Michael Steele remains a Republican, but the party as it stands today is unrecognizable to him. “For the sake of power, we bought the idea of the South will rise again,” he says. “We should've killed it in its infancy and [been] done with it because it gave rise to what happened on January 6th.” The first Black chairman of GOPAC and the RNC joins the groupchat to offer his take on big money (and dark money) in politics, to reflect on how his faith guides his politics, and to explain why he’s stuck with the Republicans in spite of their about-face with regard to individual liberties. “ The easiest thing to do is walk away,” says Steele. “ I have to believe in your rights as a citizen under the flag and the Constitution to be on this soil, to live on this soil, to flourish on this soil – however we find you on this soil.”

Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this and other MS podcasts without ads. As a subscriber, you'll also get exclusive bonus content.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We're a month out from the most consequential midterm elections of the 21st century. With momentum on its side, the Democratic party is hoping that big wins in November will lead to a dredging of the entire federal government – one that's continued an ICE surge with impunity, that's failed to stem a worsening affordability crisis, and that's started wars after promising to end them. As the countdown to the elections winds down, Symone and Eugene invite the one-and-only Rachel Maddow back into the groupchat to share their hope that the Democratic party will rise to the occasion and start cleaning up the political mess we’re in. They also get into how her new true crime documentary – Kill, Bury, Print – reflects local communities fighting back against corrupt forces in government. "This is not a smoke detector moment. This is a flames in the kitchen moment," says Rachel, who has not given up. "Even their own people are repulsed by the worst things they're doing. And that to me is a healthy sign."

Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this and other MS podcasts without ads. As a subscriber, you'll also get exclusive bonus content.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On Saturday, September 26th, Symone and Eugene taped an episode of Clock It in front of a live audience as part of MS NOW’s Together in Texas event.  They spoke about the money pouring into races all over the country, and polling that shows Trump underwater and Republicans in suddenly competitive contests. But they pointed out that it’s not enough for Democrats to win back the House – or even the House and the Senate. Symone implored the audience to hold the people they elect to their promises. “It's not just enough to take power and not do jack-ish with it,” she said.  “This is why I think some people [are] about to lose their seats, some Democrats have lost some primaries, and some new folks are about to get elected. And these are people that are not about business as usual. They are going to challenge the status quo. They're going to ask for things to be done differently.”

Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this and other MS podcasts without ads. As a subscriber, you'll also get exclusive bonus content.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Last week, President Trump banned CNN, Politico, and MS NOW from the White House grounds. And this is just the latest in a long list of times Trump has taken up metaphorical arms against the press. Symone and Eugene get into why the president -- under water in the polls as Republican candidates start to distance themselves -- might have decided to ban our journalists 40 days before the midterms. And with November approaching, our hosts invite one of the rising stars of the primaries, Florida's surprise Democratic nominee, Angie Nixon, to the groupchat. Nixon called in from the campaign trail -- specifically, from her van (“The Vangie”) -- to shed light on how much support she's receiving from the Democratic party, if the South can actually be repainted blue, and how she's being prosecuted for protesting redistricting. “ I have to push back," she says. "I know what we deserve, and I'm going to continue to fight for it.”

As the 2026 midterm elections heat up, MS NOW is headed to the Lone Star State. Join more than a dozen of your favorite hosts - including Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, Jen Psaki, Michael Steele, Ali Velshi and more - in Arlington, Texas on September 26 for a day of community and conversation about the issues that matter most to you. Get your tickets at ms.now/together.

Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this and other MS podcasts without ads. As a subscriber, you'll also get exclusive bonus content.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

If you’re thinking why did Symone and Eugene invite a live streamer to Clock It – or what even is a live streamer – that’s fair, but stay with us. Because right wing media is trying to drag this live streamer into the center of the culture wars. And Democratic candidates -- some of them -- feel the need to take public stances on him. He says he’s become the new War on Christmas. So instead of talking about him, or about other people talking about him, Symone and Eugene decided they'd rather talk to him. “I'm simply one individual that is now being presented as, like, the main media figure of this growing Democratic Socialist movement in the country,” he says. “But there is this broad left populism that is growing in places that I have not touched at all.”

As the 2026 midterm elections heat up, MS NOW is headed to the Lone Star State. Join more than a dozen of your favorite hosts - including Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, Jen Psaki, Michael Steele, Ali Velshi and more - in Arlington, Texas on September 26 for a day of community and conversation about the issues that matter most to you. Get your tickets at ms.now/together.

Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this and other MS podcasts without ads. As a subscriber, you'll also get exclusive bonus content.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We are eight weeks away from the midterms. While Symone and Eugene are optimistic about the multiple paths Democrats have to victory, there is angst that the polls aren't as reliable as people might hope. To better understand how to forecast what will happen in all the pivotal races this November, they called upon MS NOW’s Director of Elections & Analytics Kabir Khanna to read the polling tea leaves -- and teach voters how to read them themselves. The hosts also explore the latest political discourse online, from derogatory language directed at Hakeem Jeffries to John Fetterman’s staffers leaking like a sieve, as well as going around the media to anonymously self-publish dirt on their (former) boss.

As the 2026 midterm elections heat up, MS NOW is headed to the Lone Star State. Join more than a dozen of your favorite hosts - including Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, Jen Psaki, Michael Steele, Ali Velshi and more - in Arlington, Texas on September 26 for a day of community and conversation about the issues that matter most to you. Get your tickets at ms.now/together.

Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this and other MS podcasts without ads. As a subscriber, you'll also get exclusive bonus content.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Following a whistleblower report that the White House is ignoring a court order to stop its attempts to manipulate mail-in-ballots, Eugene and Symone come to the conclusion that, “These norms ain’t working!” Then the duo is joined by best-selling author and “The Atlantic” staff writer Clint Smith to discuss the current assault on Black political power in the U.S., how racist iconography like Confederate statues help shape public policy, and how the triumphs of Black American resistance have become a source of inspiration around the globe. “ The most remarkable thing about all of it,” says Clint, “is that it was ordinary people who abolished slavery. It is ordinary people in Japan who are fighting to abolish nuclear weapons. It is ordinary people on the streets right now who are trying to imagine what life after this moment will look like, and who are trying their best to push us out of this moment that we're in.”

As the 2026 midterm elections heat up, MS NOW is headed to the Lone Star State. Join more than a dozen of your favorite hosts - including Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, Jen Psaki, Michael Steele, Ali Velshi and more - in Arlington, Texas on September 26 for a day of community and conversation about the issues that matter most to you. Get your tickets at ms.now/together.

Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this and other MS podcasts without ads. As a subscriber, you'll also get exclusive bonus content.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Democratic Party is overperforming and polling well all over the United States, but the candidates winning primaries look a little different than expected. And the map keeps changing. While the DNC struggles with debt, senatorial candidates like Angie Nixon in Florida and Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan beat very well-funded primary opponents. And they did so while supporting policies Americans for a long time have considered socialist. Symone and Eugene welcome friend of the show and fundraising-wizard Rufus Gifford to debate what makes a Democratic candidate viable, why donors are not giving to the DNC like they used to, and how the Democratic party should start thinking about who their presidential candidate will be in 2028 right now.

Editors' note: an early version of this story named David Crowley as the Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Michigan rather than Wisconsin. The file has been updated to correct this error.

As the 2026 midterm elections heat up, MS NOW is headed to the Lone Star State. Join more than a dozen of your favorite hosts - including Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, Jen Psaki, Michael Steele, Ali Velshi and more - in Arlington, Texas on September 26 for a day of community and conversation about the issues that matter most to you. Get your tickets at ms.now/together.

Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this and other MS podcasts without ads. As a subscriber, you'll also get exclusive bonus content.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.