Democratic strategist hired by Fox News
piece by Jane Mayer in the New Yorker that quoted Republican critics and others describing the network as a propaganda tool of the White House.
According to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to comment, Brazile’s hiring has been in the works for some time.
Brazile said in a statement that she is taking on the role at a network that has been demonized by the Democratic Party because she wants to promote more civil discourse in the politically polarized landscape.
“I know I’m going to get criticized from my friends in the progressive movement for being on Fox News,” Brazile said. “My response is that, if we’ve learned anything from the 2016 election, it is that we can’t have a country where we don’t talk to those who disagree with our political views. There’s an audience on Fox News that doesn’t hear enough from Democrats. We have to engage that audience and show Americans of every stripe what we stand for rather than retreat into our ‘safe spaces’ where we simply agree with each other.”
Brazile, 59, previously was a commentator for CNN. She resigned in October 2016 after a WikiLeaks dump of hacked DNC emails revealed she had shared information with Hillary Clinton’s campaign about questions CNN used in a Democratic candidates’ town hall meeting on the network. The program ran in March 2016 when Clinton was battling Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for the nomination.
Brazile’s action, which she said she regretted, has been cited by Fox News commentators as an example of corruption within the Clinton campaign during the 2016 race.
In her role at Fox News, Brazile will appear strictly as a Democratic commentator and will not be involved in the network’s political debate or town hall coverage during the 2020 presidential campaign.
— Donna Brazile Democratic strategist hired by Fox News as an on-air contributor ‘There’s an audience on Fox News that doesn’t hear enough from Democrats. We have to engage that audience.’