Sen. Amy Klobuchar agreed on Wednesday to become the second Democratic presidential candidate to hold a town hall meeting on Fox News Channel, and others are soon to follow.
Sen. Bernie Sanders was the first to venture onto Fox this week.
One of Fox News’ most loyal viewers, President Donald Trump, said on Twitter that he wasn’t happy seeing Sanders on his screen — and claimed Fox News was being biased.
He tweeted Tuesday that it seemed “very strange” to see Sanders on Fox. Trump, who rarely complains about the cable network, also said that many of his supporters couldn’t get into the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, event that was “stuffed” with Sanders fans.
So weird to watch Crazy Bernie on @FoxNews. Not surprisingly, @BretBaier and the “audience” was so smiley and nice. Very strange, and now we have @donnabrazile?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 16, 2019
Fox has said it reached out to various political groups in the Bethlehem area to help fill the audience for the Sanders town hall.
President Trump didn’t take long to punch back at the network’s effort to draw an allegedly bipartisan crowd.
Many Trump Fans & Signs were outside of the @FoxNews Studio last night in the now thriving (Thank you President Trump) Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, for the interview with Crazy Bernie Sanders. Big complaints about not being let in-stuffed with Bernie supporters. What’s with @FoxNews?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 17, 2019
The online activists Lynnette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson, who often appear as commentators on Fox under the name Diamond and Silk, tweeted that it was “sickening to see Bernie Sanders on a Fox News town hall disparaging our president.”
Meanwhile, Pete Buttigieg’s campaign confirmed that it is also in talks with Fox about a town hall. Jenn Fiore, an aide to Julian Castro, said that campaign is in the process of scheduling one. Sen. Cory Booker also said he’s considering one.
The Democrats have had to weigh possibly angering a liberal base versus reaching a large audience, many of whom wouldn’t be likely to see them in action elsewhere.
Before the newfound interest, Fox News faced the prospect of watching the Democratic nomination process from the sidelines. The Democratic National Committee announced in February, and reaffirmed this week, that it would not hold any of its upcoming candidate debates on the network.
The Klobuchar town hall will be held May 8 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The hour-long event will have a similar blueprint to Sanders’ session: Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum will be the anchors, and it will start at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.