The Democratic National Committee announced Wednesday that it would not allow Fox News to host any 2020 Democratic presidential primary debates, citing the network's close relationship with the Trump administration. "Recent reporting in the New Yorker on the inappropriate relationship between President Trump, his administration and Fox News has led me to conclude that the network is not in a position to host a fair and neutral debate for our candidates," DNC chair Tom Perez said in a statement. "Therefore, Fox News will not serve as a media partner for the 2020 Democratic primary debates." The New Yorker reported this week that the network may have tipped Trump off about a tough question from Megyn Kelly, then with Fox, during the 2016 debates, and had quashed a story about Trump allegedly having an affair with porn star Stormy Daniels before the election because Fox owner Rupert Murdoch "wants Donald Trump to win." Kelly, who recently left NBC News, has said she does not believe Trump was warned about the question, and former Fox News digital editor Ken LaCorte has tweeted that he killed the Daniels story because it was "nowhere near publishable." The article also revived earlier reports that Trump speaks to Fox News personality Sean Hannity on an almost daily basis. Trump has done more interviews with Hannity than anyone else as president, and even pulled Hannity on stage at a rally in Missouri in November. Perez said he believes "a key pathway to victory is to continue to expand our electorate and reach all voters," which is why he'd been negotiating with the network, but the report had helped him decide that Fox should not host a debate. In a statement, Fox News Senior Vice President Bill Sammon said he hoped the DNC would reconsider, and noted some of the network's most highly regarded journalists would be the moderators. "We hope the DNC will reconsider its decision to bar Chris Wallace, Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, all of whom embody the ultimate journalistic integrity and professionalism, from moderating a Democratic presidential debate," Sammon said. "They’re the best debate team in the business and they offer candidates an important opportunity to make their case to the largest TV news audience in America, which includes many persuadable voters." The DNC announced last month that NBC News, MSNBC and Telemundo will host the first 2020 presidential primary debate in June. The debate could be held over two consecutive nights in prime time, given the anticipated size of the field.<doc-sep>“I believe that a key pathway to victory is to continue to expand our electorate and reach all voters,” said Perez in his statement to The Washington Post. “That is why I have made it a priority to talk to a broad array of potential media partners, including Fox News. Recent reporting in the New Yorker on the inappropriate relationship between President Trump, his administration and Fox News has led me to conclude that the network is not in a position to host a fair and neutral debate for our candidates. Therefore, Fox News will not serve as a media partner for the 2020 Democratic primary debates.”<doc-sep>Moderators (Lto R) Bret Baier, Megyn Kelly and Chris Wallace are introduced at the Republican presidential debate sponsored by Fox News at the Fox Theatre on March 3, 2016 in Detroit, Michigan. Voters in Michigan will go to the polls March 8 for the State's primary. The Democratic National Committee announced on Wednesday that Fox News will not host any of its presidential primary debates in the 2019-2020 cycle, citing a recent article in The New Yorker that characterized the outlet as an agent of the White House. "Recent reporting in the New Yorker on the inappropriate relationship between President Trump, his administration and FOX News has led me to conclude that the network is not in a position to host a fair and neutral debate for our candidates," DNC Chairman Tom Perez said in a statement. "Therefore, FOX News will not serve as a media partner for the 2020 Democratic primary debates." The network has not hosted a Democratic presidential debate in more than 15 years, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The network reportedly made an offer to do so for this cycle. Fox News said it hopes the DNC will reconsider. "We hope the DNC will reconsider its decision to bar Chris Wallace, Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, all of whom embody the ultimate journalistic integrity and professionalism, from moderating a Democratic presidential debate," Fox News said in a statement. "They're the best debate team in the business and they offer candidates an important opportunity to make their case to the largest TV news audience in America, which includes many persuadable voters," Fox said. The DNC has so far announced 12 televised debates, which will begin in June. MSNBC, NBC News and Telemundo will host the first debate, the DNC has said. CNN will host the second debate, in July. Prominent conservatives, including several Fox News hosts, have urged the DNC to award the channel a debate. Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of MSNBC, NBC, Telemundo and CNBC.<doc-sep>WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump fired back at the Democratic National Committee on Wednesday hours after Fox News was barred from hosting any of the Democratic debates ahead of the 2020 presidential election. Trump, in a tweet, suggested that in return he might halt other networks that have drawn his ire from hosting his debates. “Democrats just blocked @FoxNews from holding a debate. Good, then I think I’ll do the same thing with the Fake News Networks and the Radical Left Democrats in the General Election debates!” the president posted on Twitter. He did not elaborate on what networks he meant by “fake news networks” but has constantly targeted a variety of news companies, most notably CNN. Earlier Wednesday, DNC Chairman Tom Perez, in his reasoning for barring Fox News, cited a recent New Yorker story that presented a cozy relationship between Fox News and the Trump administration, saying the relationship between the two posed an issue with the network hosting a "fair and neutral debate." "We win by expanding our electorate and reaching all voters. That's why we've been engaged with media outlets about debates over last few months," Perez said on Twitter Wednesday. "But recent reporting has made it clear that we cannot rely on Fox to host a fair and neutral debate." He added: "Just to be clear, Fox News will not serve as a media partner for the 2020 Democratic primary debates." In another statement to the Washington Post, Perez specifically mentioned the New Yorker article and the "inappropriate relationship between President Trump, his administration and Fox News." The New Yorker article described the deep ties between the network and the White House, including a number of key staffers who moved from Fox to the administration. Fox News said in a statement that it hoped the DNC would change its mind. “We hope the DNC will reconsider its decision to bar Chris Wallace, Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, all of whom embody the ultimate journalistic integrity and professionalism, from moderating a Democratic presidential debate,” said Bill Sammon, senior vice president and editor at Fox News' Washington unit. "They’re the best debate team in the business and they offer candidates an important opportunity to make their case to the largest TV news audience in America, which includes many persuadable voters.” Baier took to Twitter to respond to the news, calling it a "shame." "That’s really a shame. When it comes to fairness - our news product speaks for itself," he said. "We will continue to cover this 2020 race fairly & will continue to invite Democrats- Republicans & Independents on to talk about key issues & substance with our very large viewing audience." The DNC has said it could host as many as 12 debates ahead of the 2020 election, allowing the growing pool of candidates to showcase their ideas while spurring competition among cable news companies vying to host one or more of the events. Perez told the Post that he had considered Fox News as an option before the New Yorker piece. "I believe that a key pathway to victory is to continue to expand our electorate and reach all voters. That is why I have made it a priority to talk to a broad array of potential media partners, including FOX News," Perez said.<doc-sep>
The Democratic National Committee has barred Fox News from hosting its presidential primary debates, prompting the network to urge the party to reconsider. “We hope the DNC will reconsider its decision to bar Chris Wallace, Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, all of whom embody the ultimate journalistic integrity and professionalism, from moderating a Democratic presidential debate. They’re the best debate team in the business and they offer candidates an important opportunity to make their case to the largest TV news audience in America, which includes many persuadable voters,” Fox News Senior Vice President Bill Sammon said in a statement. CNN ACCUSED OF STACKING AUDIENCE VS. BERNIE SANDERS IN TOWN HALL EVENT Earlier in the day, DNC Chairman Tom Perez announced the party would not allow Fox News to host primary debates, claiming they would not be “fair and neutral” forums for the candidates. “I believe that a key pathway to victory is to continue to expand our electorate and reach all voters,” Perez said in a statement to The Washington Post that cited a critical article in The New Yorker. “That is why I have made it a priority to talk to a broad array of potential media partners, including Fox News. Recent reporting in the New Yorker on the inappropriate relationship between President Trump, his administration and Fox News has led me to conclude that the network is not in a position to host a fair and neutral debate for our candidates. Therefore, Fox News will not serve as a media partner for the 2020 Democratic primary debates.” While some Fox News Channel opinion hosts have come under fire for ties to the Trump administration, Wallace, Baier and MacCallum are anchors from the news division who have been praised for their handling of past debates. In 2016, Wallace moderated a presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. FOX NEWS DOMINATES MSNBC, CNN ACROSS THE BOARD DURING FEBRUARY Reacting to the DNC’s decision, Baier tweeted Wednesday, “That’s really a shame. When it comes to fairness - our news product speaks for itself. We will continue to cover this 2020 race fairly & will continue to invite Democrats- Republicans & Independents on to talk about key issues & substance with our very large viewing audience.” The DNC announced last month that NBC News will host the first Democratic primary debate of the 2020 election cycle in June. Back in 2016, the Republican National Committee famously pulled out of a planned NBC News Republican primary debate after a similar event on CNBC was criticized for allegedly unfair questions.