A Philadelphia radio station has parted ways with one of its hosts after she admittedly interviewed President Joe Biden using pre-approved questions provided by his campaign.
Sara M. Lomax, President and CEO of Black-owned WURD Radio, said in a statement Monday that host Andrea Lawful-Sanders had "voluntarily resigned" from her role at the station. The announcement came after Lomax said Lawful-Sanders organized the interview "without knowledge, consultation or collaboration with WURD management."
"WURD Radio remains an independent voice that our audience can trust will hold elected officials accountable. 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," Lomax said. "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."
Appearing on CNN's "First of All" over the weekend, Lawful-Sanders confirmed that she did receive a batch of questions from the Biden campaign ahead of the July 3 interview and "approved them."
"Yes, I got several questions, eight of them," she said. "And the four that were chosen were the ones that I approved."
In the 14-minute interview, President Biden touted some of the things his administration has done that it considers beneficial for the Black community, including nominating the first Black woman to the Supreme Court, increasing Black homeownership and wealth, and supporting historically Black colleges and universities, among other accomplishments.
The radio interview was the first for President Biden in the wake of his disastrous debate with former President Donald Trump late last month, which has since led to calls from within the Democratic party that he should call off his reelection campaign.
In response, President Biden sat down for a one-on-one interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos Friday night, in an attempt to dismiss his debate performance as a "bad night" and reassure voters that he's the right person to defeat Trump in November.
"I don't think anybody's more qualified to be president or win this race than me," President Biden said.
"Trump is a pathological liar," he repeated in the interview. "This is a guy who told us to put bleach in our arms," as a coronavirus treatment. "This is a guy who wants to undo every single thing I've done."
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