Andrea Lawful-Sanders Leaves WURD After Biden Campaign Asks Joe Biden Interview Questions

Philadelphia radio host who said she used campaign-prepared questions in one of President Joe Biden’s first post-debate interviews has left the station, WURD radio president and CEO announced on Sunday.

Andrea Lawful-Sanders, who was the hostess Source on WURD 96.1 FM/900 AM, agreed to leave the station after telling CNN she had been given a list of eight questions from the Biden campaign, four of which she approved and used in her interview with Biden.

Biden, who is facing questions about whether he should remain the Democratic presidential candidate after a impoverished debate performance, appeared on black radio shows in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin last week to discuss his policy record and show voters he is ready to serve out another term. But Lawful-Sanders and Wisconsin host Earl Ingram said they were given predetermined questions by the Biden campaign as a condition of the interviews.

“It’s not at all an unusual practice for interviewees to share topics they would rather have covered” Biden campaign spokeswoman Lauren Hitt said in a statement to the Washington Post:She added that prior determination of topics is not a necessary condition for conducting an interview.

Hitt told the Post that the questions “were relevant to the news of the day — the president was asked about his performance in the debate and his message to black Americans. We do not condition interviews on accepting these questions, and hosts always have the freedom to ask questions they believe will best inform their listeners.”

Two sources familiar with the Biden campaign’s booking process also told the Post that the campaign will not continue its practice of offering “suggested questions.”

Lawful-Sanders arranged the interview, including pre-written questions, without the knowledge of WURD management, which “violates our practice of being an independent media outlet accountable to our listeners,” wrote Sara M. Lomax, president and CEO of WURD Radio. Lawful-Sanders’ separation from the station is immediate.

“This is something we take very seriously,” Lomax added in a statement. “Agreement to a set set of questions undermines that trust and is not a practice that WURD Radio engages in or supports as a matter of practice or official policy.”

CNN’s Victor Blackwell asked Lawful-Sanders during the interview if the questions were put to her by the White House, noting the similarity between the questions she asked and other black hosts who have interviewed Biden. She confirmed that she was given a list of several questions, and the four she asked were ones she approved from the campaign.

As Lomax wrote in her lengthy statement, the Biden campaign’s actions to provide access — but require hosts to operate pre-written, predetermined questions — to interview Biden delegitimize black media.

“WURD Radio is not a propaganda mouthpiece for Biden or any other administration,” Lomax added. “It is essential as black Philadelphians prepare to play a pivotal role in one of the most important elections of our lifetimes.”