OPINION:
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who’s running for president of the United States, turned up her nose and turned down a Fox News town hall, calling out the cable giant as a “hate-for-profit” racket.
This is a big political misstep.
Warren is seeking a seat that makes her the lead executive, the top dog, the big kahuna — the spokesperson — for the entire country. Like it or not, Fox News has a voice in this country.
Like it or not, viewers of Fox News, fans of the cable outlet, watchers of its shows are voters and American citizens, same as viewers of MSNBC, same as fans of CNN, same as watchers of NBC.
Warren, as a hopeful White House occupant, ought to run toward Fox, not away.
But no matter which way her feet tread, her mouth ought not disrespect the viewers. Didn’t Hillary Clinton make this mistake with her whole basket full of deplorables messaging?
“Fox News has invited me to do a town hall,” Warren wrote in a Twitter post reported by Mediaite. “[B]ut I’m turning them down — here’s why. Fox News is a hate-for-profit racket that gives a megaphone to racists and conspiracists — it’s designed to turn us against each other, risking life & death consequences, to provide cover for the corruption that’s rotting our government and hollowing out our middle class.”
And yet: Fox wanted to give Warren a megaphone to say all that — and no doubt, more.
The problem with leftists is they don’t like to deal with speech that counters their own.
They say they’re tolerant, but they’re not.
And the problem with a presidential candidate who refuses to accept an invitation to appear on one of the nation’s largest media platforms — or, to at least refuse with grace and courtesy — is that it gives the perception of fear, of weakness in principle and of intolerance for those with different views.
These are not the qualities of a president who could successfully represent the entire nation. These are qualities of a person who selectively represents — who picks and who chooses who’s worthy, who’s not, of representation.
Warren, with a sneer, kind of just kissed her campaign goodbye.
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