A majority of likely voters think it is wrong for Democrats to ban Fox News from hosting any of the dozen or so planned presidential candidate debates ahead of the 2020 election.
“But [voters] don’t want President Trump to retaliate against pro-Democratic networks,” a Rasmussen poll posted online on Wednesday said:
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 56 percent of likely U.S. voters say Democrats should allow Fox News, the most-watched cable news network, to host at least one of their intraparty debates. Just 28 percent disagree, while 15 percent are undecided.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) released a statement on March 6 announcing the ban, citing the network’s “deep ties” to President Donald Trump.
“In a statement, DNC Chairman Tom Perez said he had held conversations with Fox News about potentially allowing the network to host a primary debate,” the Hill reported. “But he said the story, published in the New Yorker, caused him to end conversations with the network.”
“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,” Perez said in a statement. “Therefore, Fox News will not serve as a media partner for the 2020 Democratic primary debates.”
Fox News had been working on hosting a debate and issued a statement following the Democrats’ announcement on future presidential debates.
Bill Sammon, a vice president and Washington managing editor for Fox News, said he hoped the DNC would reconsider its decision, citing the talent on the Fox team, citing Chris Wallace, Bret Baier, and Martha MacCallum.
“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,” Sammon said.
The Rasmussen poll of 1,000 likely voters was conducted on March 7 and 10, 2019, has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points, with a 95 percent level of confidence.
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