Because Fox News apparently needs to mention the rise of “socialism” in America every hour, Fox News politics editor Chris Stirewalt on Friday connected socialism to a goofy story of congressmen debating the merits of Canadian rock band Nickelback.
During a House floor debate Thursday, Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) highlighted a voting-rights provision’s extremely low favorability, comparing it directly to the critically loathed post-grunge band. This prompted Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL) to object, calling Nickelback “one of the greatest bands of the ’90s,” admitting he still listens to their tunes.
Reacting to the rare, fun congressional moment—which ended with the two representatives laughing over the entire exchange—Fox News host Dana Perino turned to Stirewalt for his take on the “civil discussion.”
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“I think Nickelback is like socialism,” he jokingly declared as Perino smirked. “Our generation, and prior generations, fought hard against the scourge of Nickelback and to show what the dangers are of emo-pop ballad ’90s rock.”
Now, regardless of what readers may think of Nickelback, they are not “emo-pop ballad ’90s rock.” They never had a major hit in the 1990s, nor were they part of the “emo” movement, so a more accurate description would be early-aughts schlock rock. (If you’re going to mock a band, at least get it right!)
“And now a new generation has come along that has forgotten the hazards of the past,” Stirewalt continued. “And now are playing with these ideas. It’s very, very dangerous.”
Perino concluded by noting that they will also talk about this on Fox News’ midday talk show The Five as her co-host Greg Gutfeld apparently has “strong feelings” on the topic.
That could mean one less Fox News segment on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), unless, of course, they find some way to tie Nickelback to her.
