Fox News' Jessica Tarlov says her colleagues' on-air anguish over the Republican Party's historic midterm wipeout does not match their private demeanor, arguing that most of the network's personalities are simply able to move on.

Midterm elections, held halfway through a president's term, are the first nationwide electoral test after a presidential race, the setting for the losses at the center of Tarlov's account.

Tarlov, a Democratic strategist who co-hosts the Fox News panel show The Five and is one of the conservative network's vanishingly few liberal voices, has regularly clashed with her Fox News colleagues over their efforts to paint a rosy picture of conservative policies and leadership, particularly in the era of President Donald Trump.

She addressed the subject this weekend at Crooked Con, a Washington, D.C. event hosted by the liberal media and activism organization Crooked Media, which was co-founded by former Obama administration staffers and is best known for its podcast Pod Save America. During one of the event's panels, Tarlov sat for an interview with outspoken political YouTube creator and author Brian Tyler Cohen, who asked what the vibe is like among her Fox News colleagues once the cameras stop rolling.

"Totally fine. They don't care," Tarlov said. "I've talked to you about this. We're obsessed with politics. It's a reflection of our souls, right? It's our morals. It's our values... They don't feel the same way about it. They can compartmentalize these things. They can think about, oh, you know, another election will happen. There can be some degree of self-soothing, which I think you saw a bit of in the election night coverage, but in general, their lives have carried on like usual."

Cohen suggested that the lack of concern might stem from the "asymmetry" between conservative and liberal leadership, arguing that, in his words, "the most extreme policy" Democrats might try to push forward would be giving everyone healthcare.

Tarlov countered that her conservative colleagues are more likely at ease because Trump remains in the White House.

"Donald Trump's also still sitting there in the Oval Office and has said, 'Just call me Mr. Veto,'" Tarlov said, referencing Trump's pledge to block much of what Democrats might try to pass until 2029. "So I'm not sure that there's this feeling that that much more will happen. I will say, though, to your point like, oh, what could happen when we're in office? If you talk to people who run small businesses, for instance, they would say that there are probably going to be a lot more regulations in place than if there's a Republican president... they definitely feel that there is a threat to American life with liberal governance. They just don't see this election as meaning that there's going to be liberal governance."

The 2029 date she referenced marks the end of Trump's current presidential term, the horizon Tarlov was pointing to when describing her colleagues' outlook.