Fox News personality Dana Perino, who co-moderated Wednesday night’s Republican primary debate, hosted a panel at the Clinton Foundation gala in September, introducing the “amazing” Hillary Clinton.
The revelation follows backlash after the Republican National Committee (RNC) included Univision in the debate, leading to leftist talking points throughout the night and irking many conservative voters.
A source familiar with the panel said Perino was asked to moderate due to the Wall Street Journal and Fox News sharing common ownership and the topic of the panel was press freedom focusing on WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich who has been detained in Russia for the last six months.
According to reports, prior to hosting the second GOP debate, Perino hosted a panel titled “Journalism on the Front Lines: How Supporting a Strong, Free Press Strengthens Democratic Societies Worldwide” for the Clinton Foundation’s Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) annual conference. Perhaps most notably, Perino introduced the failed challenger of former President Donald Trump as “the amazing Secretary Hillary Clinton.”
WATCH:
This revelation comes as critics blast the GOP primary debate, most notably for including Univision, as Ilia Calderón of Noticias Univision took a moment to speak to viewers in Spanish.
“Please allow me to welcome our Spanish-speaking audience,” Calderón stated, switching to Spanish. “A good evening to all. From the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, the Republican presidential candidates also seek your vote for the party’s primaries. Welcome.”
As Breitbart News reported Wednesday night, “the irritation of the inclusion of Univision only grew throughout the night, as moderators asked about ‘gun violence,’ amnesty, Obamacare, and more,” causing many to deem the debate “unwatchable.”
“It’s a good thing Univision is an official media partner of this debate so issues that matter [to] Republican voters are covered — said not one Republican primary or caucus voter,” Sean Spicer observed, prompting another to remark, “It was pretty obvious when they tried to get the candidates to sign on to amnesty.”
Perino also came under scrutiny for providing what some described as an assist to former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley during the debate, choosing to respond to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis after the presidential hopeful detailed his service in the military.
DeSantis said:
And I think being able to serve — and I’ll be the first president elected since 1988, [who] actually served overseas in a war — I think that’s going to help me as commander-in-chief, to know how you see these issues and understand that there are real lives at stake for people that wear the uniform.
“Yeah, we know that Governor Haley’s husband is serving right now as well,” Perino replied. “And we thank him for that.”
Editor’s note: This piece has been updated.
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