FOXNEWS.com CNN has been accused of failing to disclose Democratic Party ties of several attendees who were able to ask 2020 presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders questions during the network’s town hall on Monday.
The CNN event followed other recent town halls featuring Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif; Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn; and potential independent candidate, former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. But unlike those town halls, many participants who posed policy questions to Sanders appear to have political ties, which was first reported by Paste Magazine.
Paste writer Jacob Weindling questioned whether CNN stacked the audience against the Democratic Socialist by not disclosing the background of some of the participants.
Paste Magazine pointed out that at least four attendees have deep roots in the Democratic Party and the D.C. lobby, and alleged the way CNN described the participants either downplayed their background or did not disclose such ties at all.
CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tara Ebersole, who asked about Sanders’ plan for universal health care, was introduced by CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer as a “former biology professor,” but her reported LinkedIn page claims her current job is chair of the Baltimore County Democratic Party.
Yunjung Seo, who was described by CNN as a “George Washington student,” is currently an intern for the Democratic fundraising organization, the Katz Watson Group, and was previously a campaign fellow for Hillary Clinton for America according to her reported LinkedIn page. Her question was about how Sanders plans on alleviating student debt.
However, the arguably toughest question of the night was asked by Shadi Nasab, who was referred to as an “American University student” but is also an intern for the left-wing group Public Policy, according to her reported LinkedIn page.
“As we saw in the 2018 midterms, the Democratic Party has become more female, more racially diverse, and younger in age. How can a voter like me feel confident in your ability to represent the party, especially given that your response to sexual harassment allegations during your campaign is that you were ‘a little bit busy running around the country trying to make the case to be elected as president,’" Nasab asked.
Abena McAllister, who was described by Blitzer as “active in Maryland Democrat Party,” was listed by CNN’s chyron as a “mother of two.” However, she is apparently the chair of the Charles County Democratic Central Committee.
Paste Magazine’s Weindling thought the questions were “completely normal” until he did a little digging.
quote:
"You cannot help but wonder about the intent behind this, as well as CNN’s role in selecting this questioner while not disclosing her workplace."
— Paste Magazine's Jacob Weindling
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