I'm too spent to offer a personal aside or a cathartic joke here, so let me perform a service and answer one of the many questions on everyone's mind: What if a winning candidate for president succumbs to, say, neurosyphilis, or some undisclosed old-age malady, or E. coli poisoning from a bad McDonald's hamburger, before assuming office in January? The answer, according to the National Archives, and depending on the precise timing, is "We don't know." - Corey

Subscribe to the AM Quickie's NEW paid newsletters here!

THE BIG BAD NEWS

An Electorate Drowning in Lies Sends the Deranged Felon Back to Washington, DC, to Complete His Coup

In school they taught us that America's founders, having rejected a mad and tyrannical king, devised an ideal system of checks and balances to ensure that liberty would always prevail and that people would remain free to choose their leaders. It's a comforting children's fantasy that many cherish throughout their adult lives.

Now, on the morning of Nov. 6, 2024, the United States is on the verge of having a wannabe Republican dictator return to the White House four years after leading a violent insurrection to overturn an election – this time with a Senate and Supreme Court on his side and maybe even a House majority to shield him from any formal opposition.

So much for checks and balances.

This miserable election result doesn't necessarily mean an informed public voted to reject democracy in favor of an authoritarian cult. It does suggest that the prerequisites for democracy, including a civically literate and engaged society with some measure of equality, were crumbling under our feet as government institutions and political parties carried on business as usual. And now – well, we're in serious trouble.

People are about to find out what tariffs really mean. Among other things.

The press called Georgia and North Carolina fairly early last night. Then in the wee hours the Associated Press called Pennsylvania, the most electorally valuable swing state, for Trump. His campaign field operations in the western part of that state were, until Friday, directed by a white supremacist podcaster pal of Richard Spencer, sieg-heiling organizer of the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

At around 6:30am EST, the AP and CNN called Wisconsin for Trump, putting him over the 270 Electoral College vote threshhold needed to win the presidency. Again. Somehow.

Not every voter benefited from a fair process. In Georgia, there were bomb threats at polling places in Democratic areas (see below). Long lines to cast ballots indicated a successful voter suppression effort in many states. In Nevada, many young, first-time voters who weren't taught cursive handwriting in school are facing possible disenfranchisement as ballot counters arbitrarily rejected the signatures on their mail-in forms. Welcome to American democracy, Zoomers. Or what's left of it.

Harris had nothing to say to her dejected supporters last night, but she will address the nation today. "We still have votes to count," campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond told the crowd at the campaign's Howard University watch party last night. And that's true. But last night, many Democrats were already despairing over a result that "feels more like 2016 than 2020," as California Democratic Rep. Jared Huffman put it to Politico.

Sadly, since 2016, we have learned what Trump is like when he holds power – and as the retired general who ran his White House reminded us before Election Day, he rules like a fascist. It goes without saying that the deranged felon is neither temperamentally nor ethically qualified to hold office. Hell, he's probably not even legally qualified. The 14th Amendment to the US Constitution would seem to disqualify him for having "engaged in insurrection" against the government on Jan. 6, 2021. But the Supreme Court waved away that inconvenient detail earlier this year, and preemptively granted him spurious "immunity" for all "official" acts.

A second Trump administration promises disaster for America and the world – and god only knows when, where, and how it would end. If Trump follows through with what he said he wants to do, people will needlessly suffer and die, whether from state or paramilitary violence, preventable illness, or the crushing consequences of manufactured poverty. Future generations may never understand, nor forgive, this election result from the wealthiest, most powerful country in the world. Climate scientists projected earlier this year that a second Trump administration will "likely end any global hopes of keeping global warming below 1.5C," dooming billions now living and yet to be born to endure disasters wrought by human-caused climate change. What's worse, this bleak vision was by no means kept secret. Hardship and persecution were literally the platform.

The low-energy Trump, as expected, declared victory from Mar-a-Lago last night before the AP called Pennsylvania, and Fox News rushed to proclaim him the winner. He promised a new "golden age of America." Only the most deluded propaganda victims could believe that. Unfortunately, that's a common and widespread affliction, in no small part thanks to "super genius" oligarch and competitive gamer Elon Musk, who turned Twitter, the vital communications platform, into X, the Nazi propaganda network, and took a leading role late in Trump's campaign.

As the results came in early this morning, the Washington Post's Jonathan Capehart considered the implications of a Trump victory on PBS NewsHour. "I can't help but wonder if the American people have given up on democracy," he said. It's a bleak but reasonable question. Many across the country have embraced Trump's vile racist lies, gangsterism, and authoritarian impulses, a political reality more frightening than the bigoted old dotard or his lunatic henchmen. But millions of Americans have and will continue to reject Trump, his corrupt party and his dangerous movement, and to resist their cruel and unlawful plans for the country.

Whatever happens in the days and weeks to come, the result does not appear to vindicate the Harris campaign's strategy of pursuing disaffected Republicans over the Democratic party's progressive voter base, as exemplified by her campaign trail tag-along, former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney. Democratic operatives were "f*cking freaking out" last night as the Blue Wall began to crack; a longtime party fundraiser told NBC News that the very possibility a qualified, competent, and well-funded candidate such as Harris could lose to a criminal lout like Trump a sign of "malpractice."

That may be. But the data is still coming in, and recriminations can wait. We need leaders in the states organizing to protect the most vulnerable.

MORE STORIES TO WATCH

Senate Falls to Republicans, House Still Up for Grabs

Republicans beat the Democratic candidates for US Senate in West Virginia, Ohio, and Montana, giving them control of the chamber for the next two years, NBC News reports. GOP Gov. Jim Justice will succeed formerly Democratic coal baron Sen. Joe Manchin III in West Virginia. In Ohio, Republican Bernie Moreno defeated incumbent Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. And in Montana, three-term Democratic incumbent Jon Tester lost to Republican Tim Sheehy, in another downballot puzzler in a state whose voters also passed an abortion rights amendment. Republicans are hoping to pick up even more seats in Wisconsin, Nevada, Michigan, Arizona and Pennsylvania. Not good!

It will take some time to determine which party will control the closely divided House, but early this morning Bolts Magazine editor Daniel Nichanian tallied up the split as 218 Republican seats and 217 Democratic seats, with many races still being counted and "extremely close." Politico reports that the results have so far favored incumbents. The Democrats did pick up a seat in New York, with Democrat John Mannion ousting Republican Rep. Brandon Williams in the district encompassing Syracuse. And in a newly drawn Alabama district intended to remedy racist gerrymandering, Democrat Shomari Figures "became only the fourth Black member ever elected to Congress from Alabama since Reconstruction."

You can check out the latest House and Senate results near you via Politico.

Ballot Measure Results Suggest Voters Want Someone to Stand Up for Worker and Abortion Rights

• Exploiting Terror: Republicans Challenged Court-Ordered Extension of Voting Hours in Georgia After Bomb Threats Linked to Russia Forced Polling Place Evacuations Harris campaign officials "have expressed sharp concerns privately about the threats," which targeted predominantly Democratic areas. via the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
• Abortion Rights Measure Fails in Florida – Despite Winning 57 Percent of the Vote Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis ran a victory lap after his dubiously legal use of state resources to campaign against Amendment 4, guaranteeing abortion rights, and Amendment 3, legalizing recreational marijuana, paid off. via the New York Times and the Miami Herald.
• Abortion Rights Win in Arizona; Voters Reject Measure to Cut Pay for Tipped Workers By 25 Percent Below Minimum Wage Activists with Raise the Wage AZ and One Fair Wage spent two years building their successful campaigns, fending off legal challenges and an astroturf campaign from the Arizona Restaurant Association. via the Associated Press, the Arizona Republic, and the Arizona Mirror.
• Another Abortion Rights Win in Missouri; Also, Guaranteed Paid Sick Leave and Minimum Wage Hikes The state's newly passed constitutional amendment nullifies its abortion ban and guarantees access to the procedure "up to the point of fetal viability." via the Kansas City Star and the Colombia Missourian.

QUICKEST QUICKIES

• 'They’re Cannon Fodder': North Korean Troops Fight Ukrainian Forces in Russia's Kursk Region "The first battles with North Korean soldiers mark a new chapter of global instability," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last night, before issuing a statement that aimed to get on Trump's good side. via the New York Times, the Guardian, and Politico.
• Israelis Protest After Netanyahu Fires Defense Minister Gallant, Who Pushed for Ceasefire and Hostage Deal Meanwhile, the Israeli military bombed starving barefoot civilians in northern Gaza, killing 20, "mostly women and children," and continued bombing civilians in eastern Lebanon; the far-right Israeli Prime Minister congratulated Trump this morning. via the New York Times, the Associated Press, and the Washington Post.
• Flouting Court Order, Rudy Giuliani Shows Up to Vote in Benz Convertible He Owes to Defamed Election Workers The dangerously tipsy Trump adviser seems to have moved his most valuable possessions from his New York apartment to a Florida condo in an attempt to evade the $148 million judgment against him for inciting a MAGA mob to threaten Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss. via the New York Times and NBC News.
• 'This Is a Victory': Boeing Machinists Vote to Approve Contract, End Strike After 53 Days. Meanwhile in Manhattan, dozens of New York Times tech workers, some on tenuous work visas and some simply "anti-union," crossed a Guild picket line to assist in the paper's election coverage. via the Seattle Times, the AP, and Business Insider.

SOME NUMBER

92 percent

That's the share of counties, out of more than 1,300 nationwide that had almost all of their votes counted last night, in which Trump improved his margins over the 2020 election, according to a Politico analysis of Associated Press figures. "The median county shifted a bit under two points in Trump's favor," Politico reports, calling the rightward drift "a troubling sign for Democrats." You don't say?

ON THE SHOW TODAY

11/6: It’s Hump Day! Emma speaks with Ettingermentum of the "Ettingermentum Newsletter" on SubStack to discuss the results of the 2024 election.

DON'T MISS MR CLIPS‌

Election Night 2024

Sam, Emma, the crew, and hundreds of MR fans gathered at the Bell House theater last night in Brooklyn to watch the results come in. The above link goes to part one of the live stream from the show; part two starts here.

Trump Voter Wins the Idiot Contest

Thanks a lot, Larry from Pennsylvania.

PARTING WORDS

“My time with Andy reinforced for me a simple truth, that hope as an emotion, hope as a phenomenon, only makes sense in the face of hardship. While at this moment in America’s history, hope sometimes feels hard to come by, we must never forget that we are the beneficiaries of seemingly impossible change.”

-- Delaware state Sen. Sarah McBride, thanking her supporters last night as well as her late husband Andy, who died of cancer in 2014, days after their wedding. McBride won the state's only US House seat in yesterday's election and is the first openly transgender person elected to Congress.

Anniversary Sale!

It's the 20th anniversary of The Majority Report, and we have the merch to prove it! Buy some swag at shop.majorityreportradio.com and help us keep going for another 20 years. Thanks!

Quickie Discount Code Corner

Hey check it out! Stuff on sale!

Join Sam on the Nation Magazine Cruise! 7 days in December 2024! https://nationcruise.com/mr/

Check out Seder's Seeds at sedersseeds.com! 
It's growing season, so it's time to get your very own Seder's Seeds! Go to https://sedersseeds.com and get 15% off your entire order when you enter the discount code Majority

IAC Laser Engraving: Visit https://iaclasers.com and use Coupon Code MAJORITY10 at checkout to save 10% on your order. They have also updated their site recently, so if you’ve visited in the past, you’ll want to visit again and check out the new products.

Fast Growing Trees: This Spring Fast Growing Trees has the best deals online, up to half off on select plants and other deals. And listeners to our show get an ADDITIONAL 15% OFF their first purchase when using the code MAJORITY at checkout. That’s an ADDITIONAL 15% OFF at https://FastGrowingTrees.com using the code MAJORITY at checkout. https://FastGrowingTrees.com code MAJORITY. Offer is valid for a limited time, terms and conditions may apply.

Earthbreeze: Right now, my listeners can receive 40% off Earth Breeze just by going to https://earthbreeze.com/majority! That's https://earthbreeze.com/majority to cut out single-use plastic in your laundry room and claim forty percent off your subscription.

Blueland Cleaning Products: Blueland has a special offer for listeners. Right now, get 15% off your first order by going to https://Blueland.com/MAJORITY. You won’t want to miss this! https://Blueland.com/MAJORITY for 15% off.

Prolon: Right now, Prolon is offering The Majority Report with Sam Seder listeners 10% off their 5-day nutrition program. Go to https://ProlonLife.com/MAJORITY.

ExpressVPN: Stop handing over your personal data to the Big Tech monopoly that mines your activity and sells your information. Protect yourself with the VPN I trust to keep me safe online. Visit https://ExpressVPN.com/majority. That’s https://ExpressVPN.com/majority to get three extra months free.

Ritual: Essential for Men is a quality multivitamin from a company you can actually trust. Get 40% off your first month for a limited time at https://ritual.com/MAJORITY. This offer is only available through January 31st. Start Ritual or add Essential For Men to your subscription today.

ZBiotics: Go to https://zbiotics.com/MAJORITY to get 15% off your first order when you use MAJORITY at checkout. You can also sign up for a subscription using my code - so you can stay prepared no matter the time or occasion. ZBiotics is backed with 100% money back guarantee so if you’re unsatisfied for any reason, they’ll refund your money, no questions asked.

Henson Shaving: Henson Shaving is giving my audience a 2-year supply of blades for FREE. Just go to https://HENSONSHAVING.com/MAJORITY, That’s https://HENSONSHAVING.com/MAJORITY. Add a razor and 100-pack of blades to your cart, then enter code MAJORITY to get the blades for free.

Shopify: Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at https://shopify.com/majority. Go to https://shopify.com/majority now to grow your business–no matter what stage you’re in.

LiquidIV: Revive yourself for the New Year. Grab your Liquid I.V. Hydration Multiplier Sugar-Free in bulk nationwide at Costco or get 20% off your first order when you go to https://liquidiv.com/majorityrep at checkout. That’s 20% off your first order when you shop better hydration today using promo code MAJORITYREP at https://liquidiv.com.

Nutrafol: Take the first step to visibly thicker, healthier hair. For a limited time, Nutrafol is offering our listeners ten dollars off your first month’s subscription and free shipping when you go to https://Nutrafol.com/men and enter the promo code TMR. Find out why over 4,000 healthcare professionals recommend Nutrafol for healthier hair.

Sunset Lake CBD: Sunsetlakecbd is a majority employee owned farm in Vermont, producing 100% pesticide free CBD products. Use code Leftisbest and get 20% off at http://www.sunsetlakecbd.com.

CozyEarth: IF you’ve never tried Cozy Earth, I've got awesome news!  You can SAVE up to 35%  off Cozy Earth right now!  But hurry... this offer won't last.  Go to https://CozyEarth.com and enter mypromo code MAJORITY REPORT at checkout for up to 35% off on your first order!  That's https://CozyEarth.com promo code MAJORITY REPORT.