Andrea Lawful-Sanders leaves WURD after Biden campaign provides questions for Joe Biden interview

The Philadelphia radio host who said she used questions prepared by President Joe Biden’s campaign in one of his first postdebate interviews has left the station, WURD Radio’s president and CEO announced Sunday.

Andrea Lawful-Sanders, who hosted The Source on WURD 96.1 FM/900 AM, has agreed to leave the station after saying on CNN that she had received 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 continue as the Democratic presidential nominee following his poor debate performance, appeared on Black radio shows in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin last week to discuss his policy accomplishments and show voters he is prepared to complete another term. But Lawful-Sanders and a Wisconsin host, Earl Ingram, both said they had been given predetermined questions by Biden’s campaign as a condition of the interviews.

“It’s not at all an uncommon practice for interviewees to share topics they would prefer,” Biden campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt said in a statement to the Washington Post. She added that agreeing on topics in advance was not a prerequisite of the interview.

Hitt told the Post the questions “were relevant to news of the day — the president was asked about his debate performance as well as what he’d delivered for Black Americans. We do not condition interviews on acceptance of these questions, and hosts are always free to ask the questions they think will best inform their listeners.”

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

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

“This is something we take very seriously,” Lomax added in the statement. “Agreeing to a predetermined 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.”

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

The effort by the Biden campaign to offer access — but require the hosts to use prewritten, predetermined questions — in order to interview Biden delegitimizes Black media, Lomax wrote in her lengthy statement.

“WURD Radio is not a mouthpiece for the Biden or any other Administration,” Lomax added. “This is essential as Black Philadelphians gear up to be a pivotal player in one of the most consequential elections of our lifetime.”