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The media has to up its game for an election that Trump desperately wants to undermine
This is the June 8, 2026, edition of “The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe” newsletter.Subscribe hereto get it delivered straight to your inbox every Monday through Friday.
MIKA’S NOTE
Donald Trump’s unspooled performance on “Meet the Press” yesterday was unnerving, not least of all because the sight of any American president looking that unhinged and unhealthy should concern every American who saw his pitiful performance.
The president spewed a stream of lies and conspiracy theories targeted at the most ignorant members of his dwindling base. His frantic attempts to change the subject away from the endless war he started, high gas prices, which he cares nothing about, and the failed Republican candidates in California seem to only make Trump look more diminished and desperate.
Eleven years after the reality host entered U.S. politics, his behavior on the Sunday show seems to prove the media still has much to learn about how to best handle his madman routine.
In a July 2016 meeting, Trump told Lesley Stahl that he attacks the press “to discredit” and “demean” reporters so that when they write negative stories about him, “no one will believe them.” So when members of the media are attacked as “fake news” peddlers for reporting the facts about the 2020 election, they MUST forcefully respond with facts that make it into the clip low-information viewers will see:
“Mr. President, 63 federal judges threw out all of your 2020 election claims. Many of those federal judges were appointed by you.”
“Mr. President, the high court that you have called ‘My Supreme Court’ rejected every one of your false claims about a stolen election.”
“Republican election officials from Pennsylvania to Arizona also refused to buy into your lies.”
“Georgia’s secretary of state and governor rejected your lies and even recorded a call where you tried to get the secretary of state to find enough votes to rig the election.”
“Mr. President, you are lying to my audience right now, and if you continue, we will have to end this interview. Please stop lying to the audience.”
Yesterday, Donald Trump continued stumbling over facts and then started screaming about how the California elections were being rigged because officials were still counting votes six days after the June 2 election.
It’s hard to imagine the president of the United States doesn’t know that almost all states count votes well beyond a week after Election Day. When Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger was re-elected governor in 2006, the vote count took 30 days — as required by California law. When Republican congressmen get elected in California this November, it will take 30 days to count and certify those votes in their districts.
Donald Trump knows this.
But his howling protests toward Kristen Welker were aimed not at the host or regular viewers, but rather at Americans who don’t follow the news and will likely only see a clip of his false outbursts on social media. And many will accept Trump’s ravings at face value. That’s why the media has to up its game going into an election that the president desperately wants to undermine. We must all be more aggressive than ever in getting facts out to viewers, and go into every interview armed with facts and ready to fight back.
His lies must be met with facts.
His insults must be answered with the truth he does not want to hear. And his Cabinet’s efforts to blur reality must be knocked down at every turn. The lies and insults toward the free press must be answered.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I call the shots. I call all the shots. He [Netanyahu] doesn’t call the shots.”
— President Donald Trump, saying Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will have to accept a deal with Iran
CHARTS OF THE DAY
Source: YouGov survey of 1,106 U.S. adults conducted January 27-30, 2026. Margin of error: 4 percentage points
ON THIS DATE
In 1949, George Orwell published his final novel, “1984.” The dystopian work of speculative fiction — drawing on themes from wartime rule in Britain and the Soviet Union — was the driving force behind words like “Orwellian,” “groupthink” and “doublespeak” entering the contemporary lexicon.
WHAT THEY SAID
David Ignatius on Iran-Israeli strikes
“Donald Trump says he is in control, but the events yesterday showed how far that is from true — Trump is observing these events, not controlling them. The distance between Trump and Netanyahu today is one of the most striking factors of the conflict.”
John Heilemann on midterms
“The president is at a historically low place in his approval rating. He has lost ground with independents to a dramatic degree. It’s very hard to change the trajectory of an election now.”
Ben Smith on CBS’ tilt toward Trump
“A slight agenda shift is not what Donald Trump is looking for from the media. Now CBS is not only facing skepticism from its traditional audience — which includes a lot of Democrats — but also from the White House. This is not a strategy that’s pleasing anyone.”
Pablo Torre on Trump attending Game 3 of the NBA Finals
“Sports, like America, has an affordability crisis right now, and now you can’t even be outside the Garden, let alone inside. I thought the Knicks were ours as a city. Turns out, none of it is ours. It belongs to the same guy that we’ve spent hours this morning talking about.”
EXTRA HOT TEA
$1.9 billion
—The box office numbers for this year’s Broadway season, the highest grossing in history.
ONE MORE SHOT
Lorne Michaels and the cast of “Schmigadoon!” which won Best New Musical at the 79th Annual Tony Awards.
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