t share our worldview, we will surrender our ability to speak directly to millions of American voters. If we don’t show up, the conservative media will tell our side of the story for us.”

Fox News had not issued a comment on Buttigieg’s remarks as of Sunday morning. 

The comments from Buttigieg came as several 2020 Democratic presidential candidates weigh the potential benefits of appearing on the conservative-friendly network. 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) last week knocked Fox News as a “hate-for-profit machine” while saying that she would never appear in a town hall hosted by it. 

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) reportedly has no plans of appearing on the network for a town hall either. An aide to Harris’s campaign told The Hill that the network has “reached out, but we haven’t entertained it.” 

But many 2020 candidates have taken a different stance on the issue. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) have already appeared in town halls on the network. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) also has plans to participate in one.