Fox News host Charlie Hurt found it in himself to praise some Democrats who voted in Tuesday’s primaries but needed to do some serious cherry-picking to get there.
During a post-primary election debrief on “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday, the conservative pundit said he had to hand it to the “sane Democrats” who picked incumbent Rep. Wesley Ball (D-Mo.) over former congresswoman Cori Bush, despite mounting evidence it’s progressives and democratic socialists who are mobilizing voters.
“It’s kind of funny because obviously we’ve been focusing a lot on a lot of these where the craziest socialists are — because that’s the most important story because if the socialists take over the Democrat Party, the party is doomed,” Hurt said. “But, you know, there have been a number of cases around the country where Democrat voters have decided, like, we’re out of here.”
In order for his argument to work, he cited Texas Democrat Christian Menefee’s win over Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), a race which actually pitted two incumbents against one another for the same seat following Republican-crafted redistricting scheme.
As Hurt tried to argue, “Al Green lost his seat to a less crazy person, perhaps maybe even a slightly sane person. Cori Bush, they’re like, yeah, we’re not doing this.”
Pointing to another race deep in red Texas, he used sex therapist’s Maureen Galindo’s May runoff loss as an example of voters rejecting extremism, never mind the fact her success in the first round of primaries was reportedly buoyed by a Republican-funded super PAC angling for an easy, left-wing straw man in the general.
“Obviously the most important, biggest story are all socialists who are taking over the Democratic Party, but there are a lot of sane Democrat voters who are also being like, we’re off this crazy train,” Hurt said.
The Republican commentator seemed to be searching for a way to downplay past the successes of a slate of candidates from the ranks of the Democratic Socialists of America and other parts of the progressive sect.
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In Michigan, public health official Abdul El-Sayed was able to best party-backed moderate Rep. Haley Stevens (D) in a nail-biting Senate primary election that saw record levels of spending.
Earlier this summer, a batch of leftists and DSA alum triumphed over incumbents and party favorites with the help of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s endorsements.
Though Hurt warned Democrats they would be “doomed” by an ideological swing to the left, a list of prominent establishment figures rallied behind El-Sayed after his win.
After Michigan’s squeaker election was called on Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) issued a joint statement commending him for running “an energetic campaign that inspired thousands of Michiganders across the state, with a clear focus on lowering costs and standing up for working families.”
El-Sayed will face former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers in November’s general election.