Obama: Election deniers got ‘thumped’ in midterms

Former President Obama on Thursday said that election deniers got “thumped” during the midterm elections, in part due to young voter turnout.

“Because of some really concerted efforts in a lot of important states, some of the most egregious, prominent and potentially dangerous election deniers, they got thumped. They got beat,” Obama said during an appearance on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Noah.

The former president said that Democrats especially “held the line” in secretary of state and gubernatorial races.

“We recruited some excellent candidates,” added Obama. “You look at Wes Moore in Maryland, Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania, Senate candidates John Fetterman and Mark Kelly. They are committed, passionate, down to earth. They connect with people.”

Obama said he thinks former President Trump’s rhetoric has influenced younger Americans to vote, including in this month’s midterms.

“Trump comes in and suddenly 2018, 2020, and now this one, you’ve seen young people come in and they’re typically voting at a rate of 70 to 30, 60 to 40 Democrat to Republican,” he said.

“I’m starting to feel pretty hopeful that this is a habit.”

Despite the defeat of many election deniers around the country, Obama raised concerns about growing polarization and the role of media in caricaturing people’s political views.

“We start talking in slogans and nonsense, and there’s no reality check,” he said.

“We’re not having arguments about policy, but we’re having arguments about the rules of the game, which previously we all agreed to, right?”

According to Obama, there is a “filter” created by the media that creates a barrier to open-minded discussion across the aisle.

“I think the filter now has become so thick. It started I think with Fox News and some of the other traditional media,” he said. “And now with social media, that’s gotten turbocharged.

The former president said that Americans need to leave the media “bubbles” affecting the formulation of their political views, adding that progressives need to “get out of their media bubble” as well.

Fox News has routinely ranked as the most-watched cable news channel in the country, and a study last year found more Democrats are watching Fox News during prime time than CNN, a byproduct of Fox’s large audience share. 

Since leaving the White House, Obama has warned against the changing dynamic in the political media landscape more generally, saying at an event in Chicago earlier this year “the loss of local journalism, the nationalization of grievance and anger-based journalism, the growth of social media and technology whose product design monetizes anger and resentment — all this undermines our democracy and, if combined with ethno-nationalism, misogyny or racism, can be fatal.”

This story was updated at 1:24 p.m.