Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts tells Fox that midterm election polling is a “psyop ... to depress conservative turnout”
Published
Citation
From the September 28, 2026, edition of Fox Business' Mornings with Fox Business
CHERYL CASONE (HOST): Kevin, it's great to see you. I want to get your thoughts on Charlie Cook's prediction, we're just over a month away from the midterms, and he's saying done deal. Do you agree with that?
KEVIN ROBERTS (HERITAGE FOUNDATION PRESIDENT): No, I'm old enough to remember so many times that Charlie Cook and the chattering class in Washington have been wrong. And in particular, if you look at the Senate map, I just think he's outrageously wrong in this case. The Republicans have legitimate pickup opportunities in places you wouldn't expect, Cheryl: New Hampshire, Michigan, Minnesota. Is it a tough environment? Sure. That's what American history would suggest for the party that's in power. But I think that this prognosticating is a psyop by so many of these polling firms in order to do what, to depress conservative turnout.
CASONE: Mmhmm.
ROBERTS: And so, I think it's really important that we understand the Senate is not going to flip. James Talarico, who believes in six genders, is not going to win a majority of the votes in Texas. I would agree, however, that the House is a jump ball. The only person more optimistic than me in Washington on that front is Speaker Mike Johnson. I'm glad you'll be hearing from him. He's done such a great job. But I'm optimistic because I look at this race by race, and I see the contrast between the left and the right. And I think that we have a few weeks before early voting starts in a majority of states have early voting, that's time for both the message and also the money on the conservative side to bring home what I think is going to be an anomaly. I think there's going to be a conservative victory in the Senate and in the House.