A key part of the analysis involved identifying whether there was a causal relationship between conservative media’s use of “Democrat Party” and its increasing adoption by Republican politicians. The researchers used a statistical method called Granger causality tests to determine whether changes in media usage of the term influenced political elites.
The results showed a marked increase in the use of “Democrat Party” as a slur in recent years, particularly around 2018 and 2019. While the term has been used sporadically for decades, its prevalence exploded during and after the 2016 election.
The study identified Donald Trump as one of the key figures responsible for mainstreaming the term. Trump, in his speeches and tweets, often referred to the “Democrat Party,” explaining that he did so because “
it sounds worse.” This intentional mislabeling was echoed by other prominent Republicans, including Ted Cruz and Kevin McCarthy.
However, Trump wasn’t the originator of this trend. The study found that conservative media outlets, particularly Fox News and personalities like Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin, were instrumental in pushing the use of “Democrat Party.” These media figures regularly used the term, and their large audiences helped spread it further. Republican politicians, particularly those aligned with more performative and partisan factions of the party, adopted the term, likely as a result of the media’s influence.