Radio host Andrea Lawful-Sanders who recently interviewed US President Joe Biden and claimed that the questions asked of President were provided in advance has resigned from WURD Radio, CNN reported.
“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,” Sara Lomax, president and CEO of the Philadelphia-based station, announced in a statement posted Sunday on its website. “As a result, Ms. Lawful-Sanders and WURD Radio have mutually agreed to part ways, effective immediately.”
WURD is Pennsylvania’s sole Black-owned talk radio station. Ms Lomax emphasized that the station prides itself on being an independent and trustworthy voice for its main audience of Black Philadelphians. She stated that using pre-provided questions “jeopardizes that trust and is not a practice that WURD Radio engages in or endorses as a matter of practice or official policy.”
“WURD Radio is not a mouthpiece for the Biden or any other Administration,” she added.
Lawful-Sanders, who hosted “The Source,” interviewed Biden last week, asking him four questions about the election’s stakes, his achievements, his debate performance, and his message to undecided voters. In a Saturday interview with CNN’s Victor Blackwell, she revealed that these questions were among eight recommended to her by Biden’s aides prior to the interview.
“The questions were sent to me for approval. I approved them,” she said.
In a one-minute video posted on Facebook on Sunday, Lawful-Sanders said, “effective immediately I am no longer an on-air host at WURD. I tendered my resignation yesterday. It was accepted.”
She then thanked “all of you who played a part in this journey, including WURD Radio.” She went on to say that she is “grateful,” and that “Life is moving. Things are shifting and changing. And, in a day or so you’ll hear more.”
The move has intensified the ongoing controversy surrounding Biden’s sharpness, following his lackluster performance in the first presidential debate hosted by CNN. Many top Democrats have expressed frustration and concern over his debate performance, with some suggesting that he should reconsider accepting the party’s nomination.
“If the White House is trying now to prove the vim, vigor … of the president, I don’t know how they do that by sending questions first before the interview so that the president knows what’s coming,” said Ms Blackwell.
Ms Blackwell further revealed that both Lawful-Sanders and Earl Ingram, host of “The Earl Ingram Show” in Milwaukee who also interviewed the president this week, asked Biden “essentially the same questions.”
Surprisingly, Joe Biden’s campaign spokesperson did not deny the campaign provided questions, but said, “We do not condition interviews on acceptance of these questions.”
“It’s not at all an uncommon practice for interviewees to share topics they would prefer. These questions were relevant to the news of the day – the president was asked about this debate performance as well as what he’d delivered for black Americans,” spokesperson Lauren Hitt said in a statement.
However, the spokesperson later said that it will no longer suggest questions to interviewers.
“While interview hosts have always been free to ask whatever questions they please, moving forward we will refrain from offering suggested questions,” a source familiar with the Biden booking operation told CNN.
