Erick Erickson wasn’t surprised when Democrats won big on Tuesday. The host of the nationally syndicated The Erick Erickson Show says he saw the blowout coming for months.
For months, Erickson told his listeners to brace for a bad night. However, he says plenty of them didn’t want to hear it. Now that the results are in, he’s turning his attention to explaining what happened.
In an interview, Erickson also detailed how the midterms will shape his show. Additionally, he outlined what he sees as the next big test for conservative news/talk radio.
Warning Listeners Before Election Day
Erickson didn’t soften his message as November approached. Instead, he leaned on conversations with Republican strategists.
“I don’t know what everybody else was telling their audiences, but I’ve been telling mine for months it was going to be bad,” said Erickson. “I was getting angry, angry, angry listeners telling me that wasn’t true, that it was going to be okay. I’ve had Republican strategists for months telling me it was going to be a bloodbath, and even I didn’t think it was going to be as bad as it was.”
Erickson also used his own research to gauge the mood of Trump supporters. That work raised an early red flag.
“We did a research project on my show at the beginning of this year, and the number one topic that Trump supporters didn’t want to talk about was Trump,” stated The Erick Erickson Show host. “They’re tired of it, which was kind of a red flag to me that this election was not going to be good when his own supporters were tired of him.”
Meanwhile, Erickson says the polling told the real story.
“You can’t tell me the polling’s wrong now, because you’ve all just seen the polling was actually right,” Erickson shared. “If anything, it undercounted Democratic strength.”
Furthermore, he cautions against one-word explanations.
“You can’t just say it was the war,” said Erickson. “You can’t just say it was the failure to pass the Save America Act. You’ve got to actually look at what the voters actually said, because the polling was right.”
What the Results Mean for His Show
Erickson doesn’t plan a dramatic format change. Instead, he’ll stay focused on the news of the day.
“You don’t want to burn out the audience,” stated The Erick Erickson Show host. “My general rule, though, is if I’m tired of talking about a topic, they must be. But also, my show is always guided by what is the big news of the day. There will be big news next week that is not about the election, and that’s where we’ll go. That’s why I think my audience retention numbers after something like this remain really good.”
In the coming weeks, Erickson expects a flood of White House news. As a result, he’s leaning on his sources.
“In the next couple of months, of course, there are going to be rumors of departures from the White House, actual departures, lots of leaks,” said Erickson. “I always take a news-first approach anyway, and not just opinion. So what are the big headlines of the day? What do I know from my sources of what’s true and what’s not?”
Rethinking Conservative Talk
Erickson believes the midterms should spark a larger conversation. Specifically, he thinks too many hosts tied themselves to the administration.
“I frankly think that conservative talk radio as a whole needs to do some level of reassessment, in that so many have just been cheerleaders for an administration and essentially served as propagandists for a party that a majority of Americans, including a sizable number of Republicans, rejected on Tuesday night,” Erickson shared.
Erickson traces his own approach back to advice from Rush Limbaugh. Notably, that guidance shaped his show from the very first day.
“When Rush Limbaugh got me into radio, we had a very long talk about how to do radio before my very first day behind the microphone, and he said, ‘Your job is not to save the world,’” said Erickson. “‘It’s not to change the world. It’s to keep people company.’ That’s how I’ve always done my show.”
The Next Big Item
Looking ahead, Erickson sees a major test coming as Trump becomes a lame duck and a presidential primary begins. That shift, he argues, will separate hosts who built credibility from those who borrowed it.
“I just think there’s got to be a wake-up call moving forward,” Erickson admitted. “If you hitch your wagon to a guy, you’re going to have to reinvent yourself every single presidential election, and at some point people don’t want to hear a new host every single day. They just want the same guy who’s been telling them the truth the whole time.”
Ultimately, Erickson isn’t blaming voters.
“You can’t say that the voters are wrong, because I say all the time: ‘People are stupid and stupid people vote,’” Erickson said with a chuckle. “But when they get in the voting booth, the collective wisdom of the nation happens. And the voters are always right, whether you like it or not.”
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