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Hillary Clinton Refuses Fox News Debate With Bernie Sanders

By Nick Younker
Published on: 17:40 PST, May 23, 2016

The proposed Fox News debate between the two main contenders for the Democratic nominee is not likely to happen now that frontrunner Hillary Clinton has turned down an invitation from Fox News to participate in it.

Fox News is no stranger to controversy when it comes to partisan politics, especially given that they so outwardly favor the GOP or any other conservative affiliated nominee for office. But when Fox News proposed to host the last Democratic debate, the first one that got on board with it was Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Unfortunately, he was also the only one to agree to the Fox News debate.

News broke Monday that Hillary Clinton and her campaign has officially turned down the offer from Fox News to participate in a debate on their network, which is typically a right leaning network that many consider to report news that is uninformed and typically laced with propaganda. But in hindsight, their main cable news competitor also does the same thing with Democrats, so that might just level out the playing field.

But for Clinton to turn down a debate on the Fox News network, that has some wondering if she will follow through with the last debate that she had previously said she would do.

Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton Campaign Communications Director, released a statement on the Fox News invitation yesterday.

“We have declined Fox News’ invitation to participate in a debate in California. As we have said previously, we plan to compete hard in the remaining primary states, particularly California, while turning our attention to the threat a Donald Trump presidency poses,” Palmieri’s statement said. “We believe that Hillary Clinton’s time is best spent campaigning and meeting directly with voters across California and preparing for a general election campaign that will ensure the White House remains in Democratic hands.”

Bill Sammon, Fox News VP and Washington Bureau Managing Editor, also replied to Clinton’s response with a statement of his own that was to be expected for the typically conservative news organization.

“Naturally, Fox News is disappointed that Secretary Clinton has declined our debate invitation, especially given that the race is still contested and she had previously agreed to a final debate before the California primary,” Sammon’s statement read.

But the real news of the night was with what Bernie Sanders had to say about Hillary Clinton turning down the Fox News debate. He also released a statement on the matter.

“The state of California and the United States face some enormous crises. Democracy, and respect for the voters of California, would suggest that there should be a vigorous debate in which the voters may determine whose ideas they support,” Sanders said in his statement. “I hope Secretary Clinton reconsiders her unfortunate decision to back away from her commitment to debate. I also would suggest that Secretary Clinton may want to be not quite so presumptuous about thinking that she is a certain winner. In the last several weeks, the people of Indiana, West Virginia and Oregon have suggested otherwise.”

Bernie Sanders has long been an outspoken opponent of the type of information disseminated on Fox News. But he also seemed to be really enthusiastic about going on Fox News for a debate with Hillary Clinton. Although both candidates would likely be in the lion’s den, they would have had a chance to really voice their opinions to an audience that does not usually listen to them on a daily basis.

There has been no other word yet if the Fox News debate was the only one that was scheduled to take place before the California primary, nor if there will even be another debate before the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia this summer.

[AP Photo/Carlos Osorio]

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