The electoral landscape just seems to get worse for Donald Trump with each passing day. Every credible poll shows Joe Biden beating Trump nationally, as well as in every crucial swing state. Noted analyst Larry Sabato’s “Crystal Ball” map of 2020 vote projections shows that Trump would have to win every toss-up state in order to be reelected. Biden needs only one to prevail in November.
As Trump’s prospects for reelection snowball into an avalanche of defeat, he is exhibiting ever more severe signs of mental distress. His appeals to potential donors have devolved into threats. And he is lashing out at any and all perceived critics, even those who are devoted supporters, like his State TV propaganda network, about which he whines that it is “so hard to watch Fox News anymore.”
Despite Trump’s assertion of reluctance to watch Fox News (which is a lie since he still quotes it many times a day), the network continues to butter him up with bootlicking flattery and transparent bias intended to juice his floundering campaign. On Wednesday morning Fox News reported on a poll by Monmouth University. The poll’s headline result was that Joe Biden is crushing Trump in the swing state of Pennsylvania 53% to 40%. That 13 point lead is especially significant because it also puts Biden comfortably above the 50% mark. And it’s in line with most other recent polls.
However, on Fox’s website they ran with a curiously twisted headline that said “Silent Majority To Roar? New poll signals swing-state voters suspect ‘secret Trump’ backers could tilt November result.” The basis for that whirling spin was a poll question that asked respondents if they “think there are so-called secret voters in your community who support Donald Trump but won’t tell anyone about it.” Apparently there are about 57% who say yes in varying degrees.
It’s important to note that this is not a survey of actual “secret” voters who plan to clandestinely cast their ballots for Trump. It’s merely the opinions of people who believe that other people might be withholding their true voting intentions. It’s pure conjecture by laypersons with no substantive data to support their opinions. However, it conveniently buttresses Trump’s new assertion that there is a “silent majority” lurking in the shadows, lying to pollsters, and preparing to spring out on election day.
Trump himself has been pushing the “silent majority” theme and whining about what he calls “suppression” polls. These are a myth that, according to Trump, are polls designed by the media to suppress voter turnout of Trump’s supporters. But Fox’s view would refute that because the polls are actually correct and the secretive respondents are the ones responsible for Trump’s poor showing.
Trump’s delusional embrace of imaginary support is not Trump’s only problem. The Monmouth poll holds much more bad news for Trump. It reveals that Biden has greater support among Democrats (93-1) than Trump has among Republicans (84-12). Also, Biden leads Trump by 21 points with Independents, by 10 points among voters over 65, by 13 points among those 50-64, by 31 points among those under 50, and by a whopping 60 points among minorities (Black, Latino, Asian, etc).
With all of the evidence in this survey of how poorly Trump is doing, Fox News managed to cherry-pick one statistic that doesn’t even reflect a real data point, just an opinion that some people have of what other people might be thinking. And that becomes the headline at the top of the Fox News website. And then Fox wonders why people don’t regard the network as a credible source of news. Well, except for their cult followers and all those “secret” Fox News supporters who are too embarrassed to admit it.
UPDATE: Right on cue, Thursday morning Fox and Friends leapt to Trump’s defense with a ludicrous and fact-free rant affirming the nonsense about secret Trump voters.
Here's Steve Doocy ranting for a full minute about how the polls are probably all wrong because of secret Trump voters. pic.twitter.com/6lWOFfVL4E
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) July 16, 2020
How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.
