(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) CNN journalist and political hack Chris Cillizza wrote a smug, nonsensical and partisan editorial blaming Republicans for polarization in Congress, Twitchy reported.
Believing himself highly intelligent, Cillizza began his piece by coining the term ‘asymmetric polarization,’ an elite way of saying that one side of the aisle is more polarized than the other.
According to Cillizza’s argument, both Democrats and Republicans have become more polarized in the past 50 years.
“It is true that Democrats have grown slightly more liberal over the past five decades,” he wrote.
But ultimately, he claimed that Republicans are to blame.
“It is also true that Republicans have grown FAR more conservative over that same time and, in so doing, have moved the overall ideological center of the House to the right as well,” he concluded.
Cillizza tweeted the findings of his “study.”
Republicans have grown *much* more conservative than Democrats have grown liberal over the past 5 decades https://t.co/gFYaAaSpnK
— Chris Cillizza (@ChrisCillizza) March 15, 2022
“Republicans have grown *much* more conservative than Democrats have grown liberal over the past 5 decades,” he tweeted.
Of course, the data that he used relies on standards of liberalism or conservatism set by polling analysts themselves, so it is unclear that the data can actually be trusted.
Some on Twitter suggested that the opposite is actually the case, and Democrats have moved farther Left over the decades.
Here is a chart based on different Pew data showing the exact opposite since 1994. Republicans have moved slightly right. Dems have moved way left.
Data in dictates data out. pic.twitter.com/LAEL6Dxqt0
— AG🌻 (@AGHamilton29) March 15, 2022
“Here is a chart based on different Pew data showing the exact opposite since 1994,” one user wrote. “Republicans have moved slightly right. [Democrats] have moved way left.”
“Data in dictates data out,” the user concluded.