Everyone knows it's coming. The MAGA movement has spent years claiming that any election where Republican candidates lose must be fraudulent, and its top media figures have spent every election cycle since 2020 stoking doubts about the integrity of US democracy. There's no reason to think 2026 midterm elections will be any different.

Jared and Mike are joined by Alex Kaplan and Kayla Gogarty, two researchers from Media Matters, to discuss what election denial activists have been getting up to in recent months and what we may see from right-wing media if Republican candidates take a beating at the ballot box this fall. They discuss some of the movement's key characters, their relationships to the White House, and the tactics they're pushing this time around.

Remember Sidney Powell (aka "The Kraken") from 2020? Find out who her successor will be.

Links:

Election deniers reach a fever pitch calling for a “national emergency” declaration so Trump can give himself “king-like powers” over the midterms (MMFA)
Tina Peters and other election deniers claim they've pitched the Trump administration on a midterm “election-security plan” (MMFA)
Right-wing media’s response to results of LA mayoral primary race is a preview of their midterm playbook(MMFA)
Follow Alex Kaplan on BlueSky: @alkapdc.bsky.social
Follow Kayla Gogarty on BlueSky: @ohhkaygo.bsky.social

Transition Music: "Gray Beard" by Gurthworm