Philadelphia radio station WURD has cut ties with a host who revealed President Joe Biden‘s team provided her pre-approved questions before a recent interview.
WURD president and CEO Sara M. Lomax announced that the station “mutually agreed to part ways” with Andrea Lawful-Sanders in a statement on Sunday after Lomax admitted that the “questions were sent to me for approval.”
Lomax noted that the interview “was arranged and negotiated independently” by Lawful-Sanders “without knowledge, consultation or collaboration with WURD management.” Using the campaign’s pre-approved questions “violates our practice of remaining an independent media outlet accountable to our listeners,” said Lomax.
“WURD Radio remains an independent voice that our audience can trust will hold elected officials accountable,” she said. “As Pennsylvania’s only independent Black-owned talk radio station, WURD Radio has cultivated that trust with our audience over our 20-year history. This is something we take very seriously. Agreeing to a pre-determined set of questions jeopardizes that trust and is not a practice that WURD Radio engages in or endorses as a matter of practice or official policy.”
Lomax added, “WURD Radio is not a mouthpiece for the Biden or any other Administration.”
Lawful-Sanders previously asked Biden four questions on WURD’s The Source after his debate with former President Donald Trump last month. “The questions were sent to me for approval. I approved of them,” she told CNN.
“I got several questions. Eight of them,” added Lawful-Sanders. “And the four that were chosen were the ones that I approved.”
Biden campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt told The New York Times in a statement that providing preferred topics is “not uncommon,” but noted they “do not condition interviews on acceptance of these questions.”
“Hosts are always free to ask the questions they think will best inform their listeners,” added Hitt.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin radio host Earl Ingram also admitted to ABC News that he “was given some questions for Biden” in their interview, noting he was given five questions but was only able to ask four.
“To think that I was gonna get an opportunity to ask any question to the President of the United States, I think, is a bit more than anybody should expect,” said Ingram, adding: “Certainly the fact that they gave me this opportunity … meant a lot to me.”
