… The scope and the scale of the results of this election were so incredible that it is developing into an Emperor Has No Clothes moment in the Republican Party for Trump. Finally. A moment many thought would happen at various times years ago - first with the Access Hollywood tape, then the 2018 midterms losses, the 2020 election loss, and J6. It never came.
… Strangely, and to the consternation of reasonable and intelligent people everywhere, those things only seemed to strengthen Trump’s position with his own base and his hold over the GOP. But it looks like what it took to finally break the spell was a complete wipeout at the ballot box in areas where Republicans felt completely safe, and with demographics (like white men with no college) they took for granted abandoning them for the first time.
… As someone who has closely covered the MAGA movement for years, attended many Trump rallies and events to cover them, and monitored right-wing media, podcasts, and social media, I have never seen anything like the last 24 hours. Republicans speaking out who never have before, trying to distance themselves from Trump - even talking differently.
… Even the Fox hosts have changed their tune on Trump - at least for now. It is remarkable to watch in real time. I truly do not think we will ever see a fully ascendant Trump again - and I never thought I would say that in 2026. It is the beginning of the Great Unraveling of MAGA, which will continue over the next several months.
… Of course, this is not the time for us to be complacent - this is a virus than can come back if it isn’t thoroughly eradicated. I think we learned our lesson on that after 2020, when many thought he could never come back from his mishandling of covid, the election loss and the aftermath. I never thought he was done then - but I do now. He’s still dangerous, but greatly diminished.
… I even sense when I listen to him that he is broken, and will largely retreat to his ballroom bunker, the lounge lizards at Mar-a-Lago, and his ass kissers on the golf course. He got most of what he wanted out of the presidency - it saved him financially when he was struggling, then enriched him more than all his other businesses combined. He got immunity from his crimes and the fawning attention he craves.
… But maybe, just maybe, Democrats will not stop at letting him slink away to south FL when his term expires without the maximum amount of accountability the Supreme Court will allow. Who knows, maybe now even the Court will get tired of covering for him. I don’t count on that, but I also never thought every statewide elected office in the GA state govt would be held by black women in my lifetime. But here we are.
… It feels like a different country than it was just 3 days ago.
… But there will always be the diehards. 30 years after WWII ended there were still Japanese soldiers holed up in the jungles of the Pacific islands - there is a core group of MAGA who will always have that mentality. But I have not seen so few of them since 2015. It is truly amazing to witness and I never thought it would happen this suddenly. But it is happening.
… Meanwhile, Trump decided to double-down on awfulness, as his Chief of Staff Susie Wiles was replaced by repulsive fascist Stephen Miller. He posted:
“I am pleased to announce that Stephen Miller, one of my most trusted advisors, will become the Chief of Staff starting Monday, November 9, 2026. Susie Wiles, who has done an outstanding job, will be moving over to the Trump Political Operation. I want to thank her for her service as Chief of Staff — She has done a great job!”
… Wiles posted: “Today is my last day as WH Chief of Staff. Serving President Trump has been the honor of a lifetime. I’m so proud to have been a part of what we’ve accomplished together from securing our border and cutting taxes to strengthening our economy and putting America First.”
… If the remaining Republicans left in elective office thought over the last couple days that Trump was going to course correct to improve their plight before their next reckoning in 2028, the appointment of Stephen Miller as Chief of Staff just dashed those hopes.
… Sen. Chuck Schumer: “Trump learned nothing from his historic defeat. Stephen Miller is the architect of the most barbaric, inhumane policies of this admin. Trump couldn’t have made a worse choice. Our Democratic majorities will fight him every step of the way.”
… Incoming House Oversight Chair Robert Garcia:
“Stephen Miller should lawyer up. Just days after the American people rejected his corrupt and lawless presidency, Trump is doubling down. Stephen Miller is the architect of the unconstitutional ICE raids that have terrorized our communities and kidnapped and killed American citizens and immigrant families.
Oversight Democrats will continue to investigate Miller for his misconduct, and we will fight against his hateful policies in Congress and the courts.”
… Financial Times: “Before the dust had settled on an election that swept Democrats to power in both chambers of Congress, Rupert Murdoch’s media empire appeared to be contemplating life after Trump. Shortly after midnight, the editorial board of Murdoch’s WSJ declared Trump was the ‘main architect’ of the Republican defeat and called for the party to debate what it stood for after him.
… The NY Post, Murdoch’s famously pugilistic tabloid, splashed a giant blue tsunami across its front page on Wed, depicting a helpless-looking Trump about to be engulfed by a wave under the headline: ‘Trump suffers historic rebuke as Dems romp in midterms.’
… Even on Fox, the cable TV channel where Trump has long enjoyed the support of some of America’s most influential conservative television personalities, the mood had turned muted.
… A former Fox executive: “Rupert does not want to be with a loser. He doesn’t care about Trump anymore, he cares about the audience. But how do you move away from Trump without antagonizing that base?”
… Even Laura Loomer is taking a break: “I’ve been going nonstop supporting Trump ever since he came down the golden escalator. It’s been very hard for me to be honest. Very very hard. I’ve been running on empty for too long. So I’m taking a hiatus from my show, which I livestream twice a week. I just need to step back, recharge, refocus. I’ll be back when the time is right.”
… It was a cry fest on Jesse Watters’ show on Fox last night with his guest, right-wing podcaster Tim Pool:
Watters: “You saw the numbers - under-30 year olds swung 32 points left, which is insane. And this younger generation - it’s as big as the Baby Boomers. How do Republicans, I can’t even believe I’m saying this, win back young men?”
Pool: “I’m not sure they do, and it’s worse than people realize. 18-29 year old young white men with no college degree swung 42 points! I think many of them want to burn the Republican Party down.”
… Fox host Laura Ingraham called for an end to the war on her show: “It’s a type of option a successful businessman undertakes when a particular venture has failed, and it’s just time to cut your losses. The notion that we’re going to change the regime’s mind with a few bombing runs is delusional. The longer we’re bogged down, the weaker we become.”
… Politico: “Democrats will take control of Congress in January. Their first chance to burn Trump’s checkbook for the Iran war could come even sooner. Lawmakers face a Dec. 11 deadline to extend federal funding or spark a govt shutdown - just weeks before Republicans lose their majorities in the House and Senate.
… After Democratic moderates and progressives alike campaigned successfully on ending the war in Iran, some in the party now say any year-end spending measure must block cash for the military conflict. Democratic leaders have yet to announce whether they will try to use the moment to limit resources for Trump’s offensive.
… Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT): “Democrats will absolutely not fund Trump’s war of choice with Iran that has increased costs on American families and made us less safe.”
… Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA): “The American people just voted overwhelmingly to put an end to this war, and we are going to look at every tool we have available to us to bring this disastrous war to an end.”
… Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) to Washington Sun: “Are the Democrats, including the Democratic leadership, going to listen to the verdict of the American people and vote to end this war?”
… Sen. Ted Cruz on Fox: “I will say to every elected Republican: We need to listen to what the voters’ said, listen to their frustration, and be working to lower gas prices, food prices, interest rates. Help people succeed and provide for their families.”
… Sure, Ted. You just spent the past year yelling about trans people, legislating college football for your donors, and calling Talarico a gay vegan over and over. But now he wants to pretend he cares about people’s needs because he’s running for president.
… Conservative radio host Erick Erickson: “Republicans got wiped out and the Vance wing of the party has embraced the monocausal thinking of gas prices due to Iran. Does not bode well for the future of the GOP to see destruction down to MS and conclude it was just that one thing.”
… Vote Hub:
“Scott Colom continues to expand his lead. Colom now leads Hyde-Smith by 1,936 votes statewide. MS has no automatic recount, but he has a good chance of finishing more than half a point ahead anyways, beyond the recount threshold in most states.
As of now, Democrats look on track for about 260 US House seats, give or take one or two depending on if mail ballots out west break a little differently than expected in a district or two. They will have the largest majority for either party in 36 years.
Republicans redrew maps last year to favor them in a neutral environment. But that aggressive effort left their maps vulnerable to a Democratic wave, helping Democrats win so many seats as those gerrymanders unraveled.”
… Colum, who is Black, won Forrest County, MS. That is noteworthy because Forrest County is named after KKK founder Nathan Bedford Forrest. As Bob Dylan said, ‘The times they are a-changin.”
… Dan Rosenheck with The Economist: “Never say never, but the difference between 54 Dem seats and 56 is huge here. If Republicans win the presidency in 2028 by any margin they’d be favored in OH, GA, PA, AZ. NH also is plausible in a good-not-great GOP year. But that still leaves 51-49 D. To get that 50th seat they’d need a real blue state.”
… This is a striking map from the 2026 results.
…WaPo: “Democrats are preparing to unleash a wave of investigations that will probe the most sensitive and controversial actions of America’s largest corporations over the past two years, sparking a reckoning among Silicon Valley and Wall Street executives who courted the Trump admin - and who are now bracing for an onslaught.
… Days after winning majorities in the House and Senate, Democrats are setting sharp priorities. They are zeroing in on Apple, Meta and the companies led by Elon Musk as early targets for congressional investigations.
… The House is laying the groundwork to investigate Trump’s use of Musk’s AI chatbot, Grok, to plan the military operation and capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Lawmakers are also eyeing Apple over its hosting of tracking apps used by ICE, and Meta over its demands that local govts sign nondisclosure agreements related to data center development.
… Those possibilities have prompted a flurry of activity in Washington, where corporate lawyers are hosting emergency online meetings, gatherings in co-working spaces and intimate bar conversations to dispense advice to founders and C-suite executives on how to prepare for the highly public investigations about to rain down on firms with ties to the Trump admin.”
… WSJ: “For nearly two decades, Sen. Elizabeth Warren has needled and probed Wall Street at every turn. She has called the private-equity industry legal ‘looting’ and written a bill that could make it easier to jail executives.
… She’s called for criminal probes into banking executives for failing to catch blowups. She’s sought to delay the biggest IPO of all time, SpaceX, and raised questions about Anthropic’s existential risks to humanity. She has pledged to look into bankers’ ties to Jeffrey Epstein and dealings with the Trump admin.
… Now, she is about to take the controls of the powerful Senate Banking Committee, giving her the kind of expansive authority over the financial industry she’s long sought—and Wall Street has feared.
… With her characteristic gusto and new subpoena powers, Warren is expected to usher in an era of heightened oversight and investigations into the likes of JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wall Street moneymen and the new generation of trading technologies from crypto to prediction markets.”
… Sen. Chuck Schumer was asked by Lawrence O’Donnell on MS NOW about incoming senators saying they don’t support him for majority leader:
“We are all working together as a team. I’m not the issue. It’s staying together on what the American people care about so we can have that generational remaking of the map. That’s the key issue here. Our enemy is not each other, our enemy is Trump.”
“What I do as the leader is I’m the orchestra leader. I pick the theme, but I am not the best bassoonist. So I highlight that person. I am not the great virtuoso singer. So I highlight that person. The way to make this work is to showcase the talent of these people.”
… SC senator-elect Annie Andrews on Fox: Q - “Are you still not going to vote for Chuck Schumer? Andrews: I believe it’s time for a generational change on both sides of the aisle.”
… NBC reporter Jonathan Allen:
No one is running against Schumer.
The Senate leadership vote is on a secret ballot.
Democrats just won a landslide with Schumer setting Senate strategy and his allies providing support to winning campaigns.
If no one runs against him, there won’t be a vote count.
Not my circus, but that’s the way this works.
… Jon Stewart on Schumer:
“Someone has to meet this moment. You have an opportunity to actually govern. One of the first things you need to do is remove that system of seniority from Democratic politics. It’s a bullshit system and it needs to go. Chuck Schumer fought tooth and nail against half of these fucking people. He does not understand the urgency of the moment and what the future demands.”
They’re already like ‘Chuck Schumer deserves a lot of credit for putting together this coalition--’ Chuck Schumer fought tooth-and-nail against half of these fucking people!”
Reminder there is no Bulletin tomorrow because I’m off Saturdays. Rainy weekend in Maine so we will just be hitting a few museums and LL Bean. I will be back with the next Bulletin on Sunday night recapping the entire weekend.
That will also give me some time to fully reflect on this historic week, which I really have not done yet since everything has just been happening so fast with no break. Tuesday was the culmination of so many thousands of hours for so many of us who worked so hard and never gave up hope.
Thank you to all the activists, No Kings rally participants, sign holders, donors to candidates, voters, and just generally everyone who did what they could to defeat this MAGA monster. Lots more to do because the Orange Menace is still in the WH, but we are making progress.
If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here.
… KY Gov. Andy Beshear to Meidas’ Scott Macfarlane: “We’re going to have 30 governors in January who are Democrats. That’s the most we’ve had since 1992, so it’s our best election night ever. The other thing we’re going to have is a Democratic governor in every single swing state. So no matter who our nominee is in 2028, our map just better.”
… Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY):
“The American people just gave the new Democratic majority a mandate for change and accountability. Let’s prove we’re not the party of strongly worded letters anymore. Time to rebuild trust. Deliver tangible help. Lower costs. Take corruption head-on. And that starts with us CLEANING HOUSE on Day One.
Pass term limits. Ban congressional stock trading. Ban members of Congress from ever lobbying. Overturn Citizens United. Ban IE spending in our primaries. Fire consultants who run SCAM pacs, stealing from our most engaged activists.
