Presidential hopefuls Sen. Bernie Sanders and businessman Andrew Yang have both turned down invitations to speak at an upcoming Democratic presidential town hall devoted to LGBT issues.
CNN said in a press release that the two candidates would not be attending due to “scheduling conflicts.”
The town hall will be hosted by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation in Los Angeles and is scheduled to run about five hours long, featuring nine top-polling 2020 White House hopefuls discussing issues affecting the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer communities.
Titled “Power of our Pride,” the program will air on Oct. 10, one day prior to National Coming Out Day, Oct. 11.
The current lineup is: businessman Tom Steyer; Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey; former Vice President Joseph R. Biden; Sen. Kamala Harris of California; Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts; Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind.; former Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas; Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota; and former HUD Secretary Julián Castro.
Additional candidates could be invited should they qualify to appear on stage in the October debates.
Mr. Sanders omission is notable as the HRC accused the Vermont senator of “attacks” during the 2016 election for saying the advocacy organization was a part of “the political establishment.”
This will be CNN’s second topical town hall hosted independently of the Democratic National Committee. The first was a climate change town hall which featured seven hours of candidates discussing environmental issues. Despite being an issue of significant concern to Democratic primary voters, it was ultimately a ratings bust for the network.
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