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Bernie Sanders will finish a four-day tour of Trump Country Monday with a city hall on Fox News, the president's favorite network.
This is an unexpected partnership between a self-proclaimed democratic socialist and a media that devotes an hour of prime time to experts who protest against a so-called "slide" of socialism.
The event will be held in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in Trump State won by less than 1%, and will be hosted by presenters Fox, Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.
Sanders is the first Democratic presidential candidate to appear on the network for this event. He says it's a way to speak directly to Trump's supporters, to argue that the president is a "pathological liar" who has misled the working class. Booking is also important for Fox News, which has been banned from holding a primary Democratic debate.
Among the Democrats, the reservation drew criticism. Progressive groups urge presidential candidates to boycott the network, whose comments in favor of Trump have led critics to compare it to an unofficial "public television channel".
"Fox News has become something, especially in the past year, which stands out and differs from a mere conservative outlet," said Angelo Carusone, president of Media Matters for America, a watchdog liberal. "It's functionally the same thing as political propaganda and continuing does more harm than good."
Carusone makes the distinction between brief appearances in television newscasts and the staging of events such as public meetings and debates, which require negotiations.
Refusing to join Fox News could force him to "change his behavior," he said. Media Matters has caused advertisers to abandon Fox shows when their hosts make offensive or controversial statements.
Last month, Media Matters released recordings of controversial statements made by Fox News host Tucker Carlson on the radio. At the same time, Fox was forced to distance himself from radio talk by presenter Jeanine Pirro, who asked whether Congressman Ilhan Omar wore a hijab as "antithetical to the American constitution". Some advertisers have withdrawn from the relevant programs.
"It's time to be accountable," said Carson. "Democrats really need to ask if, right now, they really want to give Fox News a lifeline."
Marianne Gambelli, president of Fox's advertising sales, said the network "recently had a very successful presentation, during which our advertisers were extremely pleased with our history and the value of our audience." She said the network was planning "no changes" for its ad sales this year.
Nicole Hemmer, Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia and author of Messengers of the Right: The Conservative Media and the Transformation of American Politics, said the relationship between Fox and Trump was both "unprecedented" and symbiotic. The changing directions, she said, could therefore cost Fox an important segment of its viewers.
She highlighted a period of the 2016 campaign during which Trump was in conflict with Fox, and especially with host Megyn Kelly. Breitbart then managed to convince Fox to become the center of "the right media ecosystem."
"We have seen in the past that Fox was going against the wishes of its base, but elsewhere," said Hemmer, who had previously told New Yorker Fox that "we were closer to the television d & # 39; State. "
"The very notion of truth"
Sanders has defended his appearance in front of the town hall, which will be broadcast at 18:30, ahead of the primetime programming of the network that attracts its largest audience.
In a recent interview with The Huffington Post, Sanders said, "When I talk about Fox, I'll say this:" Look, a lot of you voted for Donald Trump, but he lied to you. He told you that he was going to look after everyone. But his policy is to throw 30 million people on the health insurance they have … "
"How do you explain this to the people who voted for Trump if you do not talk to those who voted for Trump?"
Asked in the same interview when he thought the network was a "propaganda arm" of the White House, Sanders replied, "For most cases, I think so."
Distinguished between its journalists and its experts at prime time, which attracts most viewers, Fox News has aggressively defended its reporting operations.
Last month, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced that it would exclude Fox News from primary debate in the presidential election, fearing it would be "fair and neutral".
DNC President Tom Perez attributed this decision to an 11,000-word article in the New Yorker in which veteran journalist Jane Mayer described how the 2016 election transformed an information channel. favorable to conservatives in a "spokesperson" of the White House. made new details about the intimate relationship between Fox and the Trump administration.
This was followed by a six-month investigation by the New York Times into the media empire of Fox founder Rupert Murdoch, who, according to the Times, "helped elevate marginalized demagogues, foster Traditional ethno-nationalism and to politicize the very notion of truth ". three continents.
Fox hosts such as Carlson and Sean Hannity help shape and amplify Trump's political agenda. Hannity even joined the president on stage at a campaign rally to be hired as someone "with us from the beginning". Trump's inner circle is filled with Fox News alumni, including former leader Bill Shine, who oversaw Trump's communications team until it's over. goes to the reelection campaign.
Perez is scheduled to appear in the Fox's America press room on Monday. He said he has no problem with the Democrats going on the network. But he makes a distinction between appearances and sponsored debates.
"I go regularly to Fox News, just like other Democrats," Perez told the San Francisco Chronicle's political podcast. "We do not discourage anyone from doing the same thing. It is far from being the host of debates.
"High level journalists"
Last month, Fox held a forum with former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who is considering running for president as a freelancer. In 2016, he held public meetings with Sanders and Hillary Clinton. Network leaders said they hope Monday's town hall with Sanders and other candidates in the future along with other Democratic candidates will push the DNC to reconsider its debates.
In a statement, Bill Sammon, vice president and editor-in-chief of Fox News in Washington, said, "We are delighted that Senator Bernie Sanders and the DNC agree with Fox News that the Democratic candidates for the The presidency must engage directly with diverse audiences through city halls televised with top journalists Bret Baier, Martha MacCallum and Chris Wallace. "
Former Maryland Congressman John Delaney, the Democratic presidential nominee who appears most often on Fox, believes the network offers a "unique opportunity" to participate in an "Ideas Contest" with a conservative audience.
"The premise of my candidacy is that the country is divided and we have to reunite it again," he said. "You will not bring the country back again if you refuse to participate in Fox News."
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