Democratic FEC Commissioners voted to punish Fox News over debate changes

Democratic members of the Federal Election Commission, in a decision made public June 30, voted in May to punish Fox News over criteria changes for the network’s first Republican presidential primary debate – but were blocked by Republican commissioners. FEC Commissioner Lee Goodman, one of those who voted to block the move, called the attempt to punish Fox News over the debate changes “astonishing” and described it as a move toward censorship.

The vote concerned changes made to the criteria for the Fox News-hosted GOP primary debate on Aug 6, 2015 in Cleveland (OH). For that debate, Fox News decided to alter the format – hosting two debates instead of one and expanding the first debate for lower-polling candidates to include any candidate identified as such in national polls. Seven candidates ultimately participated in the first debate, and 10 participated in the prime-time event. A complaint subsequently was filed with the FEC claiming those changes were tantamount to an illegal corporate contribution to the candidates on stage.