Michael Mathes -
Earlier this year, Democrats took a stand and refused to allow Fox News, the reliably pro-Donald Trump broadcaster, to participate in the party’s 2020 presidential debates. But if America’s most-watched cable network isn’t coming to the debate party, many of the Democratic candidates are instead heading over to Fox, intent on broadening their exposure to its audience.
On Thursday, Julian Castro became the fifth Democrat this year to sit for a town hall on the network controlled by Rupert Murdoch.
The Obama-era cabinet member, the only Latino running in the field of 23 Democrats, wasted no time laying into the president.
Castro said it was “unprecedented” for Trump to sit at his Oval Office desk as he did Wednesday and state he could use dirt provided by foreign governments on political opponents.
“We’re going to look back on this as Americans — not Republicans or Democrats, or liberals or conservatives — and say, ‘What in the hell was wrong with that president?’” Castro said.
The blunt criticism of Trump made for startling viewing on the conservative-leaning network, but such episodes are increasingly common.
Fox has become a vital platform for Democrats eager to attract new voters, with some of them even taking aim at the channel for its attacks on progressive policies espoused by the candidates.
In 2015, Democrats aiming to succeed president Barack Obama appeared less concerned with showcasing themselves on Fox, which had its hands full that cycle with 17 Republican candidates.
Today, with Trump revelling in his shock 2016 victory and critics recalling then-nominee Hillary Clinton’s failure to reach out sufficiently to independent and right-leaning voters in places such as Michigan, several Democrats have changed their tune.
Castro follows Fox appearances in recent months by Bernie Sanders, Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg and Kirsten Gillibrand.
New York Mayor Bill De Blasio is reportedly in talks to attend a Fox town hall, while ex-congressman Beto O’Rourke said last month he would “absolutely” appear on Fox.
The parade of Democrats has led the network’s most important viewer, Trump, to blast its status as a power player in the opposition party’s nominations battle.
“Fox is moving more and more to the losing (wrong) side in covering the Dems,” Trump groused in May after Buttigieg — a military veteran and mayor of South Bend, Indiana — earned a standing ovation at his Fox town hall.
Buttigieg had directly attacked two of Fox’s most prominent hosts — Laura Ingraham and Tucker Carlson — for their comments about immigrants.
But he made the point that, despite catching heat from some progressives, it was important to go on Fox to “find people where they are” in order to be “truly connecting with Americans coast to coast.”
‘Good strategy’: Buttigieg and other Fox-willing Democrats are onto something, according to Boston University professor Tobe Berkovitz, who studies politics and communication.
“It’s a good strategy because they’re having it both ways,” he said.
“They’re appearing on Fox, so it shows they want to be open to tough questions from people who might not at the moment be supporting them,” Berkovitz added.
“But it also shows they will not put up with what these candidates see as biased or denigrating.”
Gillibrand, a New York senator whose campaign has struggled to gain traction, became the subject of must-see TV in her June town hall when she waded into a confrontation with Fox host Chris Wallace over how the network addresses the issue of late-term abortion.
“I want to talk about the role that Fox News plays in this because it’s a problem,” Gillibrand said.
“Fox News talked about infanticide. Infanticide, it doesn’t exist,” she added, before Wallace cut her off to say Gillibrand wanted to “attack” Fox to boost her credentials.
The event got back on track, but Gillibrand scored a critical point: making a large audience aware of her stance on important, sensitive issues. But not all candidates are rushing the Fox den. Last month, Elizabeth Warren, the liberal US senator from Massachusetts, pulled no punches when saying she was boycotting the network. — AFP
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