Gretchen Whitmer asked whether 'hidden xenophobia' will affect midterm elections

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Cite

Kornick, L. (2026, October 27). Gretchen Whitmer asked whether 'hidden xenophobia' will affect midterm elections. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/media/gretchen-whitmer-asked-whether-hidden-xenophobia-affect-midterm-elections

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Fox News · collected 2026-10-27 · by Lindsay Kornick

Quick Summary

MS NOW anchor Peter Alexander questioned Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer about whether Republican politicians were exploiting "hidden xenophobia" in the lead-up to the midterm elections, specifically referencing attacks on Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed by President Trump and Mike Rogers. Whitmer responded that she believes they are trying to cultivate such sentiment, though she also criticized Republicans for focusing on issues other than the rising cost of living.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-27, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

On October 27, 2026, MS NOW anchor Peter Alexander questioned Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer about potential hidden xenophobia in Michigan ahead of the midterm elections. The discussion centered on the U.S. Senate race between Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed and Republican candidate Mike Rogers, noting that this race has received significant national attention with appearances by former President Barack Obama and current President Donald Trump. Alexander specifically asked Whitmer if she worried about xenophobia being tapped into, to which she responded that both Trump and Rogers might hope there is such sentiment in Michigan and are trying to cultivate it. Whitmer also agreed that the language used by Trump against El-Sayed was dangerous. This conversation highlights concerns over racial and ethnic discrimination playing a role in political campaigns.

Written for “Gretchen Whitmer Midterm Concerns” on 2026-10-27, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.35, but all 2 of its quote(s) are attributed speech - words the article quotes from someone, not the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 109188: attributed speech only · logged 2026-10-27

Story

📰 Gretchen Whitmer Midterm Concerns
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 14% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Michigan Senate rivals clash over Muslim Brotherhood allegations as Rogers doubles down on El-Sayed different event · 90%
Fox News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 42 📰 publisher trust 67
“The articles describe different interviews and discussions related to the Michigan Senate race, but do not cover the same specific incident or time.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
14
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
14%
2 of 14 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
67/100
Fox News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-27 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

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Who wrote this

Lindsay Kornick
46 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The MS NOW host showed a clip of himself asking Whitmer over the weekend about what she thought about the "ugly recent rhetoric" levied against El-Sayed by Rogers and Trump, suggesting the attacks could be motivated by "xenophobia.
2026-10-27 · assertive framing · Gretchen Whitmer asked whether 'hidden xenophobia' will affect midterm elections
🔮 "I know it would sound crazy if I say none of the critique was valid, but I’m like, what is the critique?" Hannah-Jones told The New York Times during an interview on Wednesday.
2026-10-26 · assertive framing · Nikole Hannah-Jones laments 'pretty brutal' response to viral essay on sending daughter to public school
🔮 "The top story from the 2026 cycle will be the electoral opening Democrats seized — and will have to maintain," Emanuel wrote for The Wall Street Journal.
2026-10-23 · assertive framing · Rahm Emanuel pleads for the Democratic Party to welcome more 'McCain-Romney Republicans'
🔮 Border czar Tom Homan has said that if the allegations are proven, Omar could be denaturalized.
2026-10-22 · mixed framing · Ilhan Omar believes Trump raid on home was meant to 'intimidate and scare people' from voting
🔮 "The View" co-host Ana Navarro said Tuesday there was "no way in hell" that she would meet with President Donald Trump.
2026-10-21 · assertive framing · Ana Navarro clashes with 'The View' co-hosts, declares there's 'no way in hell' she would meet with Trump
🔮 Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., called the backlash against her comments that the threat of prosecution could deter young people from working for the Trump administration "manufactured outrage" during television interviews Monday.
2026-10-20 · assertive framing · Elissa Slotkin calls backlash to threat of prosecution comments 'manufactured outrage'
🔮 The opera company later released a statement calling Sanchez-Ortega's actions "unexpected and unauthorized," confirming that he would be replaced for the remaining performances.
2026-10-20 · assertive framing · Calgary Opera removes singer waving Palestinian flag during opening night curtain call
🔮 Dhillon pledged in July that the Trump administration will pursue every provable case of illegal voting under what she described as a "broken windows" enforcement strategy, marking a sharp shift from prior administrations as the DOJ intensifies scrutiny of voter rolls following revelations that noncitizens were registered to vote in New Jersey.
2026-10-19 · assertive framing · DOJ official defends Trump's noncitizen voter probe on '60 Minutes,' accuses show of editing out her answers
🔮 As a matter of fact, if I were the press, I would start looking at this," Rogers said.
2026-10-19 · assertive framing · Mike Rogers presses CNN's Dana Bash on why the press is 'eager' to defend Abdul El-Sayed
🔮 During a town hall on Saturday, El-Sayed responded to a voter named Tommy who asked him whether he would disavow the Muslim Brotherhood after reports about El-Sayed's alleged family connections to the organization.
2026-10-18 · assertive framing · CBS reporter deletes post calling out El-Sayed on 'spectacular self own' on Muslim Brotherhood question
Also by Lindsay Kornick
Nikole Hannah-Jones laments 'pretty brutal' response to viral essay on sending daughter to public school
2026-10-26 · Fox News
Rahm Emanuel pleads for the Democratic Party to welcome more 'McCain-Romney Republicans'
2026-10-23 · Fox News
Ilhan Omar believes Trump raid on home was meant to 'intimidate and scare people' from voting
2026-10-22 · Fox News
Ana Navarro clashes with 'The View' co-hosts, declares there's 'no way in hell' she would meet with Trump
2026-10-20 · Fox News
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 46 articles by Lindsay Kornick →

Topics

Fox News Digital MS NOW Mich. Michigan Republican

Subjects

Whitmer PERSON · 6× El-Sayed PERSON · 4× Trump PERSON · 4× Alexander PERSON · 3× Donald Trump PERSON · 3× Mike Rogers PERSON · 3× Rogers PERSON · 3× Fox News Digital ORG · 2× MS NOW ORG · 2× Michigan GPE · 2×

Narrative

Alexander began his show "State of Play" on Monday remarking on the national attention given to the Michigan U.S. Senate race between Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed and GOP candidate Mike Rogers, which prompted campaign rally appearances by former President Barack Obama and President Donald Trump.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-27
🔮 The MS NOW host showed a clip of himself asking Whitmer over the weekend about what she thought about the "ugly recent rhetoric" levied against El-Sayed by Rogers and Trump, suggesting the attacks could be motivated by "xenophobia.
2026-10-27 · Fox News
Gretchen Whitmer asked whether 'hidden xenophobia' will affect midterm elections · assertive framing

Claims (14 extracted, 2 hedged)

MS NOW anchor Peter Alexander asked Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, D-Mich., on Sunday whether Republican politicians were tapping into "xenophobia" ahead of the midterm elections. asserted
politicians → ask → elections
Alexander began his show "State of Play" on Monday remarking on the national attention given to the Michigan U.S. Senate race between Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed and GOP candidate Mike Rogers, which prompted campaign rally appearances by former President Barack Obama and President Donald Trump. asserted
which → begin → Obama
The MS NOW host showed a clip of himself asking Whitmer over the weekend about what she thought about the "ugly recent rhetoric" levied against El-Sayed by Rogers and Trump, suggesting the attacks could be motivated by "xenophobia. uncertain
attacks → show → xenophobia
" "Do you worry that there is some hidden xenophobia in Michigan right now that Donald Trump and Mike Rogers are trying to tap into?" Alexander asked. asserted
Alexander → worry → that
"I think that Mike Rogers and Donald Trump hope that there is, and that they're trying to cultivate that," Whitmer responded. asserted
Whitmer → think → that
Later in the show, Alexander aired more of the interview, including a question about whether Whitmer believed the language Trump used to attack El-Sayed was "dangerous." asserted
Trump → air → Sayed
Whitmer agreed that Trump's language was dangerous but added that the bigger issue was Republicans ignoring the state of the economy. " asserted
Republicans → agree → economy
The point is that they're talking about anything other than the cost of living, which has gone up because of the decisions that this administration has made. asserted
administration → talk → that
You ask yourself, are you better off two years ago than you are today? asserted
you → ask → yourself
I doubt very many Americans could say that they are," Whitmer said. uncertain
Whitmer → doubt → ?
Fox News Digital reached out to Whitmer's office and the El-Sayed and Rogers campaigns for comment but did not immediately receive responses. asserted
Digital → reach → responses
In a comment to Fox News Digital, White House Assistant Press Secretary Olivia Wales said, "President Trump is calling out the radical extremists stoking division, defrauding their communities, and perpetuating violence. asserted
Trump → say → violence
The President will continue to unapologetically fight for American greatness and call out the extremists who want only to divide and destroy." asserted
who → continue → extremists
Both Trump and Rogers have heavily criticized El-Sayed over allegations involving his family's ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. asserted
Trump → criticize → Brotherhood
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