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

[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: