Making his return Friday to Fox News @ Night, NewsBusters Managing Editor Curtis Houck sat on the show’s opening panel to analyze the state of the 2024 presidential race, noting the left’s “really desperate” to steer the election toward their preferred outcome by “shaming” minorities who’ve increasingly moved right.
Houck also joined in at the end for the show’s daily segment, The Nightcap, which asked Houck and four others whether President Joe Biden is undermining Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential aspirations.
Going back to the beginning, fill-in host Kevin Corke brought in Houck alongside former Trump administration EPA senior counsel Samantha Dravis, explaining new polls of Hispanic voters out of Arizona and Nevada serve as “a real warning sign...for Kamala Harris.”
Dracis went first, stating “there has been a trend since 2016 of Republicans gaining more support with Latino voters” with “Harris...well behind where Biden was in 2020 with Latino voters”.
Houck piled on, noting the Harris team is “hemorrhaging Hispanic support” and the concern has been really given what’s being said in “the media, we see this from our perspective at NewsBusters, and this is reflected, I guess, in the campaign messaging, they’re really desperate.”
“[Y]ou see this very similarly with black men, with Barack Obama being brought in, and it’s almost a shaming, instead of grappling with the fact that Hispanics aren’t a monolith, and they are concerned about many of the same things that other Americans are concerned about: jobs, border security, crime, education, fallout from Covid, you name it,” he added, explaining the left would rather talk about abortion of January 6.
Dravis argued “legal immigrants, in particular” are “outraged by the illegal immigration crisis” and “are not buying what she’s selling” since “[s]he has changed her substantive position on almost every single important policy issue.”
Houck was shown a new Democratic National Committee ad that didn’t necessarily go after Donald Trump, but rather....Jill Stein, who’s running yet again on the Green Party ticket.
This, he observed, was another example of the left showing an inability to accept the 2016 election, eight years later:
[T]his is the same thing we see with Hillary Clinton talking about censorship. They are talking about Jill Stein again. Like, we are never going to get over 2016, are we? You know, we, as a country, we talk about 2020, 2016 is the one election that nobody really seems ready to move on from. Barack Obama, still relitigating 2016...[B]etween this and the men add that we play at the beginning the show, this was one of some of the creepiest ads I’ve seen. I mean, which side is weird? You know? The left wants to talk about J.D. Vance being weird? This is some weird stuff.
At the end of the show, Houck concurred with the sentiments of his fellow panelists (former Homeland Security official Jonathan Fahey, Fox’s Chanley Painter, and our friends Spencer Brown of Townhall and Tiana Lowe Doescher of the Washington Examiner) that there’s no doubt Biden is undermining Harris (with Hurricane Milton being the latest example):
It definitely is happening and the other reason I think it's happening is because, yeah, the CNN clip you played in the tease noticed it. It really hasn't come up in the network coverage of the campaign. So, because the media aren't talking about it, I say they know it and they don't want to talk about it.
Since Friday’s show, a report in Axios showed that, in fact, the five of them were spot on.
To see the relevant FNC transcript from October 11, click “expand.”
Fox News @ Night
October 11, 2024
11:06 p.m. EasternKEVIN CORKE: We want to continue the conversation and discuss the state of the presidential race tonight with NewsBusters managing editor, Curtis Houck, and former senior counsel at the EPA, Samantha Dravis. Samantha, let me begin with you. I want to share this presidential preference among Hispanic voters. A lot of people really curious about how well or how poorly the race may go for the existing vice president, in particular, as we take a look at the numbers you see right now, that 57 give or take to 37 in Arizona, and 56 to 39 in Nevada. Now, at first blush, you may say, eh, it looks pretty fine. But if you really drill down, that’s a real warning sign, I imagine, for Kamala Harris.
SAMANTHA DRAVIS: Well, it is because there has been a trend since 2016 of Republicans gaining more support with Latino voters. But right now, Harris is well behind where Biden was in 2020 with Latino voters. Latino population obviously significant in Arizona and Nevada. I actually saw USA Today poll that showed that Latino men under the age of 49 Trump is leading by 13 points.
CORKE: Wow.
DRAVIS: So, these core Democrat constituencies, Harris is underperforming. She is — she is not going to get there with the way things look right now.
CORKE: You know what? Speaking of that, I want to share this Curtis to get you to weigh in on it. This actually will take us back to 2020, which Samantha just referenced. This is the voter analysis, Latina or Hispanics — Biden, 63 to 35 over the former President and I think this speaks to this greater trend, especially if you go all the way back to 2012. If you are a Democrat, and you’re looking at how they’re faring with Hispanic voters, this has got to be deeply troubling.
CURTIS HOUCK: Yah, they are hemorrhaging Hispanic support. I mean, the media, we see this from our perspective at NewsBusters, and this is reflected, I guess, in the campaign messaging, they’re really desperate. You know, you see this very similarly with black men, with Barack Obama being brought in, and it’s almost a shaming, instead of grappling with the fact that Hispanics aren’t a monolith, and they are concerned about many of the same things that other Americans are concerned about: jobs, border security, crime, education, fallout from Covid, you name it, you go on down the list. And that’s why the left, I think, wants to debate this election on other issues, particularly January 6, abortion, you name it, their issues. They want to fight on their turf instead of things that are popular, you know, with the American people.
CORKE: Right. You nailed it. I think you make a really good point. Let me follow up and ask you about why you think this trend is shifting so dramatically, Samantha. Because Curtis really talked about some real issues, and yet, at the same time, when I look at the tabs and the breakouts, they are not buying what Kamala Harris, in particular, seems to be selling.
DRAVIS: Yeah, you’re right. I mean, I think the top two issues still for all voters are the economy and immigration. I think legal immigrants, in particular, outraged by the illegal immigration crisis that they have seen under the Biden-Harris administration. You know, they are not buying what she’s selling. She has changed her substantive position on almost every single important policy issue. I think she’s coming off as disingenuous and dishonest, and that’s coming through in the polling.
CORKE: You know, I’m so glad you mentioned the idea that legal immigrants have a real problem with what’s happening down at the border right now, I know many, and they are furious. They feel like this is deeply unfair. Very quickly, I want to share a quick sound bite. This is the DNC, Curtis, actually making a six-figure ad buy in many of the swing states. Listen, and then, I’ll tell you why and who this is about.
DNC AD NARRATOR: Stein was key to Trump’s 2016 wins in battleground states. She’s not sorry she helped Trump win. That’s why a vote for Stein is really a vote for Trump.
CORKE: First time we have seen them issue in sort of a real challenge to a third-party candidate in this way. I’ve never seen this happen, certainly not to this level. 45 seconds, Curtis.
HOUCK: Yeah, I mean, this is the same thing we see with Hillary Clinton talking about censorship. They are talking about Jill Stein again.
CORKE: Yes.
HOUCK: Like, we are never going to get over 2016, are we? You know, we, as a country, we talk about 2020, 2016 is the one election that nobody really seems ready to move on from. Barack Obama, still relitigating 2016 as well. That’s what — between this and the men add that we play at the beginning the show, this was one of some of the creepiest ads I’ve seen. I mean, which side is weird? You know? The left wants to talk about J.D. Vance being weird? This is some weird stuff.
CORKE: You know, I would love to get you to weigh in more on this, Samantha, but I don’t want to cheat you out of your time, but I will just note that in watching that ad that we just saw there, the men for the Vice President was — well, let’s just call it unique. And I’m wondering, will that resonate with women, do you think?
DRAVIS: No. I don’t think it will. I think that this — this campaign is willing to do anything except take responsibility for the policies that the voters don’t like and that are not resonating with them. So, you know, it just goes back to their identity politics that this party is based around, and they don’t want to accept that that’s not really working anymore.
CORKE: I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that. Samantha Dravis, Curtis Houck, folks, thank you so much.
HOUCK: Thanks, Kevin.
(....)
11:52 p.m. Eastern
CORKE: Curtis, how about you?
HOUCK: Yeah, Kevin, I'm with Spencer on this one. It definitely is happening and the other reason I think it's happening is because, yeah, the CNN clip you played in the tease noticed it. It really hasn't come up in the network coverage of the campaign. So, because the media aren't talking about it, I say they know it and they don't want to talk about it.
CORKE: Uh-huh.
