As the 2024 election nears, Trump and Republicans are fixated on immigration. As a top election issue, Fox News has been spreading “replacement” conspiracy theory rhetoric more than ever. The network has expanded its talking points from claiming that Democrats are allowing in migrants in exchange for votes in federal elections to claiming that Democrats are allowing in migrants to affect the census and consequently the House of Representatives and Electoral College votes in their favor.
On his radio show, Fox host Sean Hannity said “Democrats” will eventually try to “offer amnesty” to those living in the country without authorization in exchange for votes. “Now amnesty is something of great worth and great value,” Hannity said. “Democrats will be saying to the people that they help break the law with and the people that are offered something of great value to, ‘What, you’re not going to vote for those guys, are you? Because they’re the ones that didn’t want you to come into the country illegally and they’re not the ones voting to make you citizens and give you amnesty and apply for citizenship.’” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 1/9/24]
Later, on his Fox prime-time show, Hannity mused about whether Democrats were “holding out, you know, the carrot of free citizenship” to migrants. Hannity said President Joe Biden was “not even pretending to care about the border” before asking, “What would the Democrats want in exchange for assistance in helping people break our laws, not respect our borders, our sovereignty, and maybe holding out, you know, the carrot of free citizenship?” [Fox News, Hannity, 1/9/24]
The Five co-host Jeanine Pirro: “How many do you need to come into the United States to vote Democrat because they all love Joe Biden?” Pirro continued: “In New York City, they want illegals to vote. And you give them a license, it’s a point of identification that they can then start applying to vote.” [Fox News, The Five, 1/30/24]
When co-host Jessica Tarlov attempted to dispel Pirro’s replacement theory rhetoric, co-host Greg Gutfeld backed Pirro, claiming that Dems have admitted to the conspiracy theory: “Democrats have said that. And they’ve never used the phrase ‘replacement theory,’ but they talk about bringing in new voters and turning Texas from red to purple to blue. So it’s not like a racist thing to say.” [Fox News, The Five, 1/30/24]
Hoover Institute senior fellow Victor Davis Hanson claimed that Biden and other Democrats “felt that open borders gave them new constituencies.” “They called anybody racist or xenophobic who wanted a secure border,” Hanson continued. “They said, ‘Oh, you believe in the great replacement theory,’ even, Sean, as they were writing books called, The New Democratic Majority, or Demography is Destiny.” [Fox News, Hannity, 2/7/24]
On his radio show, Fox News host Mark Levin said the “Democrat Party” wants to “change the citizenry as a whole, literally, through open borders and the migration of not just millions but tens of millions of foreigners.” “All of whom come here illegally, over the border, that’s what I’m talking about — not those who go through the process,” he continued. “And all of whom will thank the Democrat Party and Joe Biden.” [Westwood One, The Mark Levin Show, 2/29/24]
Failed Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said it’s not a conspiracy theory but a “conspiracy reality” that Democrats are importing voters to secure a “long-run, lasting electoral majorities.” After Ramaswamy claimed that border security and election integrity are “intimately linked,” host Laura Ingraham interjected, “Do you think illegals are going to be voting in this next election?” He replied, “I think inevitably there’s going to be a lot of seepage, and I think that it’s also a long-run play.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 3/7/24]
After listing extreme instances of migrants committing violent crimes, Fox News anchor Julie Banderas said, “These are the people that the Biden administration is inviting into our country in order to join the census and eventually vote for Democrats like Biden to get back into office.” [Fox News, The Faulkner Focus, 3/18/24]
Fox contributor Ari Fleischer: Biden’s immigration policy is “part of a political endgame for the Democrats to hold power.” “This is a crisis of his [Biden’s] creation, of his own wanting, because the end game for the Democrats, Sean, is to let people come in illegally, get them work papers, which leads to green cards, which leads to voting,” Fleischer reiterated. [Fox News, Hannity, 4/1/24]
Fox host Jesse Watters accused Democrats of lying about the border and migrants committing crimes, warning, “Remember, they also say they won’t be able to vote.” “They said the border wasn’t open. They said they wouldn’t take our jobs. They said they aren’t committing crimes. And now they say they’re not bringing drugs. All of those things were lies,” Watters said. “And remember, they also say they won’t be able to vote.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 4/4/24]
Hannity suggested that Democrats want to create a “path to citizenship” for migrants in exchange for votes. “What we’re talking about here is a plan to ultimately provide a path to citizenship,” Hannity said. “But if they become the party that offers this, the most highly coveted passport that the world can offer and they give it away free — ‘Well, I hope you’ll vote for us after we gave you that.’” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 4/12/24]
Pirro praised Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson’s voter suppression effort, claiming, “Even though there is a law that says you can’t vote if you’re illegal, the truth is — New York City, a couple months ago, wants 800,000 illegals to vote in the next election.” She added: “So, this is a war.” [Fox News, The Five, 4/12/24]
Conservative radio host Ben Ferguson claimed the Democratic Party — which he described as “Marxist, socialist, and communist combined” — understands that “if you bankrupt a country and you bring in new voters” by “the millions” you can “fundamentally change the United States of America in one generation.” [Fox News, Outnumbered, 4/16/24]
