State of the Midterms & Epstein Snare Widens | 2.26.2026

Summary

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Morning Wire – "State of the Midterms & Epstein Snare Widens"

Date: February 26, 2026
Hosts: John Bickley, Georgia Howe
Notable Contributors: Cabot Phillips, Lyndon Blake, Randy Sutton

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Episode Overview

This episode examines the high-stakes political maneuvering post-State of the Union as both parties gear up for the 2026 midterms and details the rapidly expanding fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein revelations, now ensnaring famous figures like Bill Gates, Larry Summers, and the Clintons. The show concludes with a heated local issue: the New York City mayor's controversial response to violence against police officers.

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Key Topics & Discussion Points

1. The State of the Midterms: Fallout from the State of the Union

[02:43–07:12]

Republican Posture

• In the wake of Trump’s combative State of the Union, Republicans are optimistic about the polling boost.
• Cabot Phillips explains:

  “A CNN poll… found that roughly 2/3 of those who viewed the event said it went favorably… the White House is most excited that before the speech, 54% of viewers felt Trump’s policies would take the country in the right direction. Afterward, that jumped to 64%." – Cabot Phillips [03:03]

• The administration is positioning itself against what it calls “the crazy and off the rails” left.

Democratic Counter-Programming

• Democrats focus their criticisms on economic concerns, pursuing an affordability and truthfulness angle.
• Senate Leader Chuck Schumer called Trump’s address the “state of delusion."
• House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said the speech was "riddled with dirty rotten lies." [04:02]
• Rep. Ilhan Omar created controversy with vocal disruptions during the event and tweeted direct accusations at Trump.

  “Donald Trump killed two of my constituents.” – Rep. Ilhan Omar (tweet quoted by Cabot Phillips) [04:45]

• Texas Rep. Al Green was removed from the event for disruptive protests.

Election Strategy & Stakes

• State of the Union seen as "the unofficial kickoff of election season" with both sides emphasizing the economy. [05:26–06:58]
• Republicans are defending more Senate seats (22 vs. Democrats’ 13) but most are in solidly red states.
• Key battlegrounds: Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Maine; potentially tight races in Alaska, Ohio.
• House majority is slim, and trend over the past 50 years suggests the president’s party usually loses around 33 seats in first midterms.

2. Epstein Fallout Widens: Gates, Summers, and the Clintons

[08:17–11:56]

Bill Gates

• Admitted during a town hall to two affairs with Russian women while married.
• Epstein allegedly threatened Gates over one such affair.
• Gates apologized for associating with Epstein but insists:

  “I did nothing illicit, I saw nothing illicit. And to be clear, I never spent any time with the victims, the women around him.” – Bill Gates (as recounted by Lyndon Blake) [08:36]

• Continuing revelations from the Epstein files have spurred new questions about Gates, though he denies wrongdoing.

Larry Summers

• Former Harvard President and Treasury Secretary announced he would not return to Harvard after already suspending his teaching (originally after Epstein files release in Nov 2025).
• Summers maintained a known relationship with Epstein long after his first conviction, generating renewed pressure and university investigations into broader Epstein ties.

Upcoming Clinton Testimony

• Hillary Clinton scheduled to testify before the House Oversight Committee in New York; Bill Clinton set to testify the following day.

• Bill Clinton’s association with Epstein widely reported, including flights on Epstein’s private jet.

• Hillary Clinton maintains she cannot recall ever speaking to Epstein.

• Concurrently, Democrats are pressing DOJ to release files alleging to link President Trump to Epstein as well.

  “This has been years of public relationships… but the files being released are really bringing some disturbing details to light.” – Lyndon Blake [10:49]

3. NYPD Assault & the ‘Snowball Fight’ Controversy

[12:04–16:22]

Mayor Zoran Mamdani’s Response

• After NYPD officers were attacked by a group with snowballs and ice, Mayor Mamdani characterized the incident as a “snowball fight,” drawing fierce backlash.

• Randy Sutton, retired Las Vegas Police Lt. and founder of the Wounded Blue, called out this framing:

  “This wasn’t a snowball fight, okay. Law enforcement officers were attacked… If you think that an ice ball can’t take out someone’s eye or cause a serious cranial injury, well, then your thinking is malformed… This is a felony crime.” – Randy Sutton [12:45–13:56]

Broader Law Enforcement Crisis

• Sutton argues that rhetoric from progressive leaders undermines police, hurting recruitment and morale:

  “We’re in a law enforcement crisis right now… Mayors and DAs are more interested in prosecuting police officers than criminals. We are now seeing the diminishment of the number of police officers in major cities like New York.” – Randy Sutton [15:00]

• The impact is lasting, as it takes years to develop competent police, and trends suggest worsening police shortages and public safety challenges.

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Notable Quotes

• “Before the speech… 54% of viewers felt Trump’s policies would take the country in the right direction. Afterward, that number jumped to 64%.” – Cabot Phillips [03:03]
• “It was the state of delusion.” – Chuck Schumer, via Cabot Phillips [04:02]
• “Donald Trump killed two of my constituents.” – Rep. Ilhan Omar (tweet as recounted) [04:45]
• “There’s been increased pressure for [Larry Summers] to step away. And now Harvard is investigating other university ties to Epstein.” – Lyndon Blake [09:41]
• “This wasn’t a snowball fight… Law enforcement officers were attacked. Officers were hospitalized. This is a felony crime.” – Randy Sutton [13:00]
• “We are now seeing the diminishment of the number of police officers in major cities like New York.” – Randy Sutton [15:00]

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Important Timestamps

• [02:43] – The midterms and post-State of the Union political strategies
• [03:03] – GOP optimism, public polling shifts after SOTU
• [04:02] – Democratic attacks focus on economic woes and rhetoric
• [05:22–06:58] – Seat battles and election math for House and Senate
• [08:17] – Epstein fallout: Updates on Gates and Summers
• [10:55] – Looking ahead to Clinton testimony and further investigations
• [12:04] – NYC mayor's “snowball fight” remarks; law enforcement response
• [13:56–16:22] – The wider effect of progressive rhetoric on policing and public safety

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Summary & Takeaways

This episode of Morning Wire delivers in-depth political analysis as the 2026 midterm cycle gains steam, highlighting sharp divisions between Republican and Democratic messaging and strategies in the wake of a fractious State of the Union. The show also keeps a close eye on growing scandals stemming from Jeffrey Epstein's files, where even high-profile tech and academic figures—and the Clinton family—find themselves feeling the heat. Lastly, urban law enforcement challenges are addressed through a controversial NYPD incident, tying local events into national narratives about leadership, accountability, and public safety.

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For further details and to watch the full coverage, visit Daily Wire Plus.

Transcript

[Randy Sutton]

Let's talk about Netflix, but I don't want to talk about their shows and movies. I want to talk about the economic impact Netflix makes in this country. Over the past 10 years, Netflix has contributed $225 billion to the US economy. They've brought productions to all 50 states and hired over 150,000Americans as cast and crew. That's Carpenters, Electricians and small businesses. All real American jobs. Netflix investing in America.

[Host (possibly Georgia Howe)]

As the dust settles from Trump's raucous state of the the two parties set their sights fully on the midterms.

[Randy Sutton]

We're going to continue to contrast their corruption with our commitment to make life better for everyday Americans.

[Cabot Phillips]

I think they're going to regret that video because we will be using it in the midterm elections. It showed what they're all about.

[Host (possibly Georgia Howe)]

I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Executive editor John Bickley. It's Thursday, February 26th, and this is Morning Wire.

[Daily Wire Senior Editor (possibly Kevin)]

As Bill and Hillary Clinton get set to testify this week, the fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein files continues, leading to high profile resignations and admissions. I was only at dinners, you know, I never went to the island. I never met any women. Although the time was a mistake, it had nothing to do with that kind of behavior.

[Host (possibly Georgia Howe)]

And New York's democratic socialist mayor is under fire again, this time from his own police force.

[Daily Wire Senior Editor (possibly Kevin)]

From the videos that I've seen, it looks like a snowball fight. I think that there were two officers who were facing lacerations on their face. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.

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[Host (possibly Georgia Howe)]

Both parties in Washington are racing to win the post State of the Union messaging battle. With midterms fast approaching.

[Daily Wire Senior Editor (possibly Kevin)]

Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips is here with the fallout from the address and a look ahead to November. Hey, Cabot. So both parties trying to spin Trump's big night in their favor. Let's start with Republicans. What are we hearing from them?

[Cabot Phillips]

Yeah. After 36 hours, reviews are starting to pour in the White House. They're very happy with how this address fared for them. A CNN poll, for example, found that roughly 2/3 of those who viewed the event said it went favorably, while just 38% had a negative reaction. Now, those numbers can be skewed a bit because supporters of the President tend to more overwhelmingly watch. But here's the nugget that the White House is most excited about. Before the speech, this poll showed that 54% of viewers felt Trump's policies would take the country in the right direction. Afterwards, that number jumped to 64%. We saw a similar 10 point increase on the question of whether Trump had the right priorities. There he went from 44 to 54%. The White House obviously is happy to take those numbers. Before the address, the administration was trying to paint the left as being crazy and off the rails. And they feel that last night's actions and the subsequent fallout only further proved their point.

[Daily Wire Senior Editor (possibly Kevin)]

Yeah, let's get to that counter programming that we mentioned yesterday from the left. What did we see from Democrats?

[Cabot Phillips]

Well, their main line of attack in the last 36 hours has been on the economy. Democrats flooded the airwaves over the last 24 hours to hammer Trump's address, saying he didn't do enough to alleviate concerns about affordability. Senate Leader Chuck Schumer, for example, called it the, quote, state of delusion, while House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said the address was, quote, riddled with dirty rotten lies, including Trump's unwillingness to confront the affordability crisis. And then for her part, Elon Omar, who was talk of the Night because of her constant yelling and screaming throughout the event, doubled down on cnn.

[Randy Sutton]

It was really important to my constituents to hear that.

[Lyndon Blake]

I was reminding the President that Renee Good and Alex Preddy were killed under this administration.

[Cabot Phillips]

Omar went on to actually tweet a direct accusation at Trump saying Donald Trump killed two of my constituents. Maybe Trump could take some legal action there. It's a very serious accusation. Now, we saw similar statements as well from dozens of other far left Democrats who applauded Omar and other members who disrupted the event, including Texas Rep. Al Green. He was famously booted from the event for the second year in a row. Now, after causing disruptions this time he stood up with a sign that said, quote, black people aren't apes. So the big question now is how those Democratic antics and the broader strategy of just opposing Trump loudly at every opportunity will fare with voters this November.

[Daily Wire Senior Editor (possibly Kevin)]

Yeah, as we said at the top, midterms on everybody's mind at this point.

[Cabot Phillips]

Yeah, we're only eight months away now. It's going to fly by. And the State of the Union, it's obviously meant to bolster the president's agenda and speak directly to the American people. But arguably more important here, the goal of the night is also to set the party's tone for the midterms. In many ways, it's the unofficial kickoff of election season and GOP leadership wants members ahead of the election to focus in on the economy. Here's Daily Wire reporter Cameron Arcand. To that point, a memo sent out to Senate campaigns on Wednesday by the NRSC is encouraging them to focus on messaging that Republicans in the Senate are, quote, delivering on the Trump economic agenda, especially as Americans are both currently filing their taxes and the Department, Department of Homeland Security faces a funding lapse. Now, on the Senate side, Republicans will be defending nearly twice as many seats as Democrats this cycle, 22 to 13, though 16 of those seats are in deep red states. That means the main battlegrounds this November, as usual, you could probably guess, will be Georgia, Michigan and North Carolina, but also Maine. Republicans could also face tight races in Alaska and Ohio, while Democrats are once again expressing optimism about their chances of flipping a seat in Texas, though we've heard them say that plenty of times. No avail. The GOP can't afford to lose three of those races and maintain their majority, which they're confident in. But the House is going to be a much taller order. They have a very slim few vote majority. And over the last 50 years, keep in mind, the president's party has lost roughly 33 House seats on average during their first midterm since being elected.

[Daily Wire Senior Editor (possibly Kevin)]

Right. A really steep hill for Republicans to climb. Kevin, thanks so much for reporting and really enjoyed the launch of your new show Wired in Live last night.

[Cabot Phillips]

Thank you. It was a great time. Tune in next week. Next Thursday, 4 Eastern. We'll keep things going.

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[Daily Wire Senior Editor (possibly Kevin)]

The list of names continues to grow of people facing fallout for connections with Jeffrey Epstein. The latest, Larry Summers and Bill Gates. Meanwhile, both Hillary and Bill Clinton are set to testify.

[Host (possibly Georgia Howe)]

Daily Wire reporter Lyndon Blake joins us now with the details. So Lyndon, let's start with Bill Gates. What came out about him recently?

[Lyndon Blake]

Yes, this actually came out during one of his town halls and there is a lot to get to with what he had to say and what Larry Summers that we'll start with what Gates said. He is the Microsoft co founder. As most people know, he admitted to having two affairs with Russian girls while married to his now ex wife. And this is relevant to Epstein because Epstein actually threatened Gates over the affair with one of the Russian girls. Gates did apologize for spending time with Epstein both in the US and abroad. But Gates added, he was never a part of any crime. In fact, he said, quote, I did nothing elicit, I saw nothing elicit. And to be clear, I never spent any time with the victims, the women around him. And it was already public knowledge that a lot of these high profile people like Bill Gates had relationships with Epstein. But the release of the Epstein files have really brought new information to light that at least raised allegations of illegal Activity. But again, Gates denies any wrongdoing.

[Host (possibly Georgia Howe)]

Now, that town hall that Bill Gates spoke at was on Tuesday. On Wednesday, we heard more news about Larry Summers, what happened with him.

[Lyndon Blake]

Yes, now we know Larry Summers will resign from teaching at Harvard after this year ends. It is important to note since Epstein files were released in November, that he had stepped away from his teaching position at Harvard. But now we know he will not return to the classroom before the end of the year. So he at one time was the president of Harvard. In addition to what he did at Harvard, Summers was also the Clinton Treasury Secretary. That's important to note. And he kept a close relationship with Epstein long after Epstein was convicted of prostitution involving a minor. So again, this has been well known since Summers was part of the documents released in November. But there's been increased pressure for him to step away. And now Harvard is investigating other university ties to Epstein. Harvard did ban donations from Epstein after he did plead guilty to sex crimes back in 2008. But a number of academics related to the university did maintain relationships with Mr. Epstein after he was released from jail in 2009. So, again, this has been years of public relationships that are well known between Summers and Epstein. But the files being released really bringing some disturbing details to light.

[Host (possibly Georgia Howe)]

And we're about to get more information because the Clintons are due to testify this week. What are we expecting to hear from them?

[Lyndon Blake]

Yeah, a lot of attention on the Clintons today as Hillary is the first to testify in front of the House Oversight Committee. Now, this will be in New York, but a lot of the depositions have been in Washington. But when it comes to some of these billionaires, these high profile people like Les Wexner, he got to do his testimony in Ohio. So Clinton's doing it today in New York. Bill will go in front of the House Oversight Committee Friday and they are talking about their connections to Epstein. Now, it is well documented that Bill Clinton and Jeffrey Epstein did have a relationship. Bill Clinton is known to spent time with Epstein on his private jet. This was all before those sexual allegation issues and before Jeffrey Epstein was convicted of anything. Now, Hillary Clinton has said that she cannot recall ever speaking to Epstein. So that's happening in New York, going down to the nation's capital, there is more Epstein drama. You have Democrats that are probing the Department of Justice to release alleged files from the Epstein files that have been withheld that involve President Donald Trump.

[Host (possibly Georgia Howe)]

Well, this has taken years, but potentially more dominoes to fall. Lyndon, thanks for reporting.

[Lyndon Blake]

Thanks.

[Daily Wire Senior Editor (possibly Kevin)]

Look, I've seen the videos of this snowball fight. I think that it was a snowball fight.

[Host (possibly Georgia Howe)]

That was New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani discussing the targeting of police officers in a press conference this week that sparked widespread rebuke from law enforcement and political leaders in his state who say he's deliberately downplaying what actually took place.

[Daily Wire Senior Editor (possibly Kevin)]

Retired Las Vegas Police Lt. Randy Sutton, founder of the Wounded Blue, joins us now to talk about the supposed snowball fight and its fallout. Randy, thank you so much for coming on the show.

[Randy Sutton]

It's a pleasure to be here. Thanks for having me.

[Daily Wire Senior Editor (possibly Kevin)]

So we know the east coast got hit with record amounts of snow, and it's been particularly controversial in New York. Now we have this targeting of police related to a snowball fight. What exactly happened in this situation?

[Randy Sutton]

Well, what we saw was an out of control mob attacking a group of law enforcement officers, battering them with ice balls and snowballs. This wasn't a snowball fight. Okay. This, you know, I know that the Mayor Mandami classified this as a snowball fight, which is an outrage. Law enforcement officers were attacked. You know, I work with injured officers in my capacity as the founder of the Wounded Blue. I see the destruction. I see what happens when these men and women are severely injured. And if you think that an ice ball can't take out someone's eye or cause a serious cranial injury, well, then your thinking is malformed because officers were hurt, officers were hospitalized. This is a felony crime. And what I saw was police officers afraid to engage these attackers and deal with them appropriately with a. With the proper amount of force. And why is that? One of the major reasons is because they're afraid of consequences coming down on them for simply defending themselves. We've seen Mondami, who came out just a couple weeks ago when police officers were forced to shoot someone armed with a knife. And he came out against that and actually ordered the District attorney, who happily disregarded him, that that individual should not be charged. In fact, he criticized the police for saving their own life. So I, I am, I'm disgusted with Mondami. And what I am seeing is the NYPD being forced into a position of not being able to defend themselves appropriately. And this is an outrage.

[Daily Wire Senior Editor (possibly Kevin)]

Now, some might dismiss the rhetoric of a mayor as being not that consequential to law enforcement, but that's simply not true. We've seen a pattern in other cities where the mayor has a lot of influence. They impact morale, they impact recruiting. How have we seen this play out in other cities? And how do you see this going For Mamdani in the coming months.

[Randy Sutton]

We're in a law enforcement crisis right now. We're in a criminal justice crisis. And much of that is because of the rhetoric that has come from mayors, district attorneys, who are, who are somehow more interested in prosecuting police officers than they are criminals. And we've seen it across the United States. We are now seeing the diminishment of the number of police officers in major cities like New York. And New York is only one of the of the cities that is being affected by this crisis. So we're seeing a lack of retention. Officers are either retiring at the minute they have their time in or they're quitting altogether. And, and exacerbating that is the inability to attract recruits that want to take that job. So this is a double whammy. And we've been seeing this now for a number of years. And believe me, this is a generational problem. You can't just plug a guy in and put a uniform on him and a gun and say, go out and do the job. There's a huge learning curve. It takes two to three years to become competent as a police officer. This is just the beginning of the problems that are going to be resulting from the election of Monda me, who is we're going to see even more NYPD officers leave the force and fewer join.

[Daily Wire Senior Editor (possibly Kevin)]

The downward trends in the number of police in cities with policies like this are alarmingly clear. Randy Sutton, thank you so much for joining us.

[Host (possibly Georgia Howe)]

Thanks for waking up with us. And if you're listening to the show now, you can watch for free on Daily Wire. Plus, we'll be back later this evening with more news you need to know.