Admit it. Republicans have broken politics.
Neither party is perfect, but Republicans in Congress have been drifting towards political extremism since long before Trump, and they’re making it impossible for Congress to work the way it’s supposed to.
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Over the past few decades, both Democrats and Republicans in Congress have moved away from the center. But the Republican Party has moved towards the extreme much more quickly — a trend that political scientists’ call “asymmetrical polarization.”
That asymmetry poses a major obstacle in American politics. As Republicans have become more ideological, they’ve also become less willing to work with Democrats: filibustering Democratic legislation, refusing to consider Democratic appointees, and even shutting down the government in order to force Democrats to give in to their demands.
Democrats have responded in turn, becoming more obstructionist as Republican demands become more extreme.
And that’s made it really easy for media outlets to blame “both sides” for political gridlock. As political scientists Thomas Mann and Norm Ornstein explain in their book “It’s Even Worse Than It Looks,” journalists feel a pressure to remain neutral when covering big political fights. So politics coverage has been dominated by the myth that both parties are equally to blame for the gridlock in DC.
But they’re not. And the only way to stop Republicans in Congress from continuing their drift towards the extreme is to be brutally honest about who’s responsible for breaking our politics.
Read more of Ornstein and Mann’s work here: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/02/opinion/sunday/republicans-broke-congress-politics.html
On Strikethrough, Vox producer Carlos Maza explores the challenges facing the news media in the age of Trump. Follow Carlos on Facebook for more: https://www.facebook.com/CarlosMazaVox
Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what’s really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com.
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@osbersgaming
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
I think the chart regarding political ideologies could be otherwise explained by saying that as new social ideals become more and more acceptable, the ‘progressive left’, at least the mainstream one, never really changes in terms of relative progressivism as it’s the one driving the change. However by contrast it obviously accelerates the rate we see republicans’ conservatism rise, even though they may stay the same or even become slightly more liberal.
It’s like when people say we become more conservative as we get older. We don’t. We probably become slightly more liberal and accepting of new ideas. But compared to younger generations, we become the relative conservatives.
@xt-4gaming739
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
Guys I think they were right
@BenLam-b5x
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
VOX, y'all don't understand English.
@KevinRees-h7u
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
And they did it on purpose.
@throwaway2013
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
Admit it. It is likely that upwards of 90% of this video's views are from people who already agree with what's being said and actually don't need to admit anything.
@null-0
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
This aged too well. US is cooked.
@nunyastinkinbusiness
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
Like it or not, this is totally-TRUE.
@dublagensdeadrenalina3616
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
So sad that a third political party isn't as powerful or relevant as the democrats and Republicans. Hearing the sentence "both sides" regarding a congress disput makes my skin crawl, as with there was just two opposite ideas, and not a completely diverse and multi-polarized political spectrum
@xxxyyy6741
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
The moderates from both parties and the independent moderates are the TRUE MAJORITY! The Extremists are ruining everything for us people in the center
@coxsj
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
The gop strategy only works because a majority of American voters aren’t smart enough to see the con.
@CristianDiaz-oy8sg
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
tiza
@hugorezende199
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
The "Freedom" of Fakenews and algorythm logic is what really took the thing to another level.Silly and simple thoughts are more likely to be shared/enjoyed and aprooved than real complex solution to our complex problems. Real education takes time and effort.
@RyanGarza-to1fb
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
I came here looking for all the angry Republican comments
@TikoVerhelst
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
This is the moment we should have known……..And now we're all surprised the US became a dictatorship…..
Republicans should have been called out for their attack on democracy! When we could have still done something about it…..
@naomicrilly6766
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
Watching this again and seeing how it's just gotten worse
@sparklingflea9087
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
Yes and how sweet it is!🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
@tigersfan1993
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
Admit it: Democrats refuse to acknowledge and fix why they lost the 2024 election.
@bigmama3372
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
Ohh this aged well
@marcyro
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
SIGH. AND HERE WE ARE!😅
@graywoodson9096
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
Yeesh this aged accurately
@LASB208
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
Imagine a political cartoon debunking this video lol
@richardlong5928
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
Why does everyone on Vox talk like that? It’s annoying
@awaredeshmukh3202
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
I am watching this in February 2025. It's only worse now. In 2018 that was hard for me to imagine.
@turnip_lol
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
got this title 6 years later lol… rn its feb 12 2025 and yeah that title is jarring
@otioti264
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
Even though Republican policies are broken, the democrats still managed to lose.
You guys really put the L on Left
@blade7506
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
aged well
@ChargedBonsai98
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
Everyone has broken politics
@RY_2023_
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
Well this aged well
@Nadi-Ger
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
lol, After 7 minutes, I looked at the upload date and was surprised it's not from today.
@Cyberzombie23
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
And you thought things were bad THEN.
@curtisplays21
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
hm I'm sure wondering why I'm seeing this six years after it was uploaded, surely not anything recent, right?
@Shooplish
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
This video aged well
@LeeBodenheimer
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
Who else is watching this after trump was reelected?
@TheforeverPigeonKing
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
Half of the negative comments on this video are from people who haven’t watched it
@wintutorials2282
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
1:00 I love the self awareness hahah
@Waterbottle12-z1q
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
Ur earrings are nice
@Hami_ZORN
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
Admit it. Two political parties isn't going to save the hellhole that is current U.S.A
@nickelhusky4981
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
This has not aged well
@MillaBaset
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
"foreshadowing is a literary device"
@redandro10
January 11, 2026 at 4:08 am
Not only destroying American politics, but the also the politics in the whole wide world
Comments are closed.