Radio host Andrea Lawful-Sanders has resigned from WURD Radio after admitting her post-debate interview with President Joe Biden included questions that were pre-selected by Biden’s campaign team, the station told CNN Sunday.
“The interview featured pre-determined questions provided by the White House, which violates our practice of remaining an independent media outlet accountable to our listeners,” Sara Lomax, president and CEO of the Philadelphia-based station, announced in a statement posted Sunday on its website. “As a result, Ms. Lawful-Sanders and WURD Radio have mutually agreed to part ways, effective immediately.”
WURD is Pennsylvania’s only Black-owned talk radio station. Lomax said the station prides itself on being an independent, trustworthy voice for its primary audience of Black Philadelphians and that using questions that were provided ahead of time “jeopardizes that trust and is not a practice that WURD Radio engages in or endorses as a matter of practice or official policy.”
“WURD Radio is not a mouthpiece for the Biden or any other Administration,” she added.
Lawful-Sanders, who hosted “The Source,” spoke with Biden last week and asked him four questions about what’s at stake in this election, his accomplishments, his debate performance and what he would say to hesitant voters. In an interview Saturday with CNN’s Victor Blackwell, she said those questions were part of eight that were recommended to her by Biden aides ahead of the interview.
“The questions were sent to me for approval. I approved them,” she said.