More than half of those who consume news from legacy media outlets CNN and MSNBC believe Hispanics are becoming more conservative at the ballot box because they are soaking up “disinformation,” even as those same viewers buy into false narratives, according to a new poll.
The survey, conducted between August 22-25 by WPA Intelligence, asked 1,000 participants what they think is contributing to the Hispanic trend toward Republicans. Fifty-seven percent of MSNBC viewers said the spread of “disinformation” was causing Hispanics to vote conservative, while 54% of CNN viewers came to the same conclusion. Another 16% of MSNBC respondents and one-fifth of CNN respondents said Hispanics have “internalized racism” and a “desire to fit into white society,” causing them to lean Republican.
“Common sense says that misinformation isn’t limited to any one side of the political aisle, yet so much of the media’s attention focuses on falsehoods on the political Right,” WPA Principal and Managing Director Conor Maguire told The Daily Wire. “So, we wanted to explore how common conspiracy theories and falsehoods are among left-wing voters.”
A further breakdown of the survey showed that 61% of Biden voters and 60% of white Democrats believe Hispanics are being duped into voting Republican. Only around 30% of Biden voters and white Democrats think more Hispanics are leaning Right because they are actually socially conservative.
Along with asking left-leaning respondents about the disinformation supposedly contributing to the conservative leanings of Hispanics, the poll also gauged how many CNN and MSNBC viewers have themselves bought into false stories.
Of regular CNN viewers, 38% say it’s somewhat or mostly true that former Russian President Vladimir Putin stole the election for Donald Trump, and nearly half, 45%, of MSNBC viewers believe Trump benefited from a stolen election in 2016. Following constant prodding and investigations into the Trump campaign and administration, the Russian collusion narrative turned out to be nothing more than a failed attempt by legacy media outlets and Democrats to explain Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton.
The WPA poll also asked CNN and MSNBC fans if they thought Florida banned the word “gay” in all public schools as a result of passing its “Parental Rights in Education” bill. A staggering 64% of CNN viewers, 63% of MSNBC viewers, and two-thirds of all Democratic respondents said it is somewhat or mostly true that Florida banned the utterance of the word “gay” in schools. As previously reported by The Daily Wire, the Florida bill simply prohibits teachers in K-3rd grade from teaching on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Another 38% of CNN consumers and 30% of MSNBC viewers think the Florida government requires university professors to register their political party with the state, a false claim spread by leftist website Salon.
“Our poll found that significant shares of Democrats, self-described liberals and CNN and MSNBC viewers believe things that are objectively untrue — from thinking the 2016 election was stolen by Russia to the baseless belief that Florida requires university professors and students to register their political views with the state,” Maguire commented. “The corporate media’s partisan and narrow focus on myths on the Right has clearly given Democrats and [their] allies a pass on their own falsehoods.”
The online WPA survey also found that 22% of Democrats agreed with the statement, “Some men can get pregnant,” The Daily Wire reported. The percentage rose when only including women, and a whopping 36% of white, college-educated female Democrats concurred.