Frank Luntz Goes Off on Media Polarization After Contentious Focus Group:'We Have to Say Enough Is..

[Mr. Sparkle]

Enough"

Republican pollster Frank Luntz has reached a breaking point, by his own admission. Last week Luntz conducted a particularly contentious focus group, including a moment when one individual repeated the baseless claim of a stolen election spread by the former president and others. On Sunday he spoke with Howard Kurtz and said, “They simply don’t believe they’re getting the truth, which is what they want, and they cannot distinguish between what former President Trump says and what others say. That in reality they’re getting their news to affirm themselves rather than inform themselves and that’s a problem.”

“It’s the responsibility of the news media to tell the truth, to provide the facts, and if you’re going to give opinion, make it clear that that’s exactly what it is. The problem with the Trump people is they think that’s all opinion. They think it’s opinion from the left and they can’t find any place to go that’s going to validate them and what they believe,” he added. “But isn’t also true that people on the liberal side of the spectrum try to seek out news that validate their opinions?” Kurtz asked.

Luntz shared a survey that found the vast majority of those who watched CNN and MSNBC voted for Joe Biden, while the vast majority of Fox News viewers voted for Donald Trump. He even got candid about how after conducting that focus group, he’s on the precipice of just no longer doing this for a living. “Howie, this is a disaster. I know that you’re in the business of analyzing the news. I’m in the business of analyzing public opinion and I have to tell you, I’m not only frightened, I’m disgusted by it,” Luntz added.

He even bluntly said, “I’ve been telling my friends and colleague that they have to find someone to replace me because they still need to hear from the public. My frustration is that almost every news network goes to the pundits rather than the people.” “We all have to teach civics, we have to teach civility, and we have to say enough is enough.”

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/frank-luntz-goes-off-on-media-polarization-after-contentious-focus-group-we-have-to-say-enough-is-enough/

David Pakman gives his thoughts on the focus group

[RandySF]

1. Nobody on CNN or MSNBC said the 2016 vote counts were false.

Nobody on the left talked about ballot box stuffing or non-citizens voting.

[roamer65]

6. Yes. Absolutely correct.

We even tolerated a popular vote/electoral college mismatch.

We will NOT if it happens again.

If another Repuke gets in office through that constitutional aberration, I will be 150 percent secessionist.

[Nevilledog]

2. K & R

[catbyte]

3. Well, congratulations, Frank. This is what you've been helping to lead up to for 20 years.

You reap what you sow, buddy. Unfortunately, the rest of us do, too.

[Walleye]

14. I think he started that "Democrat Party" bullshit that they still use

[C_U_L8R]

4. Dr Frankenluntz comes down with a bad case of amnesia

And can't even recognize his own freakin' monster.

[Midnight Writer]

8. Yep, Luntz was a pioneer in manipulating the media, the mind of voters, and alternative reality.

He worked closely with Newt Gingrich in forging a new politics based on fear, innate bigotry, and twisted information.

[catbyte]

15. Yep, until they turned on him when he married a Muslim woman and converted to Islam.

He got a taste of his own medicine.

[Wounded Bear]

5. Luntz has long been part of the problem..nt

[OAITW r.2.0]

7. Great, no more Luntz-Republican focus groups to tell us how to think.

They are too stupid for Luntz. ergo, no need to give a shit what they think.

[czarjak]

9. Funny...

You built that! NOT HA-HA, either. Period.

[Claire Oh Nette]

10. Enough is right

Their ignorance is not as good as our facts.
Their lack of education is not as good as our expertise.
Their reliance on faith and gut feelings is not the same as our evidence driven decision making.
Their delusional fantasyland is not the same as our reality.
Their television court room procedural understanding of the Constitution and law and order is not as good as actual legal analysis grounded in proof.

They are not serious people. They repeat the same word salad and empty slogans. They have no receipts other than Fox, Breitbart, and Newmax.

Luntz created this monster.

They even look stupid.

[Dawson Leery]

11. Polarization is the product of right wing media.

Both sides are not to blame.

[tanyev]

12. How about you stop asking angry delusionals for their opinions, Frank?

[halfulglas]

13. Wasn't he the host of the infamous Republican Luncheon

on the day of Obama's inauguration? The one with McConnell and other "leaders" vowing total obstruction as the way to make Obama a one-term president, despite the dire economic condition the country was in.

[muriel_volestrangler]

16. "I Helped Break Frank Luntz" - one of the participants was a blogger at Wonkette

Within minutes, it was obvious there were some vocal psychos in the group, which is to be expected in basically any group of people talking about politics and definitely any group of people talking about politics who are dumb and brainwashed enough to believe the shit Trump used to tweet.

Within 15 minutes, knowing they were being watched by members of Congress, the focus quickly devolved into basically the worst Thanksgiving dinner of all time. Imagine half your family is the terrible, racist drunk uncle, and they all showed up. And they are not about to let facts or visitors get in the way of their stupid bullshit.

Luntz asked us about things like the insurrection, COVID, Wall Street, and the economy. But most of the time, people just used those as jumping off points to yell about ... well, whatever they felt like yelling about. Often, conspiracy theories peddled by Trump and friends. Only one Trump voter on the call seemed sane, and he agreed with impeaching Trump and removing him from office for the attempted coup.
...
In the mid-90s, Luntz was one of the main architects of Newt Gingrich's "Contract with America," pushing racist stereotypes in order to advocate bills doing things like increasing mass incarceration and taking money away from poor people. He advised other Republicans to "speak like Gingrich" and use terms meant to demonize Democrats and Democratic policies.

https://www.wonkette.com/i-helped-break-frank-luntz

[erpowers]

17. Democrats Need to Push Back on This

Frank Luntz and Howard Kurtz, like many others, tried to make this a both sides issue. This is not a both sides issue. I do not think Democrats are trying to find information that validates what they think. I think Democrats are trying to find facts. Do the anchors on CNN and MSNBC routinely knowingly make false statements? I do not think they do. I think, for the most part, they just present the facts. The question, "How many Democrats/Joe Biden voters repeated false information, needed to be asked. I highly doubt Democrats/Joe Biden voters were as misinformed as Republicans/Trump voters.