Commentary Culture Investigations

HBO’s John Oliver used Sunday’s edition of Last Week Tonight to give viewers one last pep talk before the midterms that included assuring them that Democratic trickery in Alaska is nothing to be concerned about. Oliver also warned that Republicans are obsessed with “Islamophobia” and “transphobia” and that “the level of bigotry this year has been truly ugly.”Oliver tried to claim that Democrats’ Alaskan deceit was too incompetent or silly to be truly threatening, “Yeah, Democrats allegedly tried to confuse voters by getting another Dan Sullivan to run. Which, again, confirms my theory that when you hear ‘Secret Republican plot,’ it’s always some sort of House of Cards chicanery, but when you hear ‘Secret Democratic plot,’ it’s the most rinky-dink Scooby Doo clown car mix ’em up imaginable.” John Oliver doesn’t see what the big deal in Alaska is, “Now, both the Democratic candidate’s campaign, and the party’s senate campaign committee, have denied that report. But it wouldn’t be the first time that tactic’s been used. In fact, it’s been called an age-old election… pic.twitter.com/P0FxfZIy7O— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) November 3, 2026 In addition, Oliver’s attempt to dismiss the scandal involved him claiming nothing out of the ordinary happened, “Now, both the Democratic candidate’s campaign, and the party’s Senate campaign committee, have denied that report. But it wouldn’t be the first time that tactic’s been used. In fact, it’s been called an age-old election trick, and has happened up and down ballots, across party lines. It’s also, crucially, not illegal — that’d only be the case if it involved things like falsifying residency documents, laundering campaign funds, or offering direct payments. In fact, as one expert put it, ‘If trying to confuse voters was a crime, then every politician would be in jail.’ What’s more, as you can see from the ballot — the Dan Sullivan who’s the incumbent Republican senator is clearly marked ‘incumbent.’”Later, Oliver was discussing President Trump’s attacks on Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed when he introduced an ad, “And look, it shouldn’t be surprising that Trump engages in Islamophobia. But the party seems happy to follow him into that sewer. Just watch this attack ad put out by the Senate Republican Leadership Fund.”The ad featured a narrator quoting El-Sayed, “When I die and stand before God and go through everything I did in my life, I don’t want to say I did it the easy way instead of the Sharia-compliant way,” and a second narrator adding, “The Sharia Law way. What’s that? Using government to dictate how women dress, requiring they have a guardian or prohibiting women from filing for divorce. The Sharia Law compliant way. Abdul El-Sayed’s way.” Oliver also seeks to defend Abdul El-Sayed, “And look, it shouldn’t be surprising that Trump engages in Islamophobia. But the party seems happy to follow him into that sewer.”After dissecting an ad about El-Sayed and Sharia Law, Oliver claimed, “It’s a pretty bold move for the… pic.twitter.com/CbVguLTaZi— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) November 3, 2026 Oliver pounced, “Okay, that’s wildly misleading. First, that quote comes from an interview El-Sayed gave 17 years ago — when he was 24 — and was speaking to a reporter writing about a Michigan bank that offered a special kind of home loan for Islamic customers. Back then, he said he wanted to conduct himself in “The Sharia-compliant way,” meaning using the religious code as a guideline for his personal life — y’know, how most religions work.”He also thought Republicans were being hypocritical because he thinks the things mentioned in the ad are analogues to being pro-life, “And it’s a pretty bold as a move for the Republican Senate Leadership fund to be like, ‘Hey, don’t vote for this guy! He thinks the government should take agency away from women! Instead, why not vote for the party that overturned Roe v. Wade?’”Oliver then introduced a quartet of ads by lamenting, “But it’s not just Islamophobia. In many states, the biggest bet Republicans have made has, once again, been on transphobia. In basically every battleground state, there’ve been a slew of misleading transphobic attack ads, often using some variation of the same familiar tagline.” Next, Oliver claims “But it’s not just Islamophobia. In many states, the biggest bet Republicans have made has, once again, been on transphobia. In basically every battleground state, there’ve been a slew of misleading transphobic attack ads, often using some variation of the… pic.twitter.com/abuWSVDem0— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) November 3, 2026 After several ads arguing Democrats are for they/them, Oliver returned to quip, “Wow, normally to hear that many shitty pronoun jokes in a row, you have to be watching a Netflix special someone got paid millions of dollars for. But the level of bigotry this year has been truly ugly.”Oliver’s show airs on Sunday night, but he tapes on Saturday, so he did not have the opportunity to address Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens endorsing Republican Mike Rogers. However, if he did, he would very likely sound similar to Jon Stewart and Seth Meyers because El-Sayed’s relationship with anti-Semitism is the kind of bigotry he would be happy to either ignore or make excuses for.Here is a transcript for the November 1 show:HBO Last Week Tonight with John Oliver11/1/202611:17 PM ETJOHN OLIVER: Yeah, Democrats allegedly tried to confuse voters by getting another Dan Sullivan to run. Which, again, confirms my theory that when you hear “Secret Republican plot,” it’s always some sort of House of Cards chicanery, but when you hear “Secret Democratic plot,” it’s the most rinky-dink Scooby Doo clown car mix ’em up imaginable.Now, both the Democratic candidate’s campaign, and the party’s Senate campaign committee, have denied that report. But it wouldn’t be the first time that tactic’s been used. In fact, it’s been called an age-old election trick, and has happened up and down ballots, across party lines. It’s also, crucially, not illegal — that’d only be the case if it involved things like falsifying residency documents, laundering campaign funds, or offering direct payments. In fact, as one expert put it, “If trying to confuse voters was a crime, then every politician would be in jail.” What’s more, as you can see from the ballot —  the Dan Sullivan who’s the incumbent Republican senator is clearly marked “incumbent.”…OLIVER: And look, it shouldn’t be surprising that Trump engages in Islamophobia. But the party seems happy to follow him into that sewer. Just watch this attack ad put out by the Senate Republican Leadership Fund.NARRATOR: Abdul El-Sayed in his own words. NARRATOR 2: “When I die and stand before God and go through everything I did in my life, I don’t want to say I did it the easy way instead of the Sharia-compliant way.”NARRATOR: The Sharia Law way. What’s that? Using government to dictate how women dress, requiring they have a guardian or prohibiting women from filing for divorce. The Sharia Law compliant way. Abdul El-Sayed’s way.OLIVER: Okay, that’s wildly misleading. First, that quote comes from an interview El-Sayed gave 17 years ago — when he was 24 — and was speaking to a reporter writing about a Michigan bank that offered a special kind of home loan for Islamic customers. Back then, he said he wanted to conduct himself in “The Sharia-compliant way,” meaning using the religious code as a guideline for his personal life — y’know, how most religions work. And it’s a pretty bold as a move for the Republican Senate Leadership fund to be like, “Hey, don’t vote for this guy! He thinks the government should take agency away from women! Instead, why not vote for the party that overturned Roe v. Wade?”But it’s not just Islamophobia. In many states, the biggest bet Republicans have made has, once again, been on transphobia. In basically every battleground state, there’ve been a slew of misleading transphobic attack ads, often using some variation of the same familiar tagline.NARRATOR 3: Don Davis doesn’t always show up to work, but when he does show up, he’s fighting for they/them, not us.NARRATOR 4: Mary Peltola works for they/them. Not for us.NARRATOR 5: Annie Andrews is for they/them. Not for our values. Not for South Carolina.NARRATOR 6: Radical liberal James Talarico, for they/them, not you.OLIVER: Wow, normally to hear that many shitty pronoun jokes in a row, you have to be watching a Netflix special someone got paid millions of dollars for. But the level of bigotry this year has been truly ugly.

Screenshot via ABC/Snapstream

Early on Election Day 2026, ABC’s Good Morning America could barely contain its excitement over what was predicted to be a strong night for their preferred party (Democrats), celebrating the “political headwinds,” “record-low approval ratings,” and that Americans want to give their party a chance because the Trump economy has left “people struggling to pay for basic essentials.”It was a far cry from their Election Day morning show in 2024, when they openly heralded Democrat Kamala Harris’s “historic candidacy, with a message of unity and optimism” against Trump’s “dark” and “anti-immigrant language,” with his campaign allegedly feeling a negative “vibe shift.”The coverage started with a movie-style opening, which has become commonplace with ABC, going back to 2016.Co-host and former Clinton official George Stephanopoulos started it off, emphasizing “the future of President Trump’s agenda [is] at stake,” followed by co-host Robin Roberts promising a look at “the state of play as Democrats try to turn Texas blue for the first time in decades.”Amateur pundit and co-host Michael Strahan had to also thumb his nose at the side he deeply hates: “Plus, the key issues driving voters to the polls, as gas prices hit a record for an Election Day, what voters are telling us.”This gave way to GMA’s opening setup, often laden with punditry. After Strahan framed the day’s narrative as whether his side (Democrats) can “gain in red states,” Stephanopoulos also sneered: “A lot of engagement this year, but Republicans are facing political headwinds. President Trump’s approval ratings are low, prices are high. The party out of power nearly always makes gains during the midterms.”
As usual, ‘GMA’ had a setup laden with punditry.After co-host and amateur pundit Michael Strahan framed the day’s narrative as whether his side (Democrats) can “gain in red states,” Stephanopoulos also sneered: “A lot of engagement this year, but Republicans are facing… pic.twitter.com/k6tfCzYxke— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 3, 2026

As usual, ‘GMA’ had a setup laden with punditry.After co-host and amateur pundit Michael Strahan framed the day’s narrative as whether his side (Democrats) can “gain in red states,” Stephanopoulos also sneered: “A lot of engagement this year, but Republicans are facing… pic.twitter.com/k6tfCzYxke— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 3, 2026

The Biden regime’s lead apple polisher, chief White House correspondent Mary Bruce, similarly waved the pom-poms for her team:Who will control Congress? What message will the country send the President? Those answers now in the hands of voters. This morning, millions of Americans heading to the polls, control of Congress on the line, the midterm elections, a critical test of the political power of President Trump. The President choosing to deliver his final pitch to voters at one of his personal projects, the Reflecting Pool…Trump detailing the improvements which cost taxpayers $16 million dollars.Bruce surmised Trump’s red-state rallies were proof of a GOP hellscape (click “expand”):BRUCE: The President, speaking for more than 23 minutes before turning to the critical election for weeks, he’s blitzed the campaign trail, hoping to drive turnout in competitive races —TRUMP: I love you, Kansas.BRUCE: — holding 28 rallies, mostly in states he won, but where Republicans are now playing defense. Top of mind for voters? The rising cost of living fueled by the war in Iran, Trump had promised no new strikes until after the midterms.TRUMP: You know, I don’t know if you even call it a war, because we haven’t been doing any fighting for months.BRUCE: But officials now confirmed to ABC News that yesterday the U.S. carried out strikes against Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, part of a series of limited defensive strikes in recent weeks, the U.S. military estimates the war has cost $47 billion. As news of these defensive strikes broke, the President insisting that price tag is nothing compared to what the U.S. has earned through other foreign interventions.TRUMP: This is peanuts compared to the kind of money that we’ve made.BRUCE: Over and over again. Trump has urged voters to act like he himself is on the ballot, but now he appears to be bracing himself for losses.TRUMP: For some reason, the sitting President doesn’t win the midterms. But we gave this a very strong shot.After Bruce and Stephanopoulos celebrated the Supreme Court rejecting a Trump Justice Department suit in California to “interfere in the elections,” chief political correspondent Rachel Scott surfaced at ABC’s big board to tell her friends what they’ll need to do to retake Congress by being “on offense” against Trump’s “record-low approval ratings” (click “expand”):Democrats to flip the House, they’re going to need to net three seats by the end of the night. In order to flip the Senate, they need to net four seats by the end of the night. Let’s take a look at the Senate map. These are all the Senate races that are up for grabs tonight. 35 across the country. The path for Democrats to take control of the Senate. A lot more challenging here, and here’s why. They’re going to have to defend all of these states they currently have. These are all states where there’s a Democratic senator currently. And then they’re going to have to go on offense, flipping at least two states that President Trump won by double digits. We’re talking about Alaska. We’re talking about Texas. We’re talking about Kansas. Many of these races in the final stretch, they have been very tight, a lot closer. But when we go back in history, it has been years, in some case, decades since many of these states have sent a Democrat to the Senate. In Ohio? Since 2018. In Iowa? 2008. Texas? 1988. Kansas? It’s been nearly a century. Now, for Republicans to keep control of the Senate, what they’re going to have to do to defend their home turf tonight, they’re going to want to keep all of these red states. They’re also going to try to go on offense in that critical state. They’re in Michigan. But, of course, President Trump is entering this election with record-low approval ratings, guys.Following a re-emphasis that cost of living matters (which ABC tried to downplay in 2024), Nightline co-host Juju Chang boosted Michigan senatorial candidate Abdul el-Sayed following the shocking Haley Stevens endorsement.She held up pushback from his team that Stevens has given Democrats the incentive structure to vote for Mike Rogers: “[T]he el-Sayed camp says, no, no, that is not what happened. This defection only backfired. It only served to fire up the base and enrage Democrats, getting them to the polls. The next day, they announced a record $2.4 million in fundraising.”Weekend co-host Whit Johnson was in Texas to crown far-left State Representative James Talarico (D) as the Lone Star State’s inevitable next senator, fawning over the “unexpected battleground state” and Talarico leading in the polls with a “David versus Goliath” message to include people Johnson said “used to vote Republican, but they’re switching to Democrats this election.”Once Atlanta-based Steve Osunami finished a Georgia dispatch, four-time anti-Trump author Jonathan Karl gushed over Mississippi, Nebraska, and South Carolina possibly going blue because of Trump’s “historic lows” in the polls (click “expand”):I mean, we’re seeing Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Alaska, even Mississippi, potentially a South Carolina — what is happening here is Democrats are hopeful that they can win in states that they have not won in a long time, and Republicans are bracing for a big blue wave. We’ll see if it actually happens. Now, the only way, Robin, of course, as you heard from Rachel, that Democrats can win the Senate is if they can win in at least two states that Trump carried by double digits. And so, what does Trump done? He has asked voters to vote as if he is the person on the ballot. In other words, he has turned this midterm into a referendum on his presidency. That is a very risky proposition for a President that has historic lows in his approval rating, with a clear majority in poll after poll after poll of Americans saying they don’t approve of his performance as President.Chief business and economics correspondent (and former Apprentice contestant) Rebecca Jarvis offered some economic analysis that, other than footnoting low unemployment and gains in the stock market, sought to imply America’s in a state of calamity (click “expand”):
Chief business and economics correspondent (and former Apprentice contestant) Rebecca Jarvis offered some economic analysis that, other than footnoting low unemployment and gains in the stock market, sought to imply America’s in a depression pic.twitter.com/OFpcx2aqT8— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 3, 2026

Chief business and economics correspondent (and former Apprentice contestant) Rebecca Jarvis offered some economic analysis that, other than footnoting low unemployment and gains in the stock market, sought to imply America’s in a depression pic.twitter.com/OFpcx2aqT8— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 3, 2026

STEPHANOPOULOS: So, Rebecca, Trump is on the ballot. The cost of living is on the ballot.JARVIS: Right. And I’m struck by the fact that we’re having a nearly identical conversation today as the one we were having two years ago. The economy is the number one issue, as Rachel just shared, it was the number one issue there two years ago, and prices continue to climb. People struggling to pay for basic essentials like gas, groceries, housing, and health care. Back then, I traveled the country, people over and over said, we’re maxed out. Again, that is happening with affordability getting worse, families are now paying $1,300 more a month on the same goods and services since five years ago, nearly $400 of that has occurred since January 2025, when Trump took office where we’ve seen the biggest increases is in prices. Our gas and diesel since the start of the Iran war, both at record highs this Election Day morning. Think about the fact that the average driver, guys, is visiting a gas station once or twice a week. That is a regular reminder that prices are still climbing. Gas this morning: $4.13 a gallon. That is up 2.99 is where it was this time last year. So, that’s a big differential in people’s minds as they go to the polls. Meantime, diesel, which is the fuel that really powers our economy — today, it’s 6.29. A year ago, 3.67 again, another big differential. Now, unemployment jobs, they’re there for the most part. Unemployment remains low 4.2 percent. The stock market is up 10 percent over the last year. But workers wages are not keeping up with rising costs, and we have to remember, when we look at the stock market, only about half of Americans have any access —STRAHAN: Mmm, yeah. Mmhmm.JARVIS: — have any money invested in the stock market. So people are stretched, they are dipping into their savings, they’re taking on more debt. And when you look at those debt numbers, one of the concerning factors here is that people, those who are really behind that number is getting worse. Those who are really behind on their credit card bills.STRAHAN: Yeah. Costs have really gone up.JARVIS: They feel it, everyone.STRAHAN: Yeah.In the second half-hour, ABC brought out chief legal analyst Dan Abrams for a know-your-rights segment, which felt like a dog whistle to the left to be on the lookout for violent Trumpers trying to steal your vote:
In the second half-hour, ABC ran a know-your-rights segment, which felt like a dog whistle to the left to be on the lookout for violent Trumpers trying to steal your vote pic.twitter.com/kneDBLF6Fo— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 3, 2026

In the second half-hour, ABC ran a know-your-rights segment, which felt like a dog whistle to the left to be on the lookout for violent Trumpers trying to steal your vote pic.twitter.com/kneDBLF6Fo— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 3, 2026

The second hour had even more new reports from the field, but not after a recap from Scott to reiterate the marching orders for her fellow Democrats and remind them of a Reuters/Ipsos poll that says Americans want them to run the Congress amid the “highest ever” gas prices for an Election Day.
The second hour had even more new reports from the field, but not after a recap from Scott to reiterate the marching orders for her fellow Democrats and remind them of a Reuters/Ipsos poll that says Americans want them to run the Congress amid the “highest ever” gas prices for an… pic.twitter.com/TauPj0CE85— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 3, 2026

The second hour had even more new reports from the field, but not after a recap from Scott to reiterate the marching orders for her fellow Democrats and remind them of a Reuters/Ipsos poll that says Americans want them to run the Congress amid the “highest ever” gas prices for an… pic.twitter.com/TauPj0CE85— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 3, 2026

The first of two new reports came from correspondent Trevor Ault in Alaska. Strahan downplayed the Decoy Dan story, calling it “accusations…that Democrats tried to mislead voters.” Ault reiterated that “most people know there’s actually two Dan Sullivans on the ballot,” but took Peltola’s word for it she had no idea.Ault then dismissed the story altogether: “What’s not clear, though, is whether or not this issue is going to be very important to Alaskan voters, especially when you compare it to those other issues, like what Rachel was just talking about, gas prices and the economy.”Weekend co-host and weekday news reader Will Reeve closed things out for his fellow Democrats in Maine, trumpeting (cousin kisser) Troy Jackson and boasting he’s heard from “many” Maine voters that they’re “skeptical that past performance will indicate future results” for Collins bringing home federal money.He then added:Many of them feeling anti-Collins or even more forcefully anti-Trump, and they agreed with the Jackson campaign’s portrayal of Collins as being too aligned with President Trump and his agenda, despite Collins’s reputation as a moderate…[T]he question they will be answering today is: Does this spell the end of an era for Susan Collins, or will she hang on in this tightly contested race?To see the relevant ABC transcript from November 3, click here.

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Screen grab of Ana Navarro on the Behind The Table podcast

[LANGUAGE WARNING]The elitist media’s closing argument for this midterm election amounted to fearmongering about “mass-murderer” President Donald Trump trying to start a “race war” and the need for voters to check MAGA’s “overt” and “explicit” racism, or else America will be sent into “Dante’s circles of Hell.”It wasn’t just journalists preaching hate this midterm cycle; Paramore lead singer Hayley Williams cursed conservative voters from the stage as she demanded that her fans vote against “these f***ing MAGA pieces of sh*t.” From former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann’s insistence that Trump is trying to start a race war to ABC’s The View co-host Ana Navarro freaking out about the country’s damnation to “Hell” under Trump to The Atlantic’s Ashley Parker warning that ICE agents might shoot at voters with “brown skin,” here are just some of the most obnoxious outbursts from leftist journalists and celebrities over the past month:  Ana Navarro: We Are Going To Be In “Dante’s Circles of Hell,” If Republicans Win and Let “Insane” and “Cruel” Trump Do Whatever He Wants “They have let him do whatever the hell he wants for the last two years. And so, if the Republicans stay in power, if the first two years were bad, the next two years are going to be Dante’s circles of hell! And so I think it is important because Donald Trump is increasingly… pic.twitter.com/aOC9w5pjk4— Geoffrey Dickens (@GCDickens) November 3, 2026“They have let him do whatever the Hell he wants for the last two years. And so, if the Republicans stay in power, if the first two years were bad, the next two years are going to be Dante’s circles of Hell! And so I think it is important because Donald Trump is increasingly unhinged, increasingly insane, increasingly bad as precedent. And his administration is increasingly cruel.”— ABC’s The View co-host Ana Navarro on ABC’s Behind the Table podcast, October 8. Keith Olbermann: Trump Is Trying to Start a Race War  “He has another desperate and violent and treasonous idea. He is now trying to start race wars in Minnesota, here in New York City, and across America. It was not a coincidence that Trump’s attempt to instigate mobs to attack black people in Minnesota and the ICE attempt to… pic.twitter.com/E8vtAapgCn— Geoffrey Dickens (@GCDickens) November 3, 2026 “He has another desperate and violent and treasonous idea. He is now trying to start race wars in Minnesota, here in New York City, and across America. It was not a coincidence that Trump’s attempt to instigate mobs to attack black people in Minnesota and the ICE attempt to murder a Dominican man and his five-year-old son in New York City happened within hours of each other in the past week….Trump has run out of subtle schemes to thwart democracy…He has run out of subtle ways to destroy America. He is now reverting to blunt force. This is his attempt to unleash the holocaust of a race war on our society. White people versus the brown and the black people and anybody else Donald Trump personally hates and is personally deeply utterly terrified because mommy raised him that way.”— Former MS NOW host Keith Olbermann on his Countdown podcast, October 12.  Adam Serwer: Trump Administration Has Displayed the “Kind of Overt, Explicit Racism” We Haven’t Seen Since the 19th Century After MS NOW’s Chris Hayes interviewed Rep. Ilhan Omar after the raid on her DC home, panelist Adam Serwer said the Trump administration “has displayed the kind of overt, explicit racism that we haven’t seen come out of the Oval Office since maybe the 19th century.” Serwer… pic.twitter.com/TsvOI37YUl— Nick (@nspin310) October 22, 2026 “The Trump Administration has displayed the kind of overt, explicit racism that we haven’t seen come out of the Oval Office since maybe the 19th century….Ever since then [the Civil War], there have been people who have tried to carry the banner of the losing side in that war in both parties, unfortunately. And right now we have one who’s running the country.”— The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer on MS NOW’s All In with Chris Hayes, October 21. Ashley Parker Speculates ICE Agents Might Shoot At Citizens with “Brown Skin” Trying to Vote The Atlantic’s Ashley Parker on PBS: “…just the talk of ICE officials showing up at the polls coupled with the arrests and some of the killings…can have a chilling effect of a legal citizen who has brown skin,” afraid to “get hassled by ICE and get shot in a parking lot…” pic.twitter.com/Cl64OplTNj— Clay Waters 🇮🇱 (@claywaters44) October 19, 2026 “Talking to Democrats, they’re terrified. ‘Are ICE officials going to show up at the polls?’ You know, we don’t know what’s going to happen….Even just the talk of ICE officials showing up at the polls, coupled with the arrests and some of the killings that is happening with ICE officials, can have a chilling effect of a legal citizen who has brown skin saying, ‘You know what, it’s not worth it for me, right? I’m not going to take time off of my job to show up and maybe get hassled by ICE and get shot in a parking lot when I’m a citizen.”— The Atlantic’s Ashley Parker on PBS’s Washington Week with The Atlantic, October 16. Keith Olbermann: Trump Is a “Russian-Owned Mass Murderer”  “Trump is owned by Russia….He line-item vetoed virtually all of the provisions of the sanctions on buying Russian oil that happen to apply to Russia. It is abject corruption. It is aiding an enemy at the time of war. It has resulted and will result in the death of Ukrainians,… pic.twitter.com/KVqZ5J71qC— Geoffrey Dickens (@GCDickens) November 3, 2026 “Trump is owned by Russia….He line-item vetoed virtually all of the provisions of the sanctions on buying Russian oil that happen to apply to Russia. It is abject corruption. It is aiding an enemy at the time of war. It has resulted and will result in the death of Ukrainians, and it increases the chance of a European war in which this country will be involved and in which Americans will die. Maybe thousands of us, maybe more; their deaths will be Donald Trump’s fault. Adding to his resume as a mass murderer, a Russian-owned mass murderer.”— Former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann on his Countdown podcast, October 19.  Joe Scarborough: Republicans Hate George Soros Because He’s Jewish and Love Elon Musk Who “Does Heil Hitler Salutes” On Tuesday’s Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough claimed Republicans only go after money from George Soros because he is “a Jew that Republicans love to remind everybody is a Jew,” compared to Elon Musk, who “does Heil Hitler salutes and then claims he’s not doing Heil Hitler salutes.” pic.twitter.com/90xa7apje1— Nick (@nspin310) October 27, 2026 “The super rich are getting so much richer every second Donald Trump is in office. And obviously, that’s one of the reasons why Elon Musk is spending up to $200 million, at least, to buy his senator in Texas. He’s trying to buy a senator up in Maine. He’s trying to buy his senator all over the place. I saw a stat yesterday….that he’s already spent more money in the last two years in campaigns than George Soros spent his entire lifetime….So, the difference here is one is a Jew, that Republicans love to remind everybody is a Jew. And so, try to slur him that way. And the other is a guy that does Heil Hitler salutes and then claims he’s not doing Heil Hitler salutes.”— Co-host Joe Scarborough on MS NOW’s Morning Joe, October 27. Melissa Murray: I’m Not a Radical, I Taught in a Blazer, But Yes the Supreme Court Should Be Expanded!  Law prof/MS Now host Melissa Murray on PBS: “So, I am not a radical, Evan. I taught at Berkeley for 12 years…I taught in a blazer….This term of the Supreme Court completely radicalized me. And so I am in favor of court reform, and I think everything should be on the table.” pic.twitter.com/Ej4t1VBcaF— Clay Waters 🇮🇱 (@claywaters44) October 27, 2026 Host Evan Smith: “You think they need to expand the Court? There’s obviously a political conversation going on about more than nine. What do you think?”MS NOW legal analyst Melissa Murray: “So, I am not a radical, Evan. I taught at Berkeley for 12 years; for all of those 12 years, I taught in a blazer. I don’t think any of my colleagues owned a blazer. So I’m not a radical. I’m just saying that. This term of the Supreme Court completely radicalized me. And so I am in favor of court reform, and I think everything should be on the table….The Court is the central problem. The Court is the greatest impediment to democracy and democratic government that we have right now.”— PBS’s Overheard with Evan Smith, October 24. Stephanie Ruhle Blames the Riots in France on Trump Later in her show, Stephanie Ruhle blamed Trump for the French riots:“But we have to remember, the riots started, of course, over school conditions, but it’s also over high prices. And you can draw a direct link to the high prices in Europe to President Trump’s war in Iran.” https://t.co/hIi7buwdgf pic.twitter.com/gZfpQJJiIN— Nick (@nspin310) October 20, 2026  “The President is also using fear-mongering around the riots in France to motivate voters. Right? He said in the last 24 hours, without any evidence, that migrants, jihadists, and communists are the ones responsible for these riots. But we have to remember, the riots started, of course, over school conditions, but it’s also over high prices. And you can draw a direct link to the high prices in Europe, to President Trump’s war in Iran.”— Host Stephanie Ruhle on MS NOW’s Money, Power, Politics, October 20. Sunny Hostin Rails Against “Abhorrent” and “Abnormal” “Criminal-in-Chief” Trump This is what Hostin had to say yesterday when reacting to news about Smith’s meeting with Trump:”It’s something they I struggle with. Because I do think when you have the opportunity to meet with a world leader and advocate for something that’s important, that you do take that… pic.twitter.com/VbpNHVF26e— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) October 21, 2026 “I think he’s the criminal in chief….I don’t think that this is a normal presidency….I think it’s abhorrent and I think it’s abnormal. I think what he’s doing to Latinos, I think what he’s doing to African-Americans, I think what he’s doing to the LGBTQ+ community. I think the fact that he’s enriching himself. It’s so disgusting and abhorrent.”— Co-host Sunny Hostin on ABC’s The View, October 20. Hayley Williams: Please Vote Against “These F***ing MAGA Pieces of Sh*t”  [language warning]“Please f***ing vote in November. F*** all these people, these f***ing MAGA pieces of sh*t, KKK look different, and they will not win. Until I see you again, take care of you, and take care of each other.”— Paramore lead singer Hayley Williams from the stage,… pic.twitter.com/oQwFRTkeck— Geoffrey Dickens (@GCDickens) November 3, 2026 “Please f***ing vote in November. F*** all these people, these f***ing MAGA pieces of sh*t, KKK look different, and they will not win. Until I see you again, take care of you, and take care of each other.”— Paramore lead singer Hayley Williams from the stage, at a concert in New Orleans, October 10.

How things work in elections.

On Sunday’s Connect show, MS NOW host Jacob Soboroff gave a commentary cheering on left-wing activists who have, among things, harassed ICE agents whom he demonized as “depraved.” He even went so far it to celebrate efforts to sleep-deprive federal agents by making noise outside of hotels where they were staying — which is arguably illegal.The liberal MS NOW host began a seven-minute commentary by recalling protests against Trump administration actions like budget cuts:January 20, 2025 marked the start of President Trump’s second term in office. It also marked the beginning of a fight that would bring millions of you — of Americans together — a fight over their jobs and their communities and their neighbors, and the very idea of what it means to be an American. It started with DOGE when the President brought billionaire Elon Musk into the administration to lead an effort to — to slash government spending. Thousands of federal workers suddenly found themselves out of a job. Programs that millions of Americans rely on were put on the chopping block.A bit later, he turned his attention to anti-ICE agitators. 
MS NOW’s Soboroff Cheers Lefty Agitators Sleep-Depriving ‘Depraved’ ICE Agents pic.twitter.com/gGg8EyLkP7— Brad Wilmouth (@bradwilmouth) November 1, 2026

MS NOW’s Soboroff Cheers Lefty Agitators Sleep-Depriving ‘Depraved’ ICE Agents pic.twitter.com/gGg8EyLkP7— Brad Wilmouth (@bradwilmouth) November 1, 2026

Across the country, people began to organize rapid response networks. They watched their neighborhoods. They sounded the alarm when ICE arrived. They accompanied people to appointments. They made sure families knew their rights, and they refused to let their neighbors face fear and uncertainty alone. And then came Minnesota. As ICE agents flooded the streets, two Americans — Renee Good and Alex Pretti — were killed, shot in broad daylight by agents. The community response was immediate.He added:I watched as people took to the streets, demanded that agents leave their neighbors alone — as they gathered outside hotels where ICE agents were staying. They were banging on pots, and they were blowing brass instruments to keep the agents from sleep. The depraved actions of those armed and masked federal agents — Greg Bovino’s troops, the so-called commander at large in his military-style costume. He was no match for the people in the streets who drove him out, not stopping Trump and ICE, but making clear that they could not terrorize their community without coming face to face with that same community they were tearing apart.He went on to invoke the No Kings demonstrations to “reject the administration’s increasingly authoritarian tactics.” He added:Their message was simple: We are stronger together. And that is really what the people have proven over the last two years. When the going got rough, they did not wait for someone else to act or for permission. They showed up and they kept showing up.Transcript follows:MS NOW’s Connect with Jacob Soboroff11:38 a.m. EasternJACOB SOBOROFF: January 20, 2025 marked the start of President Trump’s second term in office. It also marked the beginning of a fight that would bring millions of you — of Americans together — a fight over their jobs and their communities and their neighbors, and the very idea of what it means to be an American. It started with DOGE when the President brought billionaire Elon Musk into the administration to lead an effort to — to slash government spending. Thousands of federal workers suddenly found themselves out of a job. Programs that millions of Americans rely on were put on the chopping block.We’re talking about all kinds of stuff — public health research, environmental protections, services for veterans — the people who keep those programs running. In response, federal workers took to the streets protesting the cuts at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Workers who had been fired came together to challenge the administration’s decision. I got to meet some of them back in 2025 when the agency faced almost total elimination on a street corner outside of one of the agency’s major research labs in Morgantown, West Virginia. I talked to federal employees and their supporters who had been or were in the crosshairs of losing their jobs.I remember signs they held up — “NIOSH Workers for Miners.” It was amazing. Firefighters and American drivers-by honked to make literal noise about the cuts — cuts that were later restored because of their fights. Not too long after that came devastating cuts to SNAP and EBT as a result of policy changes from the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill, over five million Americans lost or were dropped from their SNAP benefits — food stamps. That’s a lifeline for millions of families struggling to put food on the table, suddenly gone.But as benefits were threatened, communities across the country stepped up. Neighbors organized food drives — restaurants, small businesses donated meals. Volunteers showed up at food banks and churches and community centers to try to prevent people from going hungry in their neighborhood.And then there’s ICE. Within the first month of the administration, the Department of Homeland Security Launched an aggressive campaign of immigration enforcement. Tens of thousands of people were detained, families were torn apart. students and workers were taken from their communities — and those, the people trying to do it right, as the administration loves to say, they were detained while attending their immigration court hearings. I saw it myself at 26 Federal Plaza in New York City. People were brutally accosted and detained while trying to play by the rules, but instead they were punished for it. In the same hallways, I met and saw activists and lawyers determined to protect them, and journalists and photographers there to document the injustice, to stand up to an obvious and blatant abuse of power.And as the arrests spread from those hallways to the streets across the country, so did the resistance. In Los Angeles, thousands of people flooded the streets to protest ICE’s presence. They refused to leave. The President sent in the National Guard, but protests continued and the resistance spread. In Chicago, residents organized to monitor immigration enforcement and protect their neighbors in North Carolina. I saw it firsthand at Dilworth United Methodist Church — a group called Siembra, North Carolina brought community members together to learn how to observe and document immigration enforcement activities. Ordinary people — students, elders, neighbors — people who understood that protecting their community meant showing up for one another. And they did.It did not stop there. Across the country, people began to organize rapid response networks. They watched their neighborhoods. They sounded the alarm when ICE arrived. They accompanied people to appointments. They made sure families knew their rights, and they refused to let their neighbors face fear and uncertainty alone. And then came Minnesota. As ICE agents flooded the streets, two Americans — Renee Good and Alex Pretti — were killed, shot in broad daylight by agents. The community response was immediate.I watched as people took to the streets, demanded that agents leave their neighbors alone — as they gathered outside hotels where ICE agents were staying. They were banging on pots, and they were blowing brass instruments to keep the agents from sleep. The depraved actions of those armed and masked federal agents — Greg Bovino’s troops, the so-called commander at large in his military-style costume. He was no match for the people in the streets who drove him out, not stopping Trump and ICE, but making clear that they could not terrorize their community without coming face to face with that same community they were tearing apart.And they kept going, even as the administration attempted to silence them. As fear grew and violence continued, they kept showing up. They were not alone. Across the country, Americans continued to gather in protest at the No Kings demonstration. Millions of people took to the streets to reject — reject the administration’s increasingly authoritarian tactics. They were there to remind us that in democracy, power belongs to you, to the people, and that the right to protest is not a privilege granted by the President of the United States.(recalls some demonstrators that he interviewed who held a protest walk in California)Their message was simple: We are stronger together. And that is really what the people have proven over the last two years. When the going got rough, they did not wait for someone else to act or for permission. They showed up and they kept showing up. And this year, more than 52 million Americans have already cast their ballots in the midterm elections. And, look, not every American agrees on the issues facing us today, but they have shown that they’re going to show up. They’re going to show up to fight for what they believe in. And that is what inspires me most about this country. It is why I show up every day to do this job. The millions of ordinary Americans who have refused the last two years to turn their backs on one another, to care for one another, and on Tuesday, they are going to have the chance to do it again.

Westchester County, N.Y., has got paper-ballot problems.

NBC’s Saturday Night Live Weekend Update anchors Michael Che and Colin Jost wrapped up their midterm campaigning recently by suggesting that Republicans are getting people killed because of their welfare reform programs and that the real comedy with the Decoy Dan scandal in Alaska is not with Democratic trickery but with Boston, Massachusetts. Sandwiched in-between those jokes, Che’s anti-Semitism resurfaced with a bit about alleged Israeli genocide.Che began by recalling Sen. Ted Cruz’s closing arguments against Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed, “Ted Cruz said that if Abdul El-Sayed is elected to Senate, there is a very real risk Americans will die as a result. Then he went back to the Senate to cut health care and food stamps.”Of course, Che left out the part of Cruz’s statement where he was talking about El-Sayed’s affinity for the Muslim Brotherhood. However, Che kept rolling in order to talk about another country’s elections, “This week, a record number of people voted in Israel’s election, which is great to see regardless if you’re on the right side or the left side or the genocide.” SNL’s Michael Che had a couple whoppers recently, including one about Republicans killing people and another about Israel, “Ted Cruz said if Abdul El-Sayed is elected to Senate, there is a very real risk Americans will die as a result. Then he went back to the Senate to cut… pic.twitter.com/BGP4xzB8vU— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) November 3, 2026 Che’s Israel remarks went viral on social media, and one particularly dumb response came from a Variety article by Marlow Stern headlined, ‘“SNL’ Weekend Update Finally Weighs in on Israel.’”Stern is the same guy who recently got triggered at Bill Maher for interviewing former White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. While it may be tempting to argue that nobody was actually waiting with bated breath for SNL to talk about Israel, the truth is that Michael Che can’t shut up about it.While Che engages in libelous talk about genocide, he has also repeatedly trafficked in puppeteering tropes where he claims that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is actually the one in charge of America’s military. Back in September, he also declared, “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed an almost empty chamber at the U.N. After delegates walked out in protest over Israel’s war in Gaza. I guess wherever Netanyahu shows up, there’s gonna be some relocating.” Che’s nasty remarks about Israel did not begin post-October 7. Back during COVID in 2021, he lied, “Israel is reporting that they vaccinated half of their population, and I’m going to guess it’s the Jewish half.”A year before that, he claimed, “GoDaddy has shut down a website that hosts a ‘Miss Hitler’ beauty pageant. Coincidentally, ‘Miss Hitler Beauty Pageant’ was the working title for The Ingraham Angle. By the way, Colin, if you’re wondering who the winner of the ‘Miss Hitler’ pageant was: Miss Israel.”Back in the present day, Jost kept up the fake news, “Vice President JD Vance, seen here letting Ozempic take the wheel, said that Alaska having two candidates with the last name Sullivan is the definition of electoral fraud. Which, if true, would invalidate every election in Boston history.”The scandal in Alaska isn’t that there are two candidates with the same last name. It is that Democrats actively recruited someone with the same first and last name to try to be a spoiler. Jost also didn’t accurately depict what Vance said. What he actually talked about was the dirty trick aspect of the situation, “When you put a person on the ballot explicitly to try to confuse voters, I think that’s the definition of electoral fraud.”Coincidently, trying to trick the voters is exactly what Jost and Che tried to do by omitting crucial context from their “jokes.”Here is a transcript for the October 31-November 1 show:NBC Saturday Night Live11/1/202612:41 AM ETMICHAEL CHE: Ted Cruz said that if Abdul El-Sayed is elected to Senate, there is a very real risk Americans will die as a result. Then he went back to the Senate to cut health care and food stamps. This week, a record number of people voted in Israel’s election, which is great to see regardless if you’re on the right side or the left side or the genocide.COLIN JOST: Vice President JD Vance, seen here letting Ozempic take the wheel, said that Alaska having two candidates with the last name Sullivan is the definition of electoral fraud. Which, if true, would invalidate every election in Boston history.

Candidates up for this year’s midterm elections have been working around the clock to reach their party base and beyond to win their respective seats. (RELATED: Don’t Expect a Blue Wave This Tuesday) 
The Spectator P.M. Podcast hosts Madelynn Gondy, Ellie Gardey Holmes, and Lyrah Margo talk through key races that they’ve been monitoring and how they will be pivotal in deciding the direction of the country. Ellie discusses Iowa’s Senate race between Ashley Hinson and Josh Turek, emphasizing Hinson’s “Iowa First” stance. Madelynn talks about Kansas’s Senate race between candidates Roger Marshall and Adam Hamilton, and the contention that a historically red seat could potentially turn blue. Lyrah highlights California’s gubernatorial race between Xavier Becerra and Steve Hilton, and how the seemingly silent race could portend bigger political implications in the future. (READ MORE: The Democrats’ Black-Pill Cult Is on Full Display in Michigan)
Tune in to hear their discussion!

Listen to the Spectator P.M. Podcast on Spotify.

Watch the Spectator P.M. Podcast on Rumble.

 

DETROIT — Michigan Senate hopefuls Mike Rogers and Abdul El-Sayed were within 30 miles of each other as they rallied voters for the final time Monday night. Their closing messages were much further apart.
Rogers, rallying in Oakland County, a Democratic-leaning area that also has strong pockets of Republican voters, highlighted his support among Democrats and independents. He praised the “courage” of El-Sayed’s primary opponent, Haley Stevens, who endorsed Rogers on Sunday, and said the race was about the “soul of the country.”
About 25 miles south, in metro Detroit, El-Sayed spoke at the Majestic Theater alongside the Chicago rapper Common. He railed against President Donald Trump and called on Democratic voters to support him out of loyalty to their “collective.”
“When they come for our collective, we won’t back down,” El-Sayed said.
The two pitches reflected the closing dynamics of the cycle’s highest profile race: Rogers, battling a difficult electoral environment for Republicans, encouraging lifelong Democrats to cross the aisle for the first time; El-Sayed, coming off of a bruising primary that never quite ended, calling on them to come home.
“There are a few people who want to use the differences between us to divide us,” El-Sayed said at an earlier Monday rally at a United Auto Workers hall in Flint. “They are small, and they think they can make us small like them.”
Michigan senator Elissa Slotkin joined El-Sayed at the union hall, where organizers passed out signs reading, “Who Told You to Split Your Ticket? Somebody Who Wants Trump in Charge.” Former state representative Mallory McMorrow, who ended her primary campaign against El-Sayed and Stevens early after struggling to gain support, appeared alongside El-Sayed at a farmers’ market in the deep-blue Detroit suburb of Royal Oak. Both alluded to Stevens’s endorsement of Rogers, something El-Sayed declined to discuss with reporters the day before.
“What matters is if you’re on Team Fight or Team Flight,” Slotkin said at the UAW rally. “This race is about one thing,” McMorrow added in Royal Oak. “It’s not about different factions of the Democratic Party … it’s about MAGA versus Michigan.”
Rogers argued the opposite during his Monday night rally in Oakland County. He said his campaign “went to neighborhoods in Detroit that, candidly, Republicans hadn’t been to in a long time. You know what we found? The warmest reception we could ever imagine.”
“Once Abdul El-Sayed got through that primary, our world changed,” Rogers added. “It’s really about the heart and soul of the country and who we want to be.”
He also praised Stevens’s “courage,” saying we “both knew that we loved America, and we loved America more than we loved our parties.”
Rogers’s rally featured several Jewish and black Democrats who said they were voting Republican for the first time, citing El-Sayed’s radicalism and reluctance to condemn terrorism and antisemitism.
Chelsea Rebeck, a Jewish Democrat, said she was worried about “rising antisemitism” driven by El-Sayed’s supporters.
“When I look at Abdul El-Sayed, I don’t see someone who represents my values,” she said.
She also praised Stevens for “having the courage to stand up,” prompting a standing ovation from the audience and chants of “Haley! Haley!”
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