Buttigieg campaign in talks with Fox News to host town hall

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg is in talks to hold a televised town hall on Fox News, a campaign spokesperson told CNN on Tuesday.

The news, which was first reported by The Hill, comes one day after Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is also running for the Democratic nomination, held a town hall on the network on Monday night.

A Fox News spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Appearing on Fox News has been a subject of debate for Democrats heading into the 2020 election. The network’s opinion host have provided President Donald Trump with glowing coverage, served as informal advisors to the White House, and strongly skewered the president’s critics. There has also been a revolving door between Fox News and the White House, with the Trump administration frequently turning to the network’s personalities and some off-air executives to fill vacancies.

It was because of this close relationship that Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez announced in March that the Democratic Party would not partner with Fox News for any of the primary debates.

At the time, Perez called the relationship between Fox News and the White House “inappropriate.” He said the network was not in the “position to host a fair and neutral debate.”

It wasn’t the first time the DNC has stayed away from Fox News. The party previously did not partner with the network in either the 2016 or 2008 campaign cycles for primary debates.

Buttigieg, however, appears to be taking a different approach than the DNC.

The South Bend, Indiana, mayor was the first Democratic presidential candidate to appear on “Fox News Sunday.”

And speaking on CNN’s “Reliable Sources” in March, Lis Smith, Buttigieg’s spokesperson, explained that the campaign wants to be “talking to everyone.”

“Even if we don’t agree with the folks on everything, I think it’s important to go out, get your message out there, but also treat people with differing opinions with respect,” Smith said.

Buttigieg has also recently appeared on the “Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” the hip hop morning radio show “The Breakfast Club,” and BuzzFeed’s “AM2DM.” On Monday night, he sat down with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow and gave an emotional interview about his sexuality. Buttigieg came out when he was 33 years old, when he was already the mayor of South Bend.

Buttigieg’s media tack seems to be working for him. He’s earning positive reviews and his favorability is rising in the polls as voters are becoming more familiar with him.