NewsNation’s Chris Stirewalt On Why “Everyone Needs To Just Cool It A Bit” About The Meaning Of The Midterms

08.11.2022 - 17:43 / deadline.com

As candidates and commentators warn that democracy is at stake in this year’s midterms, Nextstar NewsNation’s political editor Chris Stirewalt is a bit cool to the idea that Tuesday’s has that ultimate impact.

“The one thing I always try to impress upon people is, ‘The most important election is always the next election.’ Because we get to do it again, right? There is no finish line in a democracy. We just keep doing it,” Stirewalt told Deadline in an interview last week.

That’s not to say there are not concerns, as Stirewalt is well aware of the fallout from election denialism.

Back in 2020, Stirewalt defended Fox News’ call of Arizona for Joe Biden, the first sign that Donald Trump would lose the election. The network’s decision desk turned out to be correct, but the network faced a backlash on the right as Stirewalt and others defended the call. He still found himself out of a job the following January, in what the network said was a restructuring and he said was a firing. He recently published a book Broken News: Why the Media Rage Machine Divides America and How to Fight Back, about his experiences in the news business, and he testified before the January 6th Committee last summer as they explored Trump’s advancement of false election claims.

NewsNation has teamed with elections analysis and forecasting site Decision Desk HQ for the results. “I think they have a lot of the pirate-ship energy that we had on the Fox News Decision Desk and a real desire to be right and to be first. So they’re great to work with and a lot of fun,” Stirewalt said.

Despite what happened with his old employer, Stirewalt still thinks that they “have the resources necessary to do it right.” Arnon Mishkin is returning to Fox News to the