After months of fearing of a stolen midterm election, MS NOW celebrated Democrats' wins on Tuesday night and took a victory lap on coverage led by Rachel Maddow. At the start of coverage, Jen Psaki and Chris Hayes were relieved to see the election moving as normal, before Maddow proclaimed the voters interrupted "Democratic backsliding" under Trump.
Later, fears of the election were subdued, and new MS NOW White House reporter Paula Reid said Trump "told the New York Times that he will accept the results of tonight's election," dispelling the liberal fears.
Psaki was first to mention the fears and voters overcoming obstacles, and she invoked conspiracies like "the threat of ICE at the polls" or "polling locations being eliminated. She celebrated, "And we have record early voting numbers. We have people waiting in line in all of these key states. That is incredibly inspiring."
Claiming more voter suppression, before a night of anything but voter suppression, Psaki continued, "It tells you that people are telling America, there's a plot twist here, everybody, we're going to participate and we're going to get out. And it doesn't matter. All of the suppression you're throwing at me."
After fearmongering over the midterms for months, MS NOW is now shocked that the midterm elections are happening as usual, which Chris Hayes related to something “really inspiring about the American system: The American people.” pic.twitter.com/MLG7pDe5bD
— Nick (@nspin310) November 4, 2026
Hayes also joined in, and decried Republican "gerrymandering," before he admitted, "it seems like the fundamental mechanics are working." He moved on to celebrate a "normal midterm":
There's elections all over the world. The ruling party never loses them. And so that to me, like after we saw this real kind of steamroller attempt at regime consolidation, basically by the Trump Administration, to be here and watching what feels like in certain ways, a normal midterm.
Speaks to, like, something really inspiring about the American system: The American people.
Later in election coverage, Maddow randomly talked about "democratic backsliding":
MS NOW election coverage now relates America under Trump to an autocracy, as Rachel Maddow talked about “democratic backsliding” and distrust in elections before saying the midterm turnout is a “freaking one-finger salute to that idea from the American people.” pic.twitter.com/xMNaCueN0k
— Nick (@nspin310) November 4, 2026
One of the things that happens in Democratic backsliding, and when authoritarians take over Democratic countries, is that they tell you that the vote doesn't matter. I mean, that's the whole thing behind claiming voter fraud and claiming that the elections are rigged. It's to tell people, don't bother voting. Your vote doesn't count. Your vote, whatever you intend it to mean. It won't ever mean that, and this whole system is rigged against you. And it's to turn people off from voting not only to make them disbelieve the results, but to make them disinterested in participating.
In her big conclusion, she remarked, "And this is a freaking one-finger salute to that idea from the American people tonight." In more cringe-worthy remarks, Maddow added, "I don't know what's gonna happen in South Carolina; this is the American people saying 'We are out here, fam.'”
After months of fearmongering over a stolen midterm election, new MS NOW chief White House reporter Paula Reid declared, “Rachel, the president just told the New York Times that he will accept the results of tonight's election." pic.twitter.com/8zIfvmNsUG
— Nick (@nspin310) November 4, 2026
In more of MS NOW's election fears over the past year being proven wrong, former CNN reporter Paula Reid joined from the White House and said, "Of course. Well, Rachel, the president just told the New York Times that he will accept the results of tonight's election." In the last gasp of fearmongering, Reid did add, " I will note, though, he made those remarks before the results have all come in."
Notably, MS NOW went all in on election fears in the midterm campaign, with just this week Morning Joe's Joe Scarborough fearing Elon Musk would rig the election and fears from the summer fearing Trump would stimulate "violence" and invoke emergency powers if he lost the election.
Lawrence O’Donnell celebrates Democrat midterm wins: “So this means the Trump reign of terror is over.” pic.twitter.com/hakuEXkba6
— Nick (@nspin310) November 4, 2026
To close out the liberal relief on the DNC-aligned channel, the crazed Lawrence O’Donnell proclaimed, “This means the Trump reign of terror is over.”
The transcript is below. Click "expand":
MS NOW’s We the People: Election Night
November 3, 2026
6:15:18 PM Eastern
(...)
JEN PSAKI: I've been I mean, first of all, I've been thinking so much about and listening to Vaughn and Jacob talk about all the voters waiting in line, all of the obstacles that these voters have faced over the last two years, whether it was redistricting or the threat of ice at the polls or polling locations being eliminated or hours being shortened. And we have record early voting numbers. We have people waiting in line in all of these key states. That is incredibly inspiring.
It tells you that people are telling America, there's a plot twist here, everybody, we're going to participate and we're going to get out. And it doesn't matter. All of the suppression you're throwing at me.
RACHEL MADDOW: Yeah.
CHRIS HAYES: There was I think there was a real desire from Trump on down to essentially voter-proof the Republican party to try to make it so that you could engineer a kind of permanent majority or presidentialist system. You know, the gerrymandering was the most aggressive version of that. And we shouldn't just skate past it because it really was a crazy power play. Hadn't seen it happen except for one state, Texas, under George W. Bush.
And so when you layer atop that, all of the attempts to the executive order on mailing, which courts basically enjoined all the shenanigans, the Department of Justice and all the announcements about we're going to go after this. We're ending in a place where, like, it seems like the fundamental mechanics are working, which is people in a democracy get to tell the leaders whether they like what they're doing or not.
MADDOW: Yeah. And oust them if they don’t.
HAYES: Ando ust them. In fact, the definition of a democracy, according to one political scientist I read, is a system in which the ruling party can lose an election.
MADDOW: Yeah.
HAYES: That is definitional what a democracy is. There's elections all over the world. The ruling party never loses them. And so that to me, like after we saw this real kind of steamroller attempt at regime consolidation, basically by the Trump Administration, to be here and watching what feels like in certain ways, a normal midterm.
MADDOW: Yeah.
HAYES: Speaks to, like, something really inspiring about the American system: The American people.
MADDOW: In terms of what the American people want, what they're willing to stand up for, and what our system can take.
(...)
7:33:17 PM Eastern
MADDOW: One of the things that happens in Democratic backsliding, and when authoritarians take over Democratic countries, is that they tell you that the vote doesn't matter. I mean, that's the whole thing behind claiming voter fraud and claiming that the elections are rigged. It's to tell people, don't bother voting. Your vote doesn't count. Your vote, whatever you intend it to mean. It won't ever mean that, and this whole system is rigged against you. And it's to turn people off from voting not only to make them disbelieve the results, but to make them disinterested in participating. And this is a freaking one-finger salute to that idea from the American people tonight.
[Laughter]
NICOLE WALLACE: So good. So good.
MADDOW: I mean, the turnout numbers again, those those record turnout numbers, I was just I was just conveying to you, those are out of South Carolina.
WALLACE: We don’t even know who they voted for.
MADDOW: I don't know what's gonna happen in South Carolina; this is the American people saying “We are out here, fam.”
(...)
11:22:05 PM Eastern
MADDOW: Let's go to Paula Reid now. MS NOW Chief White House Reporter Paula Reid is at the White House with some of the response that we're hearing tonight from Washington. Paula, thanks very much for being with us. What are you hearing tonight?
PAULA REID: Of course. Well, Rachel, the president just told the New York Times that he will accept the results of tonight's election. I will note, though, he made those remarks before the results have all come in.
Now, look, for days officials here have been bracing for losses, but we're told they're really surprised by the margins. One official calling it a, quote, “worst-case scenario.” All through the night, the mood here has been pretty downcast. One top Trump advisor told me earlier he wasn't even sure he was going to attend the president's election night watch party.
Now, the president and the White House have tried to distance Trump from these results, suggesting this is all because he wasn't on the ballot, even though he's been asking people to pretend he was on the ballot. He also said other problems with candidate quality, despite the fact that Trump personally selected the GOP Senate candidates in key states like South Carolina, North Carolina, and, of course, most notably in Texas.
We know from our polling that Trump was top of mind for voters. Rachel, I also know here officials at the white house what is really top of mind for them right now is what the fallout will be from this election. What does this mean for Susie Wiles? A lot of officials believe she is the last person standing between the current situation and Stephen Miller becoming the second most powerful person in the White House. So that's where a lot of the folks, the sources that I've been speaking with, that's where their attention is turned right now the fallout over the next few days.
(...)
11:38:10 PM Eastern
LAWRENCE O’DONNELL: So this means the Trump Reign of Terror is over. Trump Reign of Terror in Washington, in which he controlled Mike Johnson's every breath and every thought and everything that happened in the United States Senate, controlled by Republicans. That's completely over now. Mike Johnson is out of a job. He's available to be the next white house chief of staff if you need him. This changes everything. This means that Donald Trump could not get a Supreme Court justice confirmed if a vacancy occurs in the remainder of his presidency. This means that there's absolutely nothing Donald Trump can do about the budget of the United States of America without the Democrats in the House and the Democrats in the Senate.
The governing of the country has now just shifted out of the White House. He's left with his executive orders, most of which, from this point on, will be wildly illegal and will be dragged into court immediately. This is as powerless a presidency as we will have seen in our lifetimes from this point forward.
(...)
