Last week, on Fox News’ “Outnumbered,” hosts Harris Faulkner and Lisa Kennedy Montgomery had a conversation about America’s youth voter population. Faulkner and Montgomery expressed concern that young people are uneducated about political issues and, therefore, would cause harm to America by voting.
“Do we want them (young people) to vote if they don’t know the issues?” Faulkner asked.
“No!” Montgomery answered. “You absolutely don’t!”
“Do you really want to motivate them to vote and be ignorant at the polls?” Faulkner asked.
Faulkner and Montgomery were likely less concerned with young people’s level of knowledge and more worried about their political persuasion.
According to a Pew study, American Millennials — those between the ages of 18 and 34 — overwhelmingly support Democratic politicians and a progressive political agenda.
Ironically, viewers of Fox News, who tend to be older, whiter and significantly more conservative than the general population, are actually the people most likely to be misinformed about political issues of critical importance.
A recent study from the Brookings Institution and the Public Religion Research Institute showed that of those who believe that Fox News is the most trustworthy and reliable news outlet, just 12 percent correctly stated that deportations have increased during the Obama administration, compared to 25 percent of Americans overall.
According to Nielsen data, the average Fox News viewer is 68 years old. If conservatives are truly concerned about ignorant voters, perhaps they should direct their focus away from college campuses and toward retirement homes instead.
The efforts of Fox News to discourage young people from voting go hand in hand with laws passed by Republican governors and legislatures around the country. In states like North Carolina, Ohio and Maine, Republican-elected officials have passed voter ID laws, enacted regulations that make voter registration on college campuses more difficult and launched baseless voter fraud investigations against hundreds of college students.
Suppression of the youth vote has taken place right here at UF. In February, Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner denied a request to make the Reitz Union an early voting site. Despite Detzner’s excuses, this decision was a blatant attempt to make it more difficult for UF students to vote.
Historically, large young voter turnout helped elect President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. Conservatives on Fox News and in elected office know that if young Americans continue to vote in large numbers, their ideology is in danger of extinction.
This November, don’t let the demeaning statements from people like Faulkner and Montgomery discourage you from voting. Despite what Fox News may think, college students and other young people deserve just as much input into the political system as other Americans.
[A version of this story ran on page 6 on 10/15/2014]
