After Democratic Senate candidate Scott Colom was projected the winner of the Mississippi Senate Race on Wednesday night, Thursday’s broadcast network morning news shows could not hide their glee and celebration over the “historic” Democrat win. ABC, CBS, and NBC all celebrated, with Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts even insinuating Colom won in spite of voter suppression.
ABC’s report came near the start of the show, after reports on the Brooklyn building collapse and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, before he resigned later in the morning. Roberts introduced the Colom story with glee:
Now, the major upset in the Mississippi Senate race. Democrat Scott Colom expanding the Democratic majority to 55 seats, making history as the first Black senator from that state since Reconstruction, a state that President Trump won by 23 points just two years ago.
On Thursday, ABC’s Good Morning America celebrated Democrat Scott Colom's win in Mississippi:
Reporter Faith Abubey closed her report, “And you think about it in the state, the state long scarred by Jim Crow voting laws, the assassination of civil rights leaders like Medgar… pic.twitter.com/iVKVmPD5em— Nick (@nspin310) November 12, 2026
Reporter Faith Abubey first claimed Colom was “marking his place in US history” and said the state was “sending a black candidate to the U.S. Senate for the first time in more than 150 years.”
Abubey noted incumbent Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) blocked a possible Colom confirmation to be a federal judge, and also played a viral ad from Colom after Hyde-Smith told "voters to pick another protein when asked about high beef prices.”
Abubey closed her report with a mini-speech:
And you think about it in the state, the state long scarred by Jim Crow voting laws, the assassination of Civil Rights leaders like Medgar Evers, the lynching of Emmett Till, and the bloodshed during Freedom Summer. And this is a huge day. So many people, Robin, are celebrating this morning.
In response, Roberts repeated Colom’s slogan of “Mississippi matters” and insinuated there was voter suppression taking place, even though Colom won:
GMA host Robin Roberts then seemed to claim voter suppression in Mississippi, even after Colom’s victory, and said Colom won in spite of “a lot of changes that were made that made it more challenging to vote" in the state. https://t.co/tIbYzCVUgV pic.twitter.com/P4PGzs0lwc
— Nick (@nspin310) November 12, 2026
ROBERTS: And his slogan was “Mississippi matters,” and we found that every vote matters because there were a lot of changes that were made that made it more challenging –
STRAHAN: For people to vote.
ROBIN: – To vote and for those votes to be counted. But he has made history.
ABC was the only broadcast network to claim there were some sort of voter suppression shenanigans, while CNN’s Dana Bash also alluded to voters being “disenfranchised” on Wednesday.
CBS Mornings also celebrated Democrat Scott Colom’s Mississippi Senate Win on Thursday: “Scott Colom swam upstream in a red state and made it to the shore of history.”
Former Obama donor Gayle King exclaimed, “It is an extraordinary day in Mississippi.” pic.twitter.com/RItR2DpYdl— Nick (@nspin310) November 12, 2026
CBS Mornings was also in a celebratory mood, as, after a long discussion of Jensen Huang-mania, with Nate Burleson sharing the “historic update.”
Reporter Mark Strassman declared, “Meet Mississippi's new senator-elect, Scott Colom. The first black senator elected from this part of the Deep South since Reconstruction.”
After a voter, Strassmann talked to explained the reasoning behind Colom’s win as, “We are either going to sink, or we are going to swim,” Strassmann exclaimed: “Scott Colom swam upstream in a red state and made it to the shore of history.”
After Strassmann detailed Trump’s previous win in the state, host Gayle King, a former Obama donor, also declared, “It is an extraordinary day in Mississippi."
NBC’s Today also detailed Colom’s “historic” win on Thursday, while, like ABC, making its politics report of the day about both the Mississippi Senate race being called and Sec. Pete Hegseth being “reprimanded” at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
The only addition? A brief… pic.twitter.com/7L12b5KJXP— Nick (@nspin310) November 12, 2026
Additionally, NBC’s Today was in a similar mood, with more focus on Colom’s viral “pick a protein ad,” in a report that also mixed in the news of an Army Sentinel reprimanding Sec. Pete Hegseth at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
In the introduction to hsi report, White House correspondent Garrett Haake proclaimed, “More than a week after the midterms, and we're still learning just how deep into red states this blue wave is crashing with Scott Colom now set to be the first Democrat to represent Mississippi in the Senate since the Reagan administration.”
He later added, “Overnight, an historic upset in Mississippi, decades in the making,” before playing clips of Colom at a victory rally and more of his viral ad.
Notable to NBC’s report was a brief on Alaska Senate results with Democrat Mary Pelotla in the lead versus Republican Dan Sullivan, and the possible need for ranked-choice voting tabulations. However, in Haake’s report, there was no mention of the fake Dan J. Sullivan, a fake Democrat plant intended to siphon votes away from the incumbent Sullivan.
Notably, there was no mention in any of the reports about Colom being a supposed moderate, which makes sense compared to previous comparisons since he was a Soros-funded District Attorney.
The transcripts from each broadcast morning program are below. Click "expand":
ABC’s Good Morning America
November 12, 2026
7:07:09 AM Eastern
ROBIN ROBERTS: Now, the major upset in the Mississippi Senate race. Democrat Scott Colom expanding the Democratic majority to 55 seats, making history as the first Black senator from that state since Reconstruction, a state that President Trump won by 23 points just two years ago. Faith Abubey is in the capital of Jackson. Good morning to you, Faith.
FAITH ABUBEY: Yeah, good morning to you, Robin. Observers were strapped in, buckled in for a potentially long legal fight here for the U.S. Senate seat in Mississippi. But in the end, the gap was just too wide. The Republican incumbent conceding last night, and Scott Colom marking his place in U.S. History.
[Story beings]
In an election year packed with political shockwaves this morning, deep red Mississippi delivering perhaps the biggest jolt of all.
SEN-ELECT SCOTT COLOM (D-MS) I had the courage to understand that we could show the country that Mississippi matters.
ABUBEY: The Magnolia State is sending a black candidate to the U.S. Senate for the first time in more than 150 years. Overnight, Democrat Scott Colom, a district attorney declaring victory after widening his razor-thin lead on Wednesday when hundreds of provisional ballots put him too far ahead for the GOP. Incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith, to catch up.
COLOM: My commitment is to be someone that continues to stay in prayer, continues to have faith, and continues to work to make every Mississippian's life better.
ABUBEY: In a stunning political reversal, Hyde-Smith, the same Republican senator who just years ago blocked Colom from becoming a federal judge, calling the 43-year-old Democrat to concede her own senate seat to him.
SEN. CINDY HYDE SMITH (R-MS): While this is not the outcome we worked for or hoped for, I respect the decision of Mississippi voters.
ABUBEY: The race between Hyde-Smith and Colom gaining naonal attention just weeks before the election ater this viral ad showing the GOP senator telling voters to pick another protein when asked about high beef prices.
VOTER FROM COLOM AD: I’d rather pick another senator.
ABUBEY: Colom, branding his opponent Cindy High-Prices. Colom’s victory a major political milestone for Mississippi, sending its first B;ack senator to the U.S. Capitol since the post-Civil War Reconstruction era. One voter telling us this moment was generations in the making.
VOTER: I am not one generation out of the cotton field. Both of my parents picked cotton, and my great-grandmother was sold here as a slave from Virginia to here. So, I am so excited to be on this side of history.
ABUBEY: A few days after the election, Colom himself telling us, Mississippi has come a long way.
[On Novemeber 5] [To Colom] Has historical implications crossed your mind, and how does that weigh on you?
COLOM: Yeah, for me, I try to think of it from the perspective of not being the last. You know, my goal is to make sure the next, you know, African American boy or girl that has the work ethic, the values, the vision to be thing they want to be, including a United States senator, that nobody ever says that Scott Colom did anything to make it more difficult for them
[Cuts back to live]
ABUBEY: And Hiram Revels and Blanche Bruce were the first two black U.S. Senators from Mississippi elected in the 1800s by the state legislature. Scott Colom is the first chosen by the people.
And you think about it in the state, the state long scarred by Jim Crow voting laws, the assassination of Civil Rights leaders like Medgar Evers, the lynching of Emmett Till, and the bloodshed during Freedom Summer. And this is a huge day. So many people, Robin, are celebrating this morning.
ROBIN ROBERTS: Our thanks to you for being there. Faith. And his slogan was “Mississippi matters,” and we found that every vote matters because there were a lot of changes that were made that made it more challenging –
MICHAEL STRAHAN: For people to vote.
ROBIN: – To vote and for those votes to be counted. But he has made history.
(...)
CBS Mornings
November 12, 2026
7:14:23 AM Eastern
NATE BURLESON: Alright, w have a historic update to the elections. CBS News projects that Democrat Scott Colom will be the next senator for Mississippi by less than 5,000 votes. He’s state’s first black senator for Mississippi in nearly 150 years. Mark Strassmann is in Jackson, Mississippi. Mark, good morning.
MARK STRASSMAN: Good morning to you, Nate. It took an extra eight days, but the voice of the voters here is now clear and Scott Colom is their next U.S. Senator, and Mississippi turns the list of ruby red states that turned blue this election cycle.
[Story begins]
Meet Mississippi's new senator-elect, Scott Colom. The first black senator elected from this part of the Deep South since Reconstruction.
COLOM: And in Mississippi our prayer are often changed the course of history.
STRASSMAN: One ballot at a time on Wednesday, officials in Hines County feed the suspense in America's closest Senate race in this election cycle. They added hundreds of ballots to the race tally, a mix of provisional ballots and last-minute mail-ins. But incumbent Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith fell further behind and conceded on Wednesday night.
HYDE-SMITH: While this is not the outcome we worked for or hoped for, I respect the decision of Mississippi voters. I want to congratulate Scott Colom.
STRASSMAN: Inflation frustration drove the race, exemplified by a Colom commercial exploiting a gaffe by Hyde-Smith.
[Colom Ad]
NEWS ANCHOR [COLOM AD] The price of beef continuing to go up.
HYDE-SMITH [COLOM AD]: You know, you have so many proteins to choose from.
VOTER [COLOM AD]: Pick another protein? Shiiiiii - I would rather pick another senator instead.
STRASSMAN: Turnout soared, and Maati Jone Primm, a fifth-generation Mississippian and Colom-supporter, thinks she knows why.
MAATI JONE PRIMM: We are looking for a change. We have come to a point where it is like the point of no return. You know, we are either going to sink, or we are going to swim.
STRASSMAN: It is time to start swimming?
PRIMM: It is time to start swimming.
STRASSMAN: Scott Colom swam upstream in a red state and made it to the shore of history.
COLOM: I have the courage to understand that we could show the country that Mississippi matters.
STRASSMAN: Now think about this. Two years ago President Trump won Mississippi by 23 percentage points, and now you have Senator Scott Colom. Gayle?
GAYLE KING: It is an extraordinary day in Mississippi. Mark, thank you so much.
(...)
NBC’s Today
November 12, 2026
8:15:15 AM Eastern
CRAIG MELVIN: Well, we have more news to get to, including that historic midterm result in Mississippi overnight. Democrat Scott Colom winning a seat in the U.S. Senate more than a week after one of the closest races of the election. NBC's Garrett Haake has that and more from the White House for us. Garrett, good morning.
GARRETT HAAKE: Craig, good morning. It is incredible. More than a week after the midterms, and we're still learning just how deep into red states this blue wave is crashing with Scott Colom now set to be the first Democrat to represent Mississippi in the Senate since the Reagan administration. The news comes as that stunning scene at the tomb of the unknown soldier from yesterday goes viral and draws a response from the Pentagon, if not from the defense secretary himself.
[Story begins]
Overnight, an historic upset in Mississippi, decades in the making.
COLOM: This journey started with a prayer, y'all. And in Mississippi, our prayers are often changed the course of history.
HAAKE: Democrat Scott Colom defeating incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith against monumental odds.
COLOM: There were times that I couldn't get donors to answer the phone. They did not believe a moment like this was possible.
HAAKE: Colom now set to become the state's first black senator elected since Reconstruction. And its first democratic senator in nearly 45 years. The campaign gained steam after a viral campaign ad playing off Hyde-Smith's suggestion that voters look at other proteins because of rising beef prices.
NEWS ANCHOR [COLOM AD]: Price of beef continuing to go up.
HYDE-SMITH [COLOM AD]: You know, you have so many proteins to choose from.
VOTER IN COLOM AD: Pick another protein? She done lost her damn mind. I'd rather pick another senator.
HAAKE: The win is expanding Democrats' majority in the Senate to 55 seats and 259 seats in the house.
On the agenda, when they take officer in January is pursuing impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after House Republicans defeated an effort this week. Hegseth, for his part, is facing scrutiny after he was reprimanded on Veterans Day by a sentinel standing guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.
ARMY SENTINEL: Silence and respect at all times.
HAAKE: Hegseth, his wife and other senior Pentagon officials, seen taking pictures in front of the tomb, some laughing in what's considered a sacred and silent space. It prompted a sharp reprimand from a U.S. Army sentinel standing guard.
ARMY SENTINEL: All visitors will maintain an atmosphere of silence and respect at all times.
HAAKE:A Pentagon spokesman later saying, “The secretary and the entire department have always honored and will always honor the sacrifices our military men and women have made to keep America safe.” Adding, “While commemorating this solemn day, a soldier correctly and respectfully reminded everyone to maintain decorum.
[Cuts back to live]
After Mississippi, we're now left with just one Senate race remaining uncalled in the country. That's in Alaska where votes are still being counted. Democrat Mary Peltola currently leads there by a few thousand votes, but if no candidate gets above 50 percent, the state applies a ranked-choice system to sort out who the winner is. That's a process that won't begin until next week, all of it meaning a clear victory is still a ways off. Craig?
MELVIN: Oh, Alaska…
(...)
