The socialist surge on the left prompted a “wake-up call” from one Fox News host on a key issue the GOP appears to be letting Democrats “own.”
(Video Credit: Fox News)
Even those unfamiliar with the recent burrito debate circulating on social media have likely encountered arguments pitting economic struggles against personal accountability. Given the parallels to victimhood mentality in Marxist messaging, Fox News’ Sandra Smith warned that Republicans need to course-correct when it comes to talking about affordability.
Ahead of the Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial primary where state Assemblymember Francesca Hong ultimately lost to Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, the “America Reports” co-anchor joined “The Five” where co-host Emily Compagno brought up the lack of endorsements for the socialist from comrades in arms Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D).
Presented with whether the leftists were exercising purposeful silence or presenting a “demarcation” among Democrats, Smith began her reply, “I think it’s really special that Bernie Sanders and AOC can’t warm up to Hong, but I think there’s a wake-up call here.”
“How in the world are Republicans letting Democrats, far-left, radical, socialist Democrats, own the affordability thing? Own that prices are up because of [President] Donald Trump?” she asked before reminding about the economic woes under President Joe Biden with 40-year high inflation. “Trump handed, after his first term, Biden gas prices at $2.39. [Biden] ran those prices up to a record $5 a gallon at the pump. Where were these people then? Now they want those policies back and more.”
“Biden handed off $3.10. Trump brought it back down in his second term to $2.80 a gallon. It’s back up near four, okay?” continued Smith, who highlighted the leftist leverage. “So that’s where Democrats are saying, they’re crying, your gas prices are out — this is while we’re in the middle of the war ensuring that Iran doesn’t have nuclear weapons.”
Hers is a message making the rounds as it was previously reported that Karl Rove similarly decried “Bidenesque” talking points from the right.
“Look, you cannot do, and we are doing right now what Joe Biden did, ‘everything’s great.’ You know, we can’t go out and say, ‘It’s the best economy the world’s ever seen,'” he told Fox Business’ Larry Kudlow. “That’s not what people are feeling.”
Karl Rove warns Trump admin it needs to fine tune Bidenesque economic messaging https://t.co/d4kjyp5uJE via @BIZPACReview
— BPR (@BIZPACReview) August 4, 2026
“What we’ve got to remind them is that we’ve taken steps to make it better, and those steps resonate with ordinary people,” he added.
On “The Five,” Smith continued, “For Republicans to not own the affordability problem that Americans are suffering right now is a problem. They need to acknowledge that that happened and that happened under the last presidency. But now we’ve got to own it.”
Pointing to socialist proposals from Hong, she went on, “So these are the solutions she’s offering at a very sensitive time for this affordability moment. But Republicans beware, don’t let them keep owning this affordability message when the numbers clearly show these prices ran upward at the last administration and the onus is on Republicans to get them back down come midterm elections.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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