Meet the new media player in Democratic Party politics.

Fox News.

Blocked from participating in the lineup of official Democratic debates scheduled for the 2020 presidential cycle, the network that appeals to conservative-leaning voters has muscled its way into the process by offering candidates a valuable commodity: Air time during televised town halls.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont was the first Democratic contender to take up the Fox invitation last month in Pennsylvania.

And Wednesday at the Grain Exchange in Milwaukee, before an invited audience in the city that's hosting the 2020 Democratic National Convention, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota gets her 60 minutes on Fox. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. ET.

So, why would Democratic candidates go on a network that has been accused of having close ties to President Donald Trump's administration?

"I think you have to reach everyone," Klobuchar said.

"And I've always believed in my runs for office and in my governing style that you go not just where it's comfortable but you go where it's uncomfortable and that includes on Fox News," she told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

"Even though I don't agree with some of the editorial content there, much of it, I still believe I can answer the questions and make my case to the voters," she said.

This presidential cycle has been punctuated by made-for-TV town halls — with CNN even holding five on one night.

Town halls give the candidates an unscripted and relatively unfiltered way to reach hundreds of thousands, if not millions of voters at a time.

DNC blocks Fox from debates

A good performance can add rocket fuel to a candidacy.

"When you have a clogged field of 22 people any opportunity that you have to be out there for an hour to raise your name recognition to get people to know who you are, I think anyone who is serious about running, that's an opportunity you're going to want to take," said Martha MacCallum, who has been a co-anchor of the Fox News town halls.

More:Who is running for president in 2020? An interactive guide

Fox News Channel had to be creative to gain a foothold in the Democratic race.

In March, the Democratic National Committee said it was excluding Fox News from televising its 12 official candidate debates. In announcing the decision, DNC Chair Tom Perez referenced an article in The New Yorker that was critical of Fox News' links with the Trump administration.

Even with the debate ban, Perez continues to appear on Fox News.

In fact, last month, he was on the network and told host Bill Hemmer, "I don't have faith in your leadership at Fox News at the senior level."

It's not the first time a party has blocked a network from hosting a debate. During the 2016 cycle, the Republican National Committee pulled out of a planned event with NBC News after candidate complaints about questions asked during a debate on CNBC.

More:4 decades separate 2020's presidential candidates. Here's what that looks like.

Bernie Sanders broke the ice

But the DNC has made no move to stop Fox News from bringing on Democrats for the town halls. During the 2016 cycle, Hillary Clinton and Sanders appeared on a town hall on Fox News.

This time, it was Sanders who broke the ice.

Jeff Weaver, a senior adviser to the Sanders campaign, said "the point of going on Fox had nothing to do with Fox but reaching out to the people in America who see Fox."

"Anybody who wants to be president of this country needs to reach out to all Americans," he said.

Weaver said the campaign had an invitation from Fox News and discussed it both internally and with the network. There were talks with the network on format, where the event would be held and what the audience would be, Weaver said.

"We obviously wanted to make sure it was a fair forum, that it wasn't going to be an ambush forum," he said.

The forum got a little prickly. "Your network does not necessarily have a great deal of respect in my world," Sanders said. "But I thought it was important for me to be here and have a serious discussion about serious issues."

Still, the Sanders camp left the town hall upbeat.

Weaver said: "I think it was a stupendous evening, the highlight of which was when Bret Baier tried to embarrass the senator by asking how many people (in the audience) had private health insurance and then how many of those people would be willing to switch over to a Medicare-for-All system. The overwhelming majority of folks indicated they would."

"I think if you look at the expression on the Fox hosts faces, I think that tells you almost everything you needed to know," he said.

In a statement, Baier said: “I didn’t try to embarrass Senator Sanders, but rather wanted to get a sense of the room about Medicare for all. The fact that the Senator’s people don’t appreciate that is unfortunate. The town hall was fair and balanced as we promised all along."

2.6 million viewers for Fox town hall

Sanders' appearance on Fox News drew nearly 2.6 million viewers, the highest-rated town hall of the election cycle so far.

MacCallum said every candidate should be challenged on their policies, whether Republican, Democrat or independent. The network held an earlier town hall with former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who is considering a presidential run.

In setting up the town halls, MacCallum said the network tries to reach out to the "different political groups in the community" to get an audience that includes Republicans, Democrats and independents.

She said she doesn't look at the questions from "a Republican or Democratic perspective," but as attempts to hone in on the candidates and their positions.

Klobuchar said she wasn't concerned about questions that she might get. She said the format allows voters to get to know a candidate and she is eager "to talk about what I would do as president."

"It's a town hall, I trust the people of Wisconsin," she said. "I'm sure that it won't be easy."

There will be more Democratic presidential town halls on Fox News.

South Bend Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg and U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York have scheduled town halls with the network. MacCallum said the network has reached out to all the other campaigns.

MacCallum would still like to see the network land an official Democratic debate.

"I don't understand what their hesitation is. I think they've seen enough of me and Bret Baier and Chris Wallace to know we're going to ask challenging questions," she said. "I don't think there's anything to be afraid of. That's kind of silly. When you're running for president you want as many Americans as possible to vote for you."

MacCallum said she knows that DNC chair Perez "has his opinions about why he thinks we would be unfair. But I think we are proving time and time again we are fair. A lot of people are watching. Millions are watching. We have the highest rated town halls."