Philadelphia radio station WURD on Wednesday parted ways with a host who interviewed President Biden using questions provided by the Biden campaign, after the station said the interview violated its freedom of the press.
WURD said in a statement on Sunday that “admitting to pre-determined questions undermines the confidence of its listeners”. According to WURD, the anchor, Andrea Lafull-Saunders, has resigned by mutual agreement.
Ms. Lafull-Sanders asked Mr. Biden what appeared to be softball questions in her first interview with a journalist since his tumultuous debate performance the previous week. Several viewers turned to the station, which has a strong black following, to hear how he would respond to questions about the debate, and found that the interview did not fully address concerns.
The station said the interview and questions were independently arranged by the host of his show “The Source.” Ms Lafull-Sanders did not respond to a request for comment.
Ms Lawful-Sanders said she tendered her resignation on Saturday in a short video message posted on Instagram on Sunday. “It was accepted,” he said of his resignation. “I wanted to thank the listeners very sincerely.”
He told CNN on Saturday that he had received prepared questions from the White House before the interview.
“Questions were sent to me for approval,” he said. “I approved them.” The Biden campaign later clarified that it had directed the questions, not to the White House.
It’s not unusual for political communications staff to provide a list of suggested topics for media appearances, but Ms Lafull-Sanders’ pre-screening of specific questions drew criticism.
WAUK in Waukesha, Wis. Earl Ingram, host of “The Earl Ingram Show,” interviewed the president last week. told the Associated Press That he has received a prepared list of questions. The questions and answers in the two interviews were remarkably similar.
The Biden campaign said it would not recommend questions for future interviews.
