MS NOW’s guest host of Thursday’s The 11th Hour, Catherine Rampell, welcomed “renowned” “fascism expert” Prof. Jason Stanley to join her in reacting to President Trump’s speech on election security. During his reaction, Stanley would display an odd definition of fascism as he claimed that Trump’s call to clean up the voter rolls is really just an attempt to scrub “legitimate voters from elections.”
Rampell began the segment by gushing over her guest, “There are those among us who have seen this moment coming for some time. One of them is Jason Stanley, the renowned philosophy professor and fascism expert.”
She then read something Stanley wrote in June, ‘“Since the summer of 2025, Trump and his cohort have been acting like they have a plan to win the midterms without having to broaden their popular support. In fact, Trump has never tried to broaden his popular support, instead waging war against states that voted against him and denouncing those who vote against him as domestic threats. We can now see various elements of this plan fall into place.”’
Rampell then wondered, “Jason, how does tonight's speech play into that plan that you identified last summer?”
MS NOW's Catherine Rampell introduces Prof. Jason Stanley as a "renowned...fascism expert," but Stanley's idea of fascism is a little weak, "Now, there's been various parts of this plan to undermine the midterm elections. One has been gerrymandering that is already done. Now it… pic.twitter.com/dQSCsIqPhu
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) July 17, 2026
Stanley began his response by declaring, “Trump is engaging in what I call undermining propaganda. He's using the idea of election security to undermine election security. He says, ‘You want a safe election, then you're going to have to do these things.’”
However, Stanley’s examples of “these things” were not necessarily convincing. One example he provided was the age-old issue of gerrymandering, “Well, those things are actually going to undermine having a free and fair election. Now, there's been various parts of this plan to undermine the midterm elections. One has been gerrymandering that is already done.”
Stanley’s examples were only about to become less convincing, “Now it looks like he's trying to justify scrubbing the voter rolls of register—of genuine voters. So, he did that by saying that there are all these non-citizens voting or registered. So he's trying to push mass scrubbing of voter rolls to eliminate voters, legitimate voters from elections.”
Proper voter roll maintenance is required by federal law, and there has been a problem with blue states seemingly not properly adhering to that law. Nevertheless, Stanley claimed, “The other thing he's trying to motivate, everything he's saying is trying to justify some action that would make the midterm elections less free and less fair.”
In addition to being the law, accurate voter rolls should be seen as a simple function of good government akin to fixing the potholes, but for MS NOW everything has to be discussed in the context of fascism.
Here is a transcript for the July 16 show:
MS NOW The 11th Hour with Ali Velshi
7/16/2026
11:46 PM ET
CATHERINE RAMPELL: There are those among us who have seen this moment coming for some time. One of them is Jason Stanley, the renowned philosophy professor and fascism expert. In a piece in early June titled “Stealing the Midterms,” Stanley argued, quote, “Since the summer of 2025, Trump and his cohort have been acting like they have a plan to win the midterms without having to broaden their popular support. In fact, Trump has never tried to broaden his popular support, instead waging war against states that voted against him and denouncing those who vote against him as domestic threats. We can now see various elements of this plan fall into place.”
Joining me now is Professor Jason Stanley. Jason, how does tonight's speech play into that plan that you identified last summer?
JASON STANLEY: Right. So Trump is engaging in what I call undermining propaganda. He's using the idea of election security to undermine election security. He says, “You want a safe election, then you're going to have to do these things.”
Well, those things are actually going to undermine having a free and fair election. Now, there's been various parts of this plan to undermine the midterm elections. One has been gerrymandering that is already done. Now it looks like he's trying to justify scrubbing the voter rolls of register—of genuine voters. So, he did that by saying that there are all these non-citizens voting or registered. So he's trying to push mass scrubbing of voter rolls to eliminate voters, legitimate voters from elections.
And the other thing he's trying to motivate, everything he's saying is trying to justify some action that would make the midterm elections less free and less fair.
