A Fox News Digital focus group, consisting of Democrats, Republicans, and independents, reacted to President Donald Trump’s remarks during his joint session of Congress speech, particularly his condemnation of wokeness and assertion that there are “only two genders.” During two live dial tests, conducted by Lee Carter of maslansky + partners for Fox News Digital on Tuesday night, participants indicated their real-time reactions to these key moments.
The most notable findings showed that both Republicans and independents responded very favorably to Trump’s declaration that the U.S. will be “woke no longer.” However, Democratic voters overwhelmingly disapproved of his statement affirming only two genders.
During the first test, a clip was shown of Trump saying, “We’ve ended the tyranny of so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion policies all across the entire federal government and, indeed, the private sector and our military. And our country will be woke no longer.” As he spoke those words, the red line indicating Republican voters rose sharply and remained significantly above the neutral position.
He continued, saying, “We believe that whether you are a doctor, an accountant, a lawyer or an air traffic controller, you should be hired and promoted based on skill and competence, not race or gender. Very important.” The red line stayed high, and even climbed slightly. Meanwhile, the yellow line representing independents—though it rose more gradually—eventually climbed to a highly positive level, aligning with the red line representing Republicans, where it remained for the duration of Trump’s statement.
Democrats, however, reacted with neutrality or slight disapproval to Trump’s remarks on wokeness. Their blue line dipped just below the neutral mark on the chart and stayed there throughout the president’s comments. Carter gave her analysis of this test, stating, “Republicans and independents celebrated this moment. So many said it’s about time. Many called back his line about common sense rulings, saying things like, ‘Welcome Back… Common Sense!’”
For the second test, the Fox focus group listened as Trump said, “I signed an order making it the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female.” The red line surged quickly to a high point and remained there, indicating strong Republican approval of Trump’s remarks. A similar pattern emerged among independents, as the yellow line initially rose slowly but eventually spiked nearly to the same level as the red when Trump declared “two genders.”
Meanwhile, the blue line representing Democrats remained neutral at first, then dipped slightly into the negative zone, signaling disapproval of the president’s statement. “AGAIN, [Republicans] and INDs celebrated while their Dem counterparts scowled, saying things like, ‘Good gawd. Trump is bringing this country back to the dark ages,’” Carter said, giving her analysis.
She did offer a couple of observations about the dial tests overall, saying, “Dems barely reacted – wasn’t dialing on the floor like we usually see. They were just neutral. It’s like they weren’t willing to listen to him at all. Independents behaved much more like Republicans than Democrats.”