Samantha Bee warns 2020 Democrats they don't look bipartisan going on Fox News, 'you just look stupid'

Samantha Bee warns Democrats not to go on Fox News

(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/The Late Show)

published 23 May 2019

The 2020 Democratic presidential candidates are split on whether to appear on Fox News, and on Tuesday night, The Daily Show's Trevor Noah explained the advantages they can reap from going on the generally unfriendly network. On Wednesday's Full Frontal, Daily Show alumna Samantha Bee offered a counterpoint.

Yes, Mayor Pete Buttigieg got "a touching reception for a candidate on a network that doesn't believe his sexual orientation entitles him to a wedding cake," Bee said, but really, this isn't that complicated. "You do not have to go on Fox News."

"Yes, there are some benefits to crossing the media aisle to try to reach new voters," Bee said. "And it's great to talk to as many voters as possible, but where you talk to them matters. As Elizabeth Warren put it as she refused to appear on the network, Fox News is a 'hate-for-profit racket' — which, in all fairness, would make it the first profitable racket Donald Trump has ever been involved in."

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"In its entire history, Fox News was never on the level, but in the Trump era, the network has become an extension of his administration , or maybe vice versa — they don't pretend otherwise, so why should anyone else?" Bee asked. "At a certain point, if you play along with Fox, you don't look principled or bipartisan — you just look stupid. Nobody is impressed by how Charlie Brown reaches across the aisle to Lucy's football."

"If you're sure that going on Fox is strategically the right thing to do, I guess go for it," Bee said. "But I am sure that it is not morally the right thing to do. When you go on Fox News, no matter how lit your town hall game is that night, you are legitimizing them. ... And if you do go on, they're just going to take you out of context anyway." Watch Fox News twisting Buttigieg below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.