Ask most Democrats, and they’ll tell you the big problem with Fox News is that it spreads disinformation, enabling Republicans to manipulate gullible voters into voting against their own economic interests.
After Tuesday’s crushing defeats in Virginia and Pennsylvania, longtime Democratic strategist Ruy Teixeira said the real danger posed to Democrats by Fox News is a little different. According to Teixeira, Democrats have become so dismissive of Fox News that they automatically dismiss any inconvenient issue the network covers, even ones that turn out to actually matter to real voters.
Teixeira then details how crime, immigration, and critical race theory are all very real issues that actual voters care about. On immigration, Teixeira writes:
It is now apparent that the border surge is not going away anytime soon and that the perceived liberalization of the border regime under the Biden administration has indeed spurred more migrants to try their luck at their border. And it is not going away with the hot weather…
In a just-released Morning Consult poll, Biden’s approval rating on immigration stands at 37 percent approval/52 percent disapproval (30/54 among independents), consistent with other recent polls. Democrats would do well to remember that public opinion polling over the years has consistently shown overwhelming majorities in favor of more spending and emphasis on border security.
Summing up his thoughts on how Democrats should address all three of these popular Fox News issues, Teixeira writes:
My bet is that Democrats keep pretending crime, immigration, and critical race theory aren’t real issues.
