Republican primary voters are devoted Fox News viewers and Trump backers, but recent studies show that Republicans who do not watch Fox News are less supportive of Trump.
The New York Times mentioned findings from recent New York Times/Siena College polling:
All the Republicans surveyed in our poll who indicated they relied on Fox News or other conservative sources stated their intention to support Mr. Trump in the general election. This differs from Republicans who primarily get their news from outlets like CNN and major news organizations: 79% of them plan to vote for Mr. Trump, and 13% said they planned to vote for President Biden.
Mainstream media Republicans are less supportive of Mr. Trump across many metrics. They are 20 percentage points less likely than conservative media Republicans to express enthusiasm about Mr. Trump as the party’s nominee, and over 30 percentage points less likely to say Mr. Trump’s policies have personally benefited them.
The survey also revealed that the proportion of Republicans who receive news from non-Fox/conservative media is approximately the same as those who obtain it from Fox and conservative media. Both groups accounted for about 30% each of the survey.
Donald Trump heavily relies on Fox News and conservative media, but the general electorate of Republicans is notably different and less pro-Trump than the primary electorate. 13% of the non-Fox News-watching Republicans surveyed indicated that they would be voting for President Biden.
By conducting his media campaign through Fox News/Newsmax/conservative media, Trump is not reaching out to any new voters. Trump is engaging with individuals who were already intending to vote for him.
The issue might be mitigated if Trump had a substantial amount of money to spend on advertising to reach more voters, but the Trump campaign is having difficulty raising funds, and President Biden currently has nearly a 4 to 1 fundraising advantage.
If Trump continues to rely on Fox News, it would be surprising if his outcomes are the same or worse for him in November.
