MS NOW Daytime Promotes ProPublica Election Takeover Conspiracy

Nicholas Spinnato
April 15th, 2026 10:02 AM
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During multiple editions of MS NOW Reports in the afternoon hours, Chris Jansing Reports and Katy Tur Reports promoted a story that fear-mongered a midterm election takeover from Republicans, according to a report published by the left-wing non-profit ProPublica titled “Inside Trump’s Effort to ‘Take Over’ the Midterm Elections.”

The ProPublica report alleged election safeguards have been broken as the “president has unleashed his loyalists to transform elections.”

In the first segment of the afternoon news shows, Chris Jansing’s show used the ProPublica story as a lead into an interview with Nevada Democrat Secretary of State Cisco Aquilar. Janising led with: “Today, new reporting from ProPublica on what appears to be a coordinated effort by the Trump Administration to take over the midterm elections.”

 

 

Her first question to Aquilar asked: “How worried are you about the integrity of the midterms when you hear that election deniers are the people put in place to safeguard elections?” Auqilar responded with a defense of the Nevada Electoral system.

Jansing shifted to fearmongering over ICE agents at polling places as she said, “There have been reports that they plan to send ICE agents to polling places, even if they don't do a thing but stand there. Is that a problem?”

Aquilar said even if ICE agents were not at polling stations, the damage had already been done: “The statement has already done the damage, because what it's doing is putting fear into people to show up at a polling location and exercise their constitutional, fundamental right.”

Just about an hour later on Katy Tur Reports with guest-host Erielle Reshef, the network once again promoted the story, this time with an interview with an investigative reporter from ProPublica, Doug Bock Clark.

 

 

Reshef quoted a comment from the “Campaign Legal Center” which told the non-profit outlet, “the election denial movement is now interwoven within the federal government, and they are working together toward a shared goal of reshaping elections.” 

Clark spread fear about a group called ‘Team America’ at the Department of Homeland Security, with allusions to an idea that election ‘guardrails’ were no longer in place since Trump’s recent election victory.

Reshef continued, “So, is there any kind of effort to try to counter what these Trump appointees that his loyalists are doing within the government?” 

Later on, after Clark answered Reshef, the investigative reporter was asked what worried him and what voters should expect. Clark responded with the repeated fear of ICE agents at polling places before he went back to his broken guardrail theory:

You know, there's a lot of worries about, you know, what the Trump Administration might do to control about who could, you know, show up at the polls, who would be able to do this. There's talk of ICE agents or other people showing up at the polls. 

The Trump Administration has, you know, said that the election is going to be free and fair. That's what they told us. But as we were looking behind the scenes, we found a lot of things that really broke down, the old guardrails that prevented, you know, partisan influence on elections.

The election conspiracies have spread wild on MS NOW with constant fear of Trump overturning the midterm elections. There were multiple examples documented by NewsBusters going back just a few months with segments that spread fear of a so-called election takeover, as it pertains to a Postal Service conspiracy, as seen on Katy Tur Reports, and fear of a ‘paramilitary’ ICE stealing an election on Morning Joe.

Just as Iran had started to squeak past the headlines to a possible closure, liberal media outlets have started to go back to their election conspiracies.

The transcripts are below. Click "expand":

MS NOW’s Chris Jansing Reports

April 14, 2026

1:30:20 PM Eastern

CHRIS JANSING: Today, new reporting from ProPublica on what appears to be a coordinated effort by the Trump Administration to take over the midterm elections. 

Speaking to roughly 30 current or former executive branch officials familiar with the situation, they report at least 75 career officials who played important roles in election security have either left or been fired, or were reassigned and replaced by about two dozen people selected by President Trump. Ten of those actively worked to reverse the 2020 election results. 

In a statement to the publication, the white house said its actions will make elections fairer and more secure. With me now, Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, how worried are you about the integrity of the midterms when you hear that election deniers are the people put in place to safeguard elections?

CISCO AQUILAR (NEVADA SEC. OF STATE (D)): Well, let me just say this: Nevada runs some of the safest, most secure and accessible elections in the country. And that's because the Constitution is very clear that states have the responsibility to run their elections. What the federal government is doing in this administration is doing is tearing apart that infrastructure, because they want to influence and intimidate us into compliance with what they think is the appropriate thing to do. 

When the founders drafted the Constitution, they were very clear that there had to be a separation of power between the federal government, a single individual, and the states to run these elections because it builds in the internal security of the process, and they're totally trying to rip apart that constitutional framework.

JANSING: So, let me ask you specifically about what you're looking at in the upcoming midterms. You and I were talking off-camera about immigration. There have been reports that they plan to send ICE agents to polling places, even if they don't do a thing but stand there. Is that a problem?

AQUILAR: The statement has already done the damage, because what it's doing is putting fear into people to show up at a polling location and exercise their constitutional, fundamental right. If you're a Latino in Las Vegas, living on the east side, and somebody is telling you that there is a potential for you to interact with federal agents, that's an intimidation factor. Whether or not you are eligible to vote, if you have a Latino last name or a Spanish last name, and you show up, these individuals are going to work to intimidate you from actually casting that vote.

Thank god, in Nevada, we have many options for voters to vote. We have universal mail ballot. We have two weeks of early voting. We have a digital voting program that is available to tribal members living on tribal land. And it's not only just Latinos that are impacted by this, it's tribal members too. And it's unfortunate that we're even having to have this conversation, because the goal should be to get as many people to participate. That is a very diverse state when it comes from a geographic perspective, ethnic even. We are a 24/7 economy. We are a working community.

(...)

MS NOW’s Katy Tur Reports

April 14, 2026

2:28:45 PM Eastern

ERIELLE RESHEF: Now, with less than seven months to go until the midterms, if you can believe it, some of the same people who spread election denial conspiracies in 2020 are currently in place to oversee election security and infrastructure, with the power to intervene or interfere. As the director of the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center tells ProPublica, quote, “the election denial movement is now interwoven within the federal government, and they are working together toward a shared goal of reshaping elections.” 

Joining us now, one of the ProPublica reporters who wrote that piece, Doug Bock Clark. Doug, thanks for being with us. Your reporting has found that the guardrails that were in place in 2020 to thwart the president's impulses aren't in place any longer. And the people who tried to help overturn the election that year now have some key roles in government, could move the needle on this. So, some of them call themselves ‘Team America.’ Who are they? What power do they wield?

DOUG BOCK CLARK (PROPUBLICA INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER): So, as you note, you know, we wanted to really take a deep look at what was happening inside the federal government. A lot of these guardrails they held in 2020, they really bent, they bent almost to the breaking point. But Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election, they failed. 

But in the last year or so, the Trump Administration has had a lot of time and a lot of opportunity to try to, you know, overhaul the federal system to get ready for the midterms. And we wanted to take a very deep look behind the scenes to see what was happening as they get ready for the midterms. 

Now, one of those key teams, as you mentioned, is a group of people at the Department of Homeland Security. They've called themselves in the past, ‘Team America’ internally, and some of their members come out of a group called the election integrity network, which is led by a lawyer who tried to help overturn the 2020 election.

RESHEF: So, is there any kind of effort to try to counter what these Trump appointees that his loyalists are doing within the government?

CLARK: Well, so, you know, the constitution dictates that states actually, you know, run elections. And one of the things we found as we looked at how the Trump administration was changing things behind the scenes, was that a lot of both Republican state officials as well as Democratic state officials are really trying to stand up counter efforts by the Trump Administration to impose their way of running elections on them. You know, that can be Republican officials refusing to hand over voter rolls, which the Trump Administration has sued them for. That can be Democratic State Secretaries of State hiring more lawyers to try and fight what they believe is going to be a coming attempt to overturn potential results in the midterms.

(...)

2:41:58 PM Eastern

RESHEF: So, take us to the voter level of all of this. For Americans who head to the polls in November, what could be different? What could they see there? What worries you after your research and reporting?

CLARK: You know, so one thing that the Trump Administration has really tried to do is they released a new executive order at the end of last month, which would have a which would create sort of a master list of sorts of who could be eligible to vote. You know, there's a lot of worries about, you know, what the Trump Administration might do to control about who could, you know, show up at the polls, who would be able to do this. There's talk of ICE agents or other people showing up at the polls. 

The Trump Administration has, you know, said that the election is going to be free and fair. That's what they told us. But as we were looking behind the scenes, we found a lot of things that really broke down, the old guardrails that prevented, you know, partisan influence on elections. You know, a really key moment that we found was when the Trump White House hired this lawyer named Kurt Olsen. Now, Kurt Olsen tried to help Trump overturn the ‘20 election in court, and Trump has hired him to reinvestigate the results of that election.

Around the end of this year, Kurt Olsen flew down to Georgia ahead of the raid to seize Georgia election materials. And, you know, Olsen met with the special agent in charge, the FBI special agent in charge there and said, you know, I have this report. You know, we've got to, you know, go and try and get these ballots. But the special agent in charge did not, you know, go along with exactly what he wanted and was eventually asked to retire. 

Now, that's really a key moment. You know, back after Watergate, we established norms. We established rules that tried to prevent the White House from leaning on law enforcement. And, you know, this seems to be a possible instance where that guardrail has broken down and is really an indication of what might be happening in the future as we get closer to the midterms.

(...)

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