Fox News host Sean Hannity on Tuesday questioned his own networks polling after guest Bill de Blasio pointed out that Fox News itself shows Texas state Democratic Rep. James Talarico leading President Donald Trump’s endorsed candidate, Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The poll in question was published last week and showed Paxton “has yet to fully unify the GOP.” The Fox News poll also revealed “more voters are concerned Paxton lacks the character to serve than worry [Talarico] is too extreme.”
The results, according to the poll “give Talarico a 3-point edge over Paxton (51 percent vs. 48 percent) in the Senate contest.” That poll is within the “margin of sampling error,” according to Fox News.
Discussing the Senate race with de Blasio on Tuesday, Hannity complained that “six-gender Talarico … believes God is non-binary … believes biological men should play women’s sports, and believes that biological men should have access to abortion.”
“Did you read your own poll today where Talarico is beating Paxton?” de Blasio asked.
“I don’t believe it for two seconds,” the host shot back.
As the Independent reported last week, Trump’s decision to endorse Paxton — effectively dooming Sen. John Cornyn’s (R-TX) future in the Senate just days before the primary runoff election —“could risk losing the Senate seat to a Democrat for the first time since 1988.”
That report cited the same Fox News poll Hannity dismissed, noting the poll “shows Talarico winning 24 percent of Republicans who do not identify as MAGA, 63 percent of self-described moderates and 59 percent of Hispanic voters.”
“That might come back to bite Trump,” according to the Independent.
Trump himself has proven to be rattled by the Democratic challenger, calling him “James Talafreako,” and telling guests at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner “he’s not going to do very well against Ken Paxton.”
As The Daily Beast reports, “the Fox News poll is not the only one that spells trouble for Paxton.”Per the Beast:
Talarico leads [Paxton] 47 percent to 45 percent, according to a survey of 1,200 likely voters by the Barbara Jordan Public Policy Research and Survey Center at Texas Southern University released this week. Last Tuesday, a Texas Public Opinion Research survey had Talarico ahead 45 percent to 40 percent.
Hannity, speaking with de Blasio, rattled off a list of people who’ve expressed apprehension about Talarico’s Senate run, including political strategist James Carville late-night host Bill Maher and Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA).
“I’m telling you, it’s a canary in the coal mine,” Hannity insisted.
“Nope. Young voters are gonna change these elections. You’re gonna be surprised, and they’re gonna be with the Democrats,” de Blasio replied.