I say again: Dear media, it's not news that 70% of Republicans believe something insane

[EarlG]

CNN has been breathlessly touting their new poll all day which shows, "Percentage of Republicans who think Biden’s 2020 win was illegitimate ticks back up near 70%." Apparently this number was as low as 63% (gosh) at one point, and now it's back up to 70%. CNN is shocked, shocked I tell ya!

This reminded me of a thread I posted way back in January 2022, titled "Dear media, it's not news that roughly 70% of Republicans believe something insane."

In that thread, I noted:

• In January 2022, CNN reported that 72% of Republicans believe Trump bears no responsibility for the insurrection.


• In May 2021, CNN reported that 70% of Republicans think Biden stole the election.


• Also in May 2021, a McLaughlin and Associates poll found that 73% of Republicans want Trump to run for president again.


• Also in May 2021, Yahoo News reported that 73% of Republicans put responsibility for the January 6 insurrection on 'left-wing protesters'.


• In February 2021, Newsweek reported that 70 percent or Republicans would join or consider joining a Trump-centered party.


• Also in February 2021, CNN reported that 76% of self-identified Republicans believe there was "widespread fraud in the 2020 election."


• On January 6, 2021, the Washington Examiner reportedd that 73% of Republicans backed a challenge to the Electoral College results.


• In December 2020, Newsweek reported that 72% of Republicans don't trust Biden's victory over Trump.


• Also in December 2020, Forbes reported that 71% of Republicans said they would vote for Trump if he were the party's candidate in 2024.


• In November 2020, Politico reported that 70 percent of Republicans say they don’t believe the 2020 election was free and fair.

And there are more examples in the earlier thread showing that, indeed, roughly 70% of Republicans are always willing to swallow absolute bullshit, without fail. This is not news.

It's Republican presidential primary season right now, so it's not unreasonable for news organizations to report on what self-identified Republicans are thinking. The problem comes when these polls are presented as if the "of Republicans" part is just an afterthought. If you're not paying full attention, it's easy to mishear the polls as "70% of all Americans."

But according to Gallup's most recent polling, roughly 27% of Americans consider themselves Republicans. So 70% of that comes out to roughly 19% of all Americans -- about one in five.

So just remember, whenever you hear the media touting some poll that says "70% of Republicans believe x, y, or z," the appropriate response is:

[FSogol]

1. K & R n/t

[LakeArenal]

2. Oh gawd yes!!!!

Bolger on CNN said (paraphrase). Former president and could well be again…

Effin bs.

[lame54]

3. It's not belief it's strategy

[dchill]

4. CNN is doing the job and getting it DONE!

[senseandsensibility]

5. And if they're going to keep repeating that

the fact checking needs to more than an afterthought.

[progressoid]

6. I heard that number on NPR today.

They specifically mentioned it was Republicans only.

I'm not sure that specifying that this comes out to roughly 19% of all Americans is any comfort. In fact, it's kind of frightening.

[EarlG]

10. It is frightening that 70% of one of the two parties are complete psychos

My beef is that the media brings it up every once in a while as if it is new information, making it seem as if it's something that we should worry about anew, when in fact it's just the way things are, and have been for a long time.

My sample of polls in the OP only goes back a few years, but I'm sure the 70% figure goes back way further than that. In fact to test my theory I just tried searching up what Republicans thought of Nixon during Watergate and found this:

Days before he resigned, a Gallup poll found that only 31 percent of Republicans thought Nixon should no longer be president.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/it-took-a-long-time-for-republicans-to-abandon-nixon/

If just days before his resignation, roughly 30% of Republicans thought Nixon should NOT be president, guess how many thought he should continue to be president?

[progressoid]

22. Yep. I'm thinking about 10 Republicans I know fairly well...

I'm pretty sure that 70% is accurate with those 10.

[Justice]

7. So Trump has gained no additional support.

[Spazito]

8. Exactly!

70% of 27% is a SMALL fringe element of the voting public.

[Silent Type]

9. Sounds like CNN reported facts, including qualifiers like "self-identified GOPers." I'm OK with that

I don't think every comment a pundit makes about trump has to be preceded or followed by, "But never forget, trump is a POS, traitor, cad, greedy, and worse." Most people get that. Problem is, some don't care.

[EarlG]

12. They did report facts, and they included the qualifier

I'm suggesting that the media simply doesn't need to report polls showing that 70% of Republicans believe something ridiculous, because it's not newsworthy -- it's a "dog bites man" story. 70% of Republicans always believes something ridiculous. The media should let us know when 70% of Republicans DON'T believe something ridiculous.

[dalton99a]

11. Kick

[Hermit-The-Prog]

13. Fascist Oligarch eXtremists' propaganda network tells 70% of Republicans what to believe.

[crickets]

14. Thanks for the reality check, EarlG. nt

[ffr]

15. The timeline would make a great Daily News story shaming CNN

I know. I makes all of our heads hurt. But then, CNN is about making news entertaining.

[LaMouffette]

16. Excellent points you make, EarlG. It made me realize that the media are treating those 70 percent

of Republicans as rational, informed actors who deserve to have their opinions, which they have formed after considerable thought and research, taken seriously. When in reality, most, if not all of them, have been brainwashed by Fox and other rightwing propagandists into cultish devotion to Trump.

It's like taking a poll at the Waco compound before the shit hit the fan and finding out that 70 percent of the Branch Davidians supported David Koresh.

[EarlG]

18. It's the way the media reports it as big news every time they re-learn the same fact

OMG -- 70% of Republicans think this, that, and the other. Yes, we know already. Report it by all means, but why is it a big story? It reflects the opinions of one in five Americans. How about spend less time reporting what 20% of the country thinks and check in more often with the other 80%.

[LaMouffette]

23. Exactly. I haven't seen any "man on the street" interviews yet with independent or Democratic voters

sharing their sense of relief and vindication that Mango Mussolini has finally been indicted.

[chowder66]

17. I saw this on twitter the other day - sorry I don't have a WP subscription

Link to tweet

[Quanto Magnus]

19. How quickly CNN became garbage

It bums me out, cause at least they were centrist until 2016.....

Now... holy crap what happened to their brains?

[EarlG]

20. Just to clarify...

CNN isn't the only offender, it's just that they happened to be the latest media org peddling a "70% of Republicans think..." poll that I caught while the TV was on today. The OP was more about my pet peeve (although I get why people don't like CNN).

[Quanto Magnus]

26. Oh, I totally agree...

I only lament CNN more, cause I was using it as my 'centrist viewpoint' media outlet....

[DLCWIdem]

21. Who identifies themselves as republicans these days

Many long time Republicans no longer identify themselves as republican these days.

[TexasBushwhacker]

24. Worth noting there are fewer registered Republicans

than there are Independents or Democrats.

[Brainfodder]

25. Is US media trying to get the sensible people to tune it out so they can speak directly to the weak?

The excusing of Cheeto Bandito has been aided by them?

In the end, getting after the likes of Rupert might just be due as well?