While other networks have declared Democrat Conor Lamb the apparent winner over Republican Rick Saccone in Tuesday’s special election for the Pennsylvania 18th U.S. House seat, Fox News was still describing it as “too close to call” on Wednesday morning. But struggling to explain how a Democrat could even get within striking distance of in win in a district Donald Trump won by about 20 points in 2016, the gang on Fox & Friends offered a unique theory: Lamb’s good looks made the difference.
Co-host Steve Doocy noted that Fox News Senior Political Analyst Brit Hume had said Lamb was “cute” a couple nights ago.
Co-host Ainsley Earhardt agreed. “He is young. A marine.”
Co-host Brian Kilmeade concurred. “Absolutely, cuteness counts.”
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Republican strategists have struggled to explain away the apparent loss in an historically deeply red district, with one reportedly blaming Saccone’s “porn ‘stache” for his woes. Rather than contemplate that Trump’s popularity has sagged or that Saccone’s conservative policy proposals did not win votes, perhaps it was easier to blame the outcome on the dashing good looks of the 33-year-old Democrat trumping those of the 60-year-old Republican — though it is worth noting that septuagenarian Donald Trump beat out more than a dozen younger candidates in his 2016 run.
While most polls showed the race as a toss-up, Doocy noted that one poll had shown Lamb up by 6 points, suggesting that perhaps Donald Trump’s self-promoting rally over the weekend may have helped Saccone tighten things. According to the Cook Political Report, the district is 11 points more Republican than the average district in the country.