Americans headed to the polls on Election Day with control of Congress on the line, and the country's most prominent political commentators began weighing in before many voters had even cast a ballot. At stake were all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, 35 Senate seats and a string of high-profile state races.
President Donald Trump started posting early on Truth Social, taking aim at Abdul El-Sayed, who is running in Michigan's race for the U.S. Senate. "Abdul El-Sayed Hates Jews and Hates Blacks. Don't feel bad, he also Hates Whites," Trump wrote. "Only fools would vote for him in the Michigan race for the U.S. Senate! He will, 100%, do you in!"
Later in the morning, Trump called into "Fox & Friends" for a lengthy phone interview covering everything on his mind, including his case for why the war in Iran is not a big deal. "Iran had threat of a nuclear weapon," he said. "Iran is No. 1 state sponsor of terror in the world." He said the country had been "decapitated," adding, "They have no Navy. They had 159 ships."
"Every ship is at the bottom of the sea, every airplane is laying in small pieces, tiny pieces all over the runway," he continued. Trump described an overnight strike on an anti-aircraft facility as a "minor attack" that "wasn't war," and said the United States had knocked out Iran's nuclear capability while keeping the site under surveillance. He also credited the Space Force he developed in his first term, saying, "We can see the badge, name tag on man's chest from outer space."
Hasan Piker, the outspoken Twitch streamer, took to X with a set of open questions about the strength of Trump's movement. "we're abt to find out how much 'cult' still remains in maga today," he wrote, asking whether "racial polarization & pure vitriol" still work on Americans after "negative real wage growth," and whether Trump can truly "reverse every single campaign promise & still maintain the cattle vote."
On the Election Day morning edition of Pod Save America, the hosts were bullish about a blue wave. When Jon Favreau asked whether failing to win both chambers of Congress would feel like a loss for Democrats at this point, Jon Lovett delivered a passionate answer.
"In this environment, with a President this despicable, with an illegal war, with the tariffs, with a Republican Congress rubber-stamping this ridiculous, vile, lawless administration, if we can't win both chambers, then yes, that will be a loss," Lovett said.
Over on MS Now, Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough called the Republican Party's closing arguments "astronomically stupid," pointing to Ramaswamy's focus on Communism. "There is no Communism here," Scarborough said. "Amy Acton has no Communist views, Donald Trump does."
Scarborough argued Republicans were invoking Communism "instead of talking about the price of the cost of gas," diesel and groceries. "I'm not good at this political stuff," he said, "but I think that and a reflecting pool doesn't add up to victory for Republicans today."
