Pull Out of News Media Outlets from Bernie Sanders’ Softball Game in Iowa, Triggers Speculations of Media Bias

Last Monday, August 19, 2019, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders was set to play softball in Iowa’s famous “Field of Dreams.” The event saw members of the press corp as part of the Leaders Believers Achievers Foundation who played against Sanders’ campaign team called “The Revolutionaries.”.

The Democratic senator’s campaign team chose the “Field of Dreams’ as perfect background to Benie’s analogies related to his pitch that “everything is possible until it happens;” obviously referring to his bid for presidential nomination and his campaign promises of health care for all, free tuition, student debt cancellations, $15 minimum wage and fight against climate change.

Softball Game Showed Signs of Being a Political FundRaising Campaign

However, before the event took place, Bernie Sanders tweeted about special edition baseball cards bearing his image, which will be given to those who will donate any amount.

The night before, his campaign team sent out emails to supporters, informing them of the scheduled softball game at Iowa’s “Field of Dreams” featuring Bernie’s campaign staff and members of the press corps. In addition, they will receive a limited edition Bernie Sanders baseball card.

Earlier in the day, as unconfirmed reports came out that Bernie Sanders was scheduled to play for The Revolutionaries playing against the members of the press corp, several media news outlets started pulling out of the event at the last minute. The decision to stand down and backout by CNN, ABC News and other press corp members, was said to be based on the desire to stay uninvolved in a politician’s fundraising campaign.

Nonetheless, the softball game took place as planned, with Bernie’s campaign manager Faiz Shakir making a lighthearted response to the last minute withdrawal. Still, in an email which he later sent to political news website Politico, whose representative backed out for personal reasons, Shakir issued a statement regarding the pull out issue that somehow dampened Sanders’ softball event.

 

 

Shakir expressed frustration over political pundits and journalists who have been dismissing the Vermont Senator’s candidacy. According to Politico, Shakir voiced opinion that

“The hyper overreaction to Senator Sanders by many of his critiques in the media reveals a bias.”

Jackalyn Feliks

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