Radio Station Cuts Ties with Host Who Used Pre-Approved White House Questions in Biden Interview

A Philadelphia radio station severed ties with one of its hosts over the weekend after she admitted to asking President Joe Biden a list of pre-approved questions sent by White House officials ahead of the interview.

Andrea Lawful-Sanders, a radio host with Philadelphia’s WURD, tendered her resignation on Saturday after telling CNN’s Victor Blackwell that she received a list of eight questions before her interview with Biden on July 3. Prior to her resignation, the host said she approved four of the eight questions and asked them during the radio interview with Biden — the first with the president to air following his poor debate performance on June 27.

The interview “was arranged and negotiated independently by WURD radio host Andrea Lawful-Sanders without knowledge, consultation or collaboration with WURD management,” WURD Radio president and CEO Sara Lomax said in a statement on 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,” she added. “As a result, Ms. Lawful-Sanders and WURD Radio mutually agreed to part ways, effective immediately.”

Lawful-Sanders weighed in on her departure herself in a brief Facebook video, confirming she no longer works for WURD.

The White House helped draft the questions, which the Biden campaign subsequently sent to WURD, a person familiar with the events told Axios. Responding to Lawful-Sanders’ comments on CNN, Biden campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt told the outlet that the “White House did not manage the process or the questions.”

Lomax said the use of pre-determined questions “jeopardizes” the trust that WURD cultivated with its audience for 22 years as Philadelphia’s only independent black talk radio station. The station’s past cooperation with White House officials was always made with the understanding that its journalists were “not constrained to their suggested topics or talking points,” she said.

She then accused the White House of “de-legitimizing Black voices,” saying her company holds itself to a high journalistic standard in asking tough questions to best serve their primarily black audience.

The radio station’s head also criticized mainstream-media outlets for having “historically ignored, marginalized and stereotyped Black people in their coverage.” To back up the claim, she cited a 2023 Pew Research study that concluded “almost two-thirds of Black adults (63%) say news about Black people is often more negative than news about other racial and ethnic groups.”

“WURD Radio is not a mouthpiece for the Biden or any other Administration,” Lomax asserted. “Internally, we will commit to reviewing our policies, procedures, and practices to reinforce WURD’s independence and trust with our listeners. But mainstream media should do its own introspection to explore how they have lost the trust of so many Americans, Black Americans chief among them.”

During his first post-debate interview, Biden mistakenly described himself as the “first black woman to serve with a black president.” It appears he was trying to say that he served under former president Barack Obama as vice president and later chose Kamala Harris as his own.

Milwaukee radio host Earl Ingram also interviewed Biden following the debate and revealed to ABC News that he “was given some questions for Biden.” Ingram confirmed that he used four of the five questions that were sent.