Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang criticized party leadership on Friday for blocking Fox News from hosting a televised primary debate during the 2020 election season.

Mr. Yang took issue with the Democratic National Committee’s decision to exclude Fox News from the party’s debates while campaigning in Dubuque, Iowa, CBS first reported.

“One thing I think Democrats should do, I think we should go on Fox News and talk to the American people,” said Mr. Yang. “Because how can you win an election and bring the country together if you literally won’t talk to 40 or 50% of the population?”

“This is something I’d say that is critical of the DNC,” Mr. Yang added. “There was a decision early on in the process where Fox News said, ‘We’d like to host a DNC debate.’ And, to me, if you’re the DNC, you jump at that. You’re like, ‘Let me show my candidates to people who generally watch Fox News.’ But the DNC turned it down! I was like, ‘What are you doing?’”

DNC Chairman Tom Perez said in March that Fox News was “not in a position to host a fair and neutral debate for our candidates,” citing an “inappropriate relationship” between the network and President Trump.

“As the President has been beset by scandals, congressional hearings and even talk of impeachment, Fox has been both his shield and his sword,” reasoned Mr. Perez. “The White House and Fox interact so seamlessly that it can be hard to determine, during a particular news cycle, which one is following the other’s lead.”

The DNC did not immediately return a message seeking its reaction to Mr. Yang’s remark.

Mr. Yang, a 45-year-old tech entrepreneur, has polled in the single digits among Democratic voters since launching his long-shot campaign to compete in the polls against Mr. Trump.

He has steadily gained support in the months since, however, with a nationwide survey conducted by Emerson Polling released Friday ranking him in fourth place behind front-runners former Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Sen. Bernard Sanders, Vermont Independent, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Democrat.

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