Spanberger declines CNN debate invite, for probably obvious reasons

The hubbub in Virginia politics on Wednesday was that Winsome Earle-Sears had run screaming like her hair was on fire from a debate sponsored by AARP Virginia because of a “scheduling conflict,” but then accepted an invite to debate on CNN that, oddly, had no actual date attached to it.

Now the news is that Abigail Spanberger has put the kibosh on the CNN debate, which is, predictably, fake-infuriating the MAGAs.

“She’s running from CNN, one of the friendliest stages she could ask for,” said Peyton Vogel, the press secretary for Earle-Sears, the MAGA lieutenant governor. “If she’s too afraid to show up there, what’s she hiding from? She can either step on that stage with Winsome Earle-Sears and defend her record or admit to Virginians that she can’t.”

Not sure about CNN being “one of the friendliest stages” Spanberger, the Democratic nominee for governor, could ask for.

CNN, for instance, pays Trump water-carrier Scott Jennings a ton of money to keep people from tuning into its weeknight gabfests.

Then, its lead anchor is Jake Tapper, who spent months of CNN airtime promoting his book on Joe Biden’s mental decline, without reporting a single segment on the obvious and much more pronounced mental decline of Donald Trump, who is the current president, not the past guy, like Biden.

CNN is, basically, Fox News without the viewers, and to the Spanberger side’s point, the Virginia gubernatorial election is a Virginia issue.

“We have declined an offer to participate in a debate hosted by CNN in order to prioritize Virginia broadcasters and ensure the focus remains squarely on issues impacting Virginia,” Spanberger campaign manager Samson Signori said.

“We believe that debates about Virginia’s future should be rooted in Virginia, produced by Virginia media, and accessible to Virginians across the Commonwealth, which is especially important after Winsome Earle-Sears declined a debate that featured three Virginia broadcast partners,” Signori said.