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Andrea Austria / Media Matters

Research/Study Research/Study

Right-wing media have been arguing for decades that fewer Americans should have the right to vote

Repealing the 19th Amendment, disenfranchising welfare recipients, and requiring a civics test — right-wing media are full of ideas about how to restrict voting

Written by Jack Winstanley

Research contributions from Jack Wheatley & Zachary Pleat

Published

With the midterms approaching, the Trump administration and its allies seem desperate to suppress the vote. The president has pressed Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, a package of legislation that experts say would create new barriers for voters and potentially disenfranchise millions. He has signed executive orders restricting mail voting and pushing for proof of citizenship in voter registration, and there has been significant chatter about sending Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to polling locations, which analysts say would be illegal. 

The executive orders have been struck down, and the SAVE America Act faces an uphill battle in Congress.

President Donald Trump’s efforts to suppress the vote have a significant ideological precedent. For decades, right-wing media have advocated restrictions on voter eligibility, laying the groundwork for Trump and his allies to undermine the upcoming midterms and push for policies that would make it harder for some Americans to vote. In a review of our archives, Media Matters found that primetime hosts, podcasters, columnists, and the like have attacked women’s right to vote, encouraged limiting the vote to property owners or heads of household, and advocated civics tests as a voting eligibility requirement. Some have outright stated that they only want people who share their political beliefs to be eligible to vote, or suggested kicking recipients of government assistance off the voter rolls. 

More recently, right-wing media figures and online influencers have claimed that opponents of the SAVE America Act “want to steal elections” and “want the illegals to be able to vote,” continuing a years-long campaign of misinformation about mass election interference and widespread fraud. In light of this supposed fraud and interference, some commentators and election deniers have advocated more policies that could suppress voter turnout: restrictions on mail-in voting, getting “rid of” voting machines, or sending ICE agents to “surround” polling places. Others have called on Trump to sign an executive order declaring a “national emergency” to give himself “king-like powers” over the midterms. 

Below we’ve compiled a survey of right-wing media arguing that fewer Americans should vote, going back to 2004.

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  • Right-wing media figures have criticized individual voting, called for a single household vote, or argued that only property owners should be allowed to vote

    • Streamer Asmongold, whose real name is Zack Hoyt, argued in favor of “mass disenfranchisement,” adding that land ownership should be a requirement for voting “because you have a direct, immediate, observable, tangible buy-in to the American future.” He continued: “Ask George Washington.  Ask Thomas Jefferson. That's why. You got skin in the game.” [YouTube, Asmongold, 6/1/26; Media Matters, 7/10/26]
    • In a clip uploaded to Instagram, Christian influencer Savanna Stone said: “My ideal voting system would be a one family vote, so my husband and I would vote together.” She went on, adding: “Traditionally, like, the husband would ultimately decide but again, like, I believe that a wife and husband should have the same political views, the same religious views. That’s how the marriage works.” According to CBC, “Stone is a rising star in the online conservative community, with some 800,000 followers across her platforms. She mainly posts Christian relationship advice, but is also highly critical of feminism, advocating for traditional gender roles.” [Instagram, The Pocket Podcast, 3/10/26; CBC, 6/12/26]
    • On The Dinesh D’Souza Podcast, Calvin Robinson, a conservative British commentator and cleric, stated, “This is why universal suffrage has harmed us as a society, because it's meant that there's no longer a vote for the household, for the family.” He added, “The husband votes, and then the wife goes out and undermines his vote. And so, they're literally canceling each other out now — the man and the wife.” [YouTube, The Dinesh D’Souza Show, 12/5/25; Prospect Magazine, 3/29/24]
    • Nick Fuentes argued that “people that own property” were one of the groups of people he “would entrust” with voting. He stated, “An 18-year-old that is renting an apartment and never had a real job and is basically, their parents are paying for everything. They don't have a car. They really have no way of knowing how the world works, and they also have no skin in the game.” [YouTube, Jack Neel Podcast, 11/24/25]
    • Evangelical author Nancy Pearcey told Alex Clark on The Spillover that “it's been a net negative to go from the household vote to the individual vote.” [YouTube, The Spillover, 2/2/24]
    • Josie Glabach, known online as The Red Headed Libertarian, said: “The founders felt like it was more like one family, one vote.” [OAN, In Focus with Addison Smith, 3/17/23]
    • Former Pittsburgh radio host Jim Quinn: “Originally, if you didn't own land, you didn't vote, and there was a good reason for it: because those without property will always vote away the property of other people unto themselves, and that's the beginning of the end.” He argued, “If I don't own anything, what kind of a problem do I have with voting for a measure — a tax, a law — that takes somebody else's property and gives it to me? I have no stake in personal property ownership because I don't have any.” [Clear Channel, The War Room with Quinn and Rose, 10/21/08]

  • Right-wing media figures have called for a repeal of the 19th Amendment or otherwise attacked women's right to vote

    • During a panel debate on The Michael Knowles Show, conservative influencer Priya Patel argued that repealing the 19th Amendment “would be better for the country overall.” She added that, short of repealing the 19th Amendment, “We could go back to something in terms of, I don't know exactly how you'd structure this, but something of a single family vote.” [The Daily Wire, The Michael Knowles Show, 4/18/26; Yahoo News, 3/28/26]
    • Michael Knowles argued that “only married women living in rural and maybe suburban areas [should] get to vote.” He added, “They actually get two votes,” arguing that “they get the right to vote of the women who are single and in the urban areas.” [The Daily Wire, The Michael Knowles Show, 12/19/25]
    • When asked what he'd do as president, Nick Fuentes stated that he'd “for sure” take away women’s right to vote. Later, while describing who he believes should be “eligible to vote,” Fuentes stated that only “people with children, people that own property, people that are of a certain age, people that have had military service, people that speak English” should vote. [YouTube, The Jack Neel Podcast, 11/24/25]
    • Fox News’ Greg Gutfeld, replying to co-host Harold Ford Jr.’s comments about women’s suffrage, said that we “shouldn't have given them the right to vote.” He added, “Everything went downhill a hundred years ago.” [Fox News, The Five, 11/17/26]
    • On Timcast IRL, Fresh and Fit host Myron Gaines stated, “I think we need to repeal the 19th Amendment.” He argued, “If we had to rely on the female vote, Kamala Harris would be in office right now. … Because women are single-issue voters. And that's a big problem.” [Rumble, Tim Pool IRL, 10/9/25]
    • Guest Terry Schilling on The Charlie Kirk Show claimed: “Every goal of the feminist movement — ever since they got, you know, the right to vote — after that, it all went downhill.” He also argued that the movement for women's equality has “always just been about tearing down men and removing them from society.” [Rumble, The Charlie Kirk Show, 8/2/24]
    • On LFA TV’s America First Live, host Alan Jacoby stated, “My wife literally thinks women should not vote. I tend to agree with her a lot.”  [LFA TV, America First Live, 12/19/23]
    • On BlazeTV, Todd Erzen replied to a post criticizing the 19th Amendment: “Yes, it should be repealed.” [Blaze TV, The Steve Deace Show, 11/15/23]
    • Right-wing podcaster Candace Owens stated, after asking her audience if society had improved since the passage of the 19th Amendment, “I’ve realized that right now, women in this society are allowing very bad things to take place because we’re too nice.” She went on: “We are willing to allow evil to take place over and over again. We’re allowing evil to go as far as it possibly can simply because we don’t want to upset anybody. We don’t want to make people feel bad." [The Daily Wire, Candace, 7/14/23]
    • On OAN, above the chyron “Josie makes case for abolishing 19th amendment,” Josie Glabach claimed the “19th Amendment itself, it’s an infringement on the 10th Amendment.” [One America News, In Focus with Addison Smith, 3/17/23]
    • Steven Crowder questioned when the military “had to become inclusive,” adding, “I think that this went wrong with women getting the right to vote.” He went on to claim, “Men didn't have the right to vote unless they were a part of mandatory draft, they had to pay taxes, mandatory bucket duty, you had to show up if there was a fire. If you didn't do these things, you weren't allowed to vote. Voting was a privilege for men, and then women said well, we want the right to vote, and they said OK, so part of the draft, and they said no.” [Rumble, Louder with Crowder, 9/20/21]
    • Right-wing author Ann Coulter: “I used to think women just shouldn’t be able to vote, now I think at least liberal women should not be able to hold office.” [Media Matters, 10/23/14]
    • Former Fox host Tucker Carlson: “You want your government run by people whose favorite show is Say Yes [To The Dress]?” On Fox News' Outnumbered, Carlson criticized a Republican ad encouraging young women to vote by casting doubt on whether or not the people targeted by the ad should vote, adding, “I don't think as a general matter you should be encouraging people who don't know anything about what they're voting for to vote. That's what the Democrats do, giving Newports to the homeless to get them to the polls. That's literally true. Republicans shouldn't follow suit on that. You shouldn't pander to people.” [Media Matters, 10/2/14]
    • Radio host Rush Limbaugh stated that “when women got the right to vote is when it all went downhill.” He added, “That’s when votes started being cast with emotion and maternal instincts that government ought to reflect.” [Media Matters, 7/5/12]
    • Coulter: “If we took away women's right to vote, we'd never have to worry about another Democrat president.” As quoted by the New York Observer, Coulter added: “It's kind of a pipe dream, it's a personal fantasy of mine, but I don't think it's going to happen. And it is a good way of making the point that women are voting so stupidly, at least single women.” [Media Matters, 10/4/07]

  • Right-wing media figures have argued that voters should have a “minimum level of knowledge” of civics or political issues, with some suggesting a test requirement or barring people they disagree with from voting

    • After Fox Business host Jackie DeAngelis claimed young voters supporting the Democratic Socialists of America are “brainwashed,” guest Steve Milloy suggested “we need to raise the voting age back to 21,” adding, “They have votes that are as good as mine and I'm sorry, that's just not right.” [Fox Business, The Bottom Line, 8/6/26]
    • Daily Wire host Matt Walsh argued that “we should drastically curtail the right to vote, across the board” and advocated for passing a “fifth grade civics exam” in order to vote. He said: “immigrants should not be allowed to vote in our elections until they've been legal citizens in this country for, say, 10 years. … Voting is not or shouldn't be a universal right granted to everyone. … I also think all voters should be required to complete and pass a fifth grade civics exam, which will be administered in English, by the way. … And we should disenfranchise everyone on welfare, even if they're American citizens.” [The Daily Wire, The Matt Walsh Show, 4/29/26]
    • Right-leaning streamer Asmongold endorsed “as many barriers to voting as possible,” including a “regular citizenship test” or a “logic test.” He stated: “I think that having just the masses of uneducated retards voting causes a lot of problems.” He added, “If you can’t finish the logic test you can’t vote.” [YouTube, Asmongold, 11/5/25] 
    • After reading results of a survey measuring Americans' civics knowledge, Walsh argued that people lacking civics knowledge “should not be allowed to vote.” Walsh continued: “And when it comes to voting, they have the same power that you do. Their vote counts equal to yours.” He added: “These people should not be allowed to vote. I mean, you hear people say that in a half-joking way, I can't believe these people can vote. But really, they shouldn't be able to. Like, actually, they should not be able to vote.” [The Daily Wire, The Matt Walsh Show, 9/21/23]
    • Fox host Jesse Watters endorsed a civics test requirement for voting. After guest and Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy spoke about his idea for a constitutional amendment for younger Americans to pass a civics test in order to vote, Watters said: “I agree with you 1,000 percent, Vivek.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 8/10/23]
    • Fox News host Greg Gutfeld argued that people who move from Democratic-run states to Republican-run states “shouldn’t be allowed to vote.” [Fox News, The Five, 7/6/23]
    • Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro argued that the right to vote should require “some sort of minimum level of knowledge” of U.S. civics. Shapiro added: “The basic idea that you should be able to have basic, not, as you say, fake poll test, literacy test designed to exclude Black people or something — the idea that you would have to have, like, a basic knowledge of America's Constitution, for example, to vote, I don't see that as a horrible idea. I really don't.” He continued: “I mean, I think that you should actually have to jump through the hoop of having to take the time and effort to vote, because if you're not willing to do that, then why should I take your vote as seriously as somebody who is willing to take voting seriously?” [The Daily Wire, The Ben Shapiro Show, 2/3/20]
    • Former Des Moines radio host Jan Mickelson, who stated he is in the “voter repression business,” said, “I want people not to vote unless they agree with me.” He also said being uninformed “should exclude you from being part of the process,” and suggested a “civics test” should be implemented “in order to qualify to vote.” [Media Matters, 6/8/15]
    • On Fox & Friends, Ann Coulter argued that “there is nothing unconstitutional about literacy tests” during a Fox & Friends segment that ran with a chyron reading, “Should citizens pass a civics test to vote?” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 4/15/15]
    • Talking about civics tests, then-Fox host Elisabeth Hasselbeck said: “What about if we took it one step further … into voting?” She added: “When you look at how many people get those answers wrong, how concerning is it to you that those very people are voting?” [Media Matters, 10/23/14]
    • After airing a montage of man on the street interviews asking people what the debt limit is, former Fox Business anchor John Stossel stated that “people who don’t know what the debt is shouldn’t vote.” He added: “Why should dummies vote?” O’Reilly joked that Stossel should “have a little bumper sticker:‘If you’re dumb, stay home on election day.’” [Fox News, The O’Reilly Factor, 7/26/11]
    • In National Review, Jonah Goldberg argued, “It’s about time we toughened up the requirements for voting.” He added, “Indeed, I would be more comfortable having newly naturalized immigrants decide the future of this country at the ballot box than leaving it up to, say, typical white 18-22 year-olds. I know that the immigrants can pass a civics test. I have no such confidence in the kids at my local malls.” [National Review, 1/13/04]

  • Right-wing media claim Americans receiving government assistance shouldn’t have the right to vote

    • Matt Walsh stated: “If you're living off of taxpayer money, you shouldn't get to vote.” He said: “We could transform our country overnight with a few tweaks. … Disenfranchise, take the vote away from anybody on welfare, number one.” [The Daily Wire, The Matt Walsh Show, 10/21/25]
    • Former Washington Times columnist Ted Nugent: “Let's also stop the insanity by suspending the right to vote of any American who is on welfare.” He continued: “Once they get off welfare and are self-sustaining, they get their right to vote restored. No American on welfare should have the right to vote for tax increases on those Americans who are working and paying taxes to support them. That's insane.” [The Washington Times, 12/3/12]
    • Talk radio host Michael Savage: “Do you think a person on welfare has the right to vote? I don't.” He added: “Why should a welfare recipient have the right to vote? They're only gonna vote themselves a raise.” [Talk Radio Network, The Savage Nation, 10/22/08]