Goldberg and Hayes quitting Fox News illustrates threat of polarization

Last week, Fox News’ Jonah Goldberg and Stephen Hayes resigned from the network following the release of Tucker Carlson’s special, “Patriot Purge,” which presents an alternate history of the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. “Patriot Purge” portrays the violence perpetrated by the pro-Trump mob as a “false flag” that has led to the unjustified persecution of conservatives—a dishonest depiction that has metastasized in far-right-wing circles.

The collective departure of Goldberg and Hayes from Fox News ultimately underscores the grave risk that America’s extreme political polarization poses to the endurance of our democracy.

It is hard not to be sympathetic toward Hayes and Goldberg—both of whom I have known personally as responsible conservatives, and had debated collegially and respectfully during my time at Fox News—in their motivation to resign. Two other senior Fox News anchors, Chris Wallace and Brett Baier, have also reportedly expressed similar sentiments toward Carlson’s “Patriot Purge,” though both Wallace and Baier remain at the network.

What happened on January 6th was unequivocally an attack on America’s democratic institutions. The individuals who consistently downplay or mischaracterize the events of that disturbing day are actively endangering—and potentially irreversibly harming—our democracy.

At the same time, it is also clear to me as a political analyst that the bulk of sentiment and opinion within the Republican Party aligns with the Trump-wing. Donald Trump has an 86 percent favorable rating among Republicans, according to an October Quinnipiac poll.

Trump also tops early polls for the 2024 Republican presidential primary. Per an October Morning Consult/Politico survey, 47 percent of Republican voters would vote for Trump if the primary were held today, and no other G.O.P. candidate garners above 13 percent.

Furthermore, Trump’s “Big Lie” that the election was stolen from him has become the centerpiece of the Republican Party’s platform, and the G.O.P. now rejects members of their caucus who don’t accept it, or who go against Trump in any way. The most prominent example of this is Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), who was stripped of her leadership position in the House because she voted to impeach Trump for inciting an insurrection on January 6th.

Other Republicans who have opposed Trump—by rejecting his “Big Lie” or by voting to impeach—have simply bowed out of Republican politics. One G.O.P. representative who voted to impeach, Rep. Anthony Gonzales (R-OH), called Trump a “cancer for the country” and announced that he would not seek reelection in anticipation of a “brutally hard primary” challenge by a Trump-backed candidate.

With that in mind, given that the dominant ideology the G.O.P. clearly resides within the Trump-wing of the party, one could reasonably expect and anticipate that Fox News would be cognizant of that audience.

Fox News is also clearly facing competition from Newsmax and OAN, who forcefully—and dare I say effectively—reflect the right-wing Trump-view. Given that context, one could understand why Fox News—especially after the backlash they received from the right when the network was one of the first to call the state of Arizona in the presidential election for Joe Biden—would be very sensitive to the growing ratings of Newsmax and OAN, who uniformly echo Trump’s doubts about the integrity of the election.

Put another way, I do recognize that Fox News has the impossible task of trying to balance the establishment wing of the G.O.P. with the more extremist Trump-wing of the party. To Fox News’ credit, they renewed Arnon Mishkin, an old friend and colleague of mine, who made the Arizona call for Biden.

That being said, the infamous day of January 6th, 2021 was not a “Patriot Purge.” It was an effort to thwart our democracy—which was ultimately rebuffed due to people like Mike Pence, who in the end stood up for the process and for democracy.

As I’ve worked to address in the forthcoming book I’ve written with my business partner, Carly Cooperman, America: Unite or Die, there is a much bigger issue at play than the problems on the right. Goldberg’s and Hayes’ resignations are illustrative of the larger crisis in American politics: there is virtually no room for conciliation, and it has become increasingly difficult for bipartisanship to survive.

When there is cooperation, the result is backlash against those who do. This was the case most recently with the 13 Republicans in the House that voted to pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill, who are now facing sustained attacks from others in the party.

And just as the right is internally polarized, so is the left—indeed, the ascendant progressive-wing is increasingly at odds with the few remaining moderates in the Democratic Party, of which I consider myself. As a result, the country is so starkly divided that we can’t even agree on how to conduct elections, whether these elections were fair, what defines racism, or how to educate our children—in other words, on basic issues like these, but certainly not limited to them.

Ultimately, the extreme political polarization we experience every day is exemplified by these two very upstanding conservatives, Hayes and Goldberg, resigning out of principle.

In the end, what this all bares out is how hopeless our politics are at this time. This widespread rejection of compromise by far too many elected officials and citizens has hopelessly divided us, and has made our government unable to deal effectively with the enormous challenges America faces today, putting the very foundation of our democracy in imminent peril.

Douglas Schoen is a longtime Democratic consultant.