CNN political analyst April Ryan will no longer be moderating a campaign event on Saturday for Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, backing out after she learned the event would be a fundraiser.
Ryan, who serves as White House correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks, was initially slated to moderate a "grassroots fundraiser event" in Washington, D.C, where tickets would cost as much as $500. But, she said in a Friday tweet, the campaign "was not clear that the venue would be a fundraiser."
I agreed to interview Pete Buttigieg this weekend – the campaign was not clear that the venue would be a fundraiser. We’ll be rescheduling the interview to a more appropriate time/place. Looking forward to asking him the tough questions the AURN audience wants answers to.
— AprilDRyan (@AprilDRyan) October 18, 2019
"We’ll be rescheduling the interview to a more appropriate time/place," Ryan tweeted. "Looking forward to asking him the tough questions the AURN audience wants answers to."
Prior to the tweet, a Buttigieg campaign spokesperson confirmed to the Hill that Ryan would not be paid for her time moderating the campaign event. Last month, Ryan thanked Buttigieg for inviting her to be his guest at the Congressional Black Caucus dinner in Washington, D.C.
"Thank you @PeteButtigieg for inviting me to be your guest at the CBC Dinner. The last time I was invited to the dinner by a presidential candidate was @barackobama. You know what happened after that!" she tweeted.
Thank you @PeteButtigieg for inviting me to be your guest at the CBC Dinner. The last time I was invited to the dinner by a presidential candidate was @barackobama. You know what happened after that! We also… https://t.co/ONias6pQg7
— AprilDRyan (@AprilDRyan) September 15, 2019
Ryan has been an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump and has used her antagonistic interactions with both former White House press secretaries Sean Spicer and Sarah Huckabee Sanders to land her role with CNN and as the basis of a book, published last year.