WURD Radio, longtime host part ways following controversial interview with President Biden

WURD Radio and longtime host Andrea Lawful-Sanders have parted ways following an interview with President Joe Biden that happened last week.

Following the separation, both the president of WURD Radio and Lawful-Sanders have provided statements that give some insight into what led to the falling out.

"On July 3, the first post-debate interview with President Joe Biden was arranged and negotiated independently by WURD Radio host Andrea Lawful-Sanders without knowledge, consultation or collaboration with WURD management. 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. As a result, Ms. Lawful-Sanders and WURD Radio have mutually agreed to part ways, effective immediately," a statement from Sara Lomax, president of WURD Radio read.

Lomax's statement comes after President Joe Biden 's campaign provided lists of approved questions to two radio hosts who did the first interviews with him following the president debate against Donald Trump, both hosts told the Associated Press.

Biden's appearances on Black radio shows in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania were his first chances to show he could answer questions and discuss his record after a debate in which the 81-year-old repeatedly struggled to complete sentences and press his case against Republican Donald Trump.

Radio host Earl Ingram told the Associated Press that Biden aides reached out to him directly for his interview that aired Thursday, July 4, and sent him a list of four questions in advance, about which there was no negotiation.

“They gave me the exact questions to ask,” Ingram, whose “The Earl Ingram Show” is broadcast statewide across 20 Wisconsin outlets, told The Associated Press. “There was no back and forth.”

Appearing with Ingram on CNN, Lawful-Sanders — former host of “The Source” on WURD in Philadelphia — said that she had received a list of eight questions, from which she approved four.

However, as noted by Lomax, not only were some of the questions provided by Biden's campaign, but Lawful-Sanders never discussed her plan for the interview with management before it occurred.

On Monday, in a statement, Lawful-Sanders defended this decision as she called herself an "independent contractor" who regularly conducted interviews without the knowledge of management.

"As an independent contractor for WURD, it has been a standard practice to book my interviews and develop questions for my guests without knowledge, consultation, or collaboration from station management," Lawful-Sanders wrote in a statement.

The Biden campaign noted that it is common practice to suggest questions and said it did not make acceptance of the questions a prerequisite for the interviews themselves.

Lauren Hitt, spokesperson for the Biden campaign, said it is “not at all an uncommon practice for interviewees to share topics they would prefer,” adding that the questions sent to both Ingram and Lawful-Sanders “were relevant to news of the day,” including Biden’s debate performance and “what he’d delivered for Black Americans.”

Lawful-Sanders too argued, in a statement, that getting a list of suggested questions from high-profile guests was not uncommon and she did not intend to mislead her audiance.

"Regarding the suggested questions selected for the interview, I was clear with the White House communications team about the topics most important to our listeners, rejecting any that did not address them. They respected my notes, question edits, and license to change, add or ignore their suggested questions. I cannot stress enough that it is not uncommon for high-profile people to submit suggested questions," Lawful-Sanders said in a statement. "We can choose to reject or use them - or to be inspired to include relevant questions based on an intimate understanding of our audience."

Regardless, Lomax said in a statement that the station "is not a mouthpiece for the Biden or any other Administration" and that it would seek to grow from this incident.

"Black media matters. As always, we will listen, dialogue and engage with our community, bringing credible information, experts and insights to address the needs, concerns and interests of our people," Lomax said in a statement. "This is essential as Black Philadelphians gear up to be a pivotal player in one of the most consequential elections of our lifetime."

Moving forward from the pair of radio interviews, the Biden campaign said it plans to refrain from offering suggested questions to hosts.