All Donald Trump wants from Fox News is for it to operate as an explicit arm of his political campaign. Just that. Just no more people who criticize Trump and no Democrats and no anti-Trump ads until Election Day. Itâ€
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Our poll included more than 5,000 registered voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. We asked questions both about vote choice — who voters preferred, planned to vote for or had voted for — and media sources. Respondents were asked what they would consider to be a main source for their political news, among a number of options from Fox News to YouTube to friends and family.
About a quarter of those who consider Fox News a main source of news say they are considering voting for Vice President Kamala Harris, with about 1 in 6 saying they either already have or definitely plan to. But 6 in 10 say they will definitely vote for or have already voted for Trump. Another 1 in 10 indicate they plan to.
No other source for news has as wide a pro-Trump margin. While registered voters overall (again, in these seven swing states) are evenly split between the candidates, a number of nontraditional sources for political news also have consumers that lean toward Trump. Those who cite social media or podcasts as a main source of news are more likely to indicate support for Trump, for example, as are those who cite local radio as a main source for news.
On the other side, 6 in 10 of those who say that national newspapers or MSNBC are a main source for news indicate that they will definitely support Harris or have already voted for her. Among those who identify NPR as a main source for political news, the figure is 7 in 10. In each case, about 1 in 10 say they are leaning toward Harris, while less than a quarter say they will or might back Trump.
One key difference, of course, is that Fox News has a much larger audience than MSNBC, NPR or national newspaper readers — by at least a 2-to-1 margin in the swing states.
In fact, across the seven states, there were about two registered voters who didnâ€
Still: Imagine how frustrating it must be to Trump that a sixth of Fox News viewers in swing states say they plan to vote for Harris. The right-wing media universe has grown more robust in recent years, with more outlets and more voices. But Fox News is still its anchor — and even it hasnâ€
One thing is clearly true: Trump has more leverage over Fox than he does over MSNBC.