Presidential candidate Sen. Liz Warren (D., Mass.) announced Tuesday that she will refuse to participate in a town hall with Fox News, saying that it is a "hate-for-profit" organization is antithetical to her campaign.
"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 & death consequences, to provide cover for the corruption that's rotting our government and hollowing out our middle class," Warren said in a statement.
Warren explained that she believes her participation—or any 2020 Democratic candidate's participation—in a Fox News town hall will contribute to greater profits for the network she believes is a "hate-filled space."
"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. It's all about dragging in ad money—big ad money," Warren wrote. "Fox News is struggling as more & more advertisers pull out of their hate-filled space. A Democratic town hall 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)."
Warren stated that her absence will allow her supporters to "fight back" against Fox News.
"I won't ask millions of Democratic 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," she said.
Warren concluded that she is running a "campaign to reach all Americans," but not through Fox News.
"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," she wrote.
Several Democratic candidates have participated in town halls with Fox News, including South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.). The Democratic National Committee officially announced in March that it would not allow Fox to host Democratic primary debates.