Radio Host Resigns After Asking Questions From Biden Camp

Andrea Lawful-Sanders, Philadelphia's WURD parted ways over the post-debate interview
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 8, 2024 10:20 AM CDT
Radio Host Resigns After Asking Questions From Biden Camp
President Joe Biden walks across the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Sunday, July 7, 2024, after returning from a trip to Pennsylvania.   (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Whether President Biden will try to stay on the job is the question on many people's minds. A radio station host who interviewed the president on Wednesday has lost her own job as a result. Philadelphia radio station WURD on Sunday said that it and host Andrea Lawful-Sanders "mutually agreed to part ways" after she interviewed Biden using questions that had been provided by his campaign. More:

  • From WURD: "Agreeing to a predetermined set of questions jeopardizes [listeners'] trust and is not a practice that WURD Radio engages in or endorses as a matter of practice or official policy," WURD President and CEO Sara Lomax said in a lengthy statement. "As Pennsylvania's only independent Black-owned talk radio station ... WURD Radio remains an independent voice that our audience can trust will hold elected officials accountable."
  • From Lawful-Sanders: In a brief video posted to Facebook on Sunday, she said she was "no longer an on-air host at WURD" after having "tendered my resignation yesterday. It was accepted. ... Life is moving, things are shifting and changing, and in a day or so, you'll hear more."

  • The interview I: As for the substance of the interview, the New York Times reports that "Lawful-Sanders asked Mr. Biden questions that could be considered softballs in his first interview with a journalist since his uneasy debate performance the previous week."
  • The interview II: The Washington Post reports Biden recorded two radio interviews in the wake of the debate, the second with Earl Ingram on Wisconsin's WAUK. He told ABC News on Saturday that he also received questions from the campaign and ended up asking four of the five he had been given. "I didn't get a chance to ask him all the things I wanted to ask," Ingram said.

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  • From the Biden camp: The Post reports a Biden campaign rep on Saturday said it was "not at all an uncommon practice for interviewees to share topics they would prefer," and that the hosts weren't obligated to agree to the questions in order to secure the interview. Sources told the Post the campaign won't continue to provide "suggested questions" going forward.
(More President Biden stories.)

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