Crime and immigration draw criticism from almost every part of the spectrum. The study tagged 73 quotes to this theme, from 29 voices across 41 videos. Among quotes with a known political leaning, 32% came from Far Right voices, 29% from the Far Left and 23% from the Center. Only Right voices, with a single quote, sat this one out.

The Young Turks contributed more quotes than any other channel. BlazeTV, Fox News and the NJ Libertarian Party carry the Far Right’s share, while Duke University’s Department of Political Science and The Hill lead the Center. These voices want different policies. What they share is the view that Democrats had no convincing answer on the border or on crime, and that voters noticed.

Policy and tone

Immigration and border management make up the largest part of the theme. The second-largest part is about tone. Commentators say voters resented hearing that the border wasn’t a crisis or that crime was down when their own experience told them otherwise. On Pod Save America, one host said people in big cities “are furious” at being told that crime is down, and urged the party to “talk to some people who live near you.” The Hill called the border “the biggest unforced error of the Biden administration by far.” Crime on its own is a smaller part of the theme.

That focus on tone explains why the theme reaches so far left. Far Left voices such as The Young Turks, David Pakman and The Real News Network mostly argue that the party brushed off voters’ concerns, not that its policies were too lenient. Center voices, including Duke and the UChicago Institute of Politics, describe a party without a clear border policy. Far Right voices make the familiar “open borders” charge.

Even friendly outlets described the political damage. In post-election coverage, an MSNBC anchor explained that voters thought Donald Trump was “talking sense on immigration,” and acknowledged that the government had “failed to deal with the border until very recently.”