Republican strategist Holly Turner on Thursday told Hill.TV that one reason the Democratic National Committee (DNC) is barring Fox News from hosting debates during the primaries is that the committee wants to have a say in who the 2020 nominee will be.
“What’s really happening here is that the DNC didn’t learn their lesson from the last cycle,” Turner, chief financial officer of Stampede Consulting, told “Rising” hosts Krystal Ball and Buck Sexton, referring to the controversy during the 2016 election cycle when the committee was accused of favoring Hillary Clinton over Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
“They still want to have an immense amount of control over who the nominee is, and I think that they just don’t trust Fox to play by their rules and ask the questions that they want asked,” she continued.
“When it comes down to it, they are terrified about who their nominee is going to be, and they want to choose,” she said.
The DNC announced on Wednesday that they would not allow Fox News to host a presidential primary debate.
The committee said in a statement the reasoning behind the decision was a New Yorker article which detailed reported close ties between the Trump administration and the network.
Democratic strategist Jennifer Holdsworth told Hill.TV she did not believe the committee had a favorite among the long list of 2020 contenders.
“Having just been at the DNC meeting, there actually isn’t a favorite,” Holdsworth said. “You’re going to see that maybe some donors are with some people, and maybe some activists and establishment are with other people. There actually isn’t a favorite right now. It’s all over the board.”
— Julia Manchester
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