In Philadelphia, WURD host Andrea Lawful-Sanders disclosed she was given a list of questions by the White House before her Biden interview last week.
Lawful-Sanders conceded the questions were sent to her during a CNN interview on Saturday, as she said that Biden’s team had prepared eight of them for one he was scheduled to do on “The Source” last Wednesday.
She added that she signed off on four such questions and asked them to the president during her sit down with him. This was Biden’s first interview since his lackluster debate performance last month.
Lawful-Sanders asked about Biden’s record, his debate performance, progress in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, and the stakes of this election.
WURD president and CEO Sara M. Lomax said Sunday that Lawful-Sanders will no longer be affiliated exclusively with WURD, citing “WURD Radio is not a mouthpiece for the Biden or any other admin.”
“On July 3, the first post-debate interview with President Joe Biden was arranged and negotiated independently by WURD Radio host Andrea Lawful-Sanders without knowledge, consultation or collaboration with WURD management,” Lomax said in a statement on Sunday.
“The interview featured pre-determined questions provided by the White House, which violates our practice of remaining an independent media outlet accountable to our listeners. As a result, Ms. Lawful-Sanders and WURD Radio have mutually agreed to part ways, effective immediately,” she added.
Lomax emphasized WURD’s tradition of independence — pointing out that pre-approved questions jeopardize the station’s 20 year record as a trusted entity willing to ask tough and necessary question designed “to hold elected officials accountable.”
“This is something we take very seriously,” her statement reads.
“This practice of de-legitimizing Black voices continues today. WURD Radio is not a mouthpiece for the Biden or any other Administration. Internally, we will commit to reviewing our policies, procedures, and practices to reinforce WURD’s independence and trust with our listeners. But mainstream media should do its own introspection to explore how they have lost the trust of so many Americans, Black Americans chief among them.”
By Sunday afternoon, Lawful-Sanders’ show page was gone from the WURD website.
It comes after news of another local radio host who spoke with Biden making a similar admission. A Wisconsin radio station host, Earl Ingram told ABC News that he was notified of five topics to ask Biden on their last conversation — but wasn’t able to get through all of them before the interview concluded.
When Lawful-Sanders came on the line Blackwell pointed out that “they are basically the same questions.”
In a response to Fox News Digital, Biden campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt defended the practice of giving questions in advance.
“It’s not at all an uncommon practice for interviewees to share topics they would prefer. These questions were relevant to news of the day – the president was asked about this debate performance as well as what he’d delivered for black Americans,” she said. “We do not condition interviews on acceptance of these questions, and hosts are always free to ask the questions they think will best inform their listeners. In addition to these interviews, the President also participated in a press gaggle yesterday as well as an interview with ABC. Americans have had several opportunities to see him unscripted since the debate.”
