Candace Owens' co-host Baron Coleman breaks down the 2026 midterm election results and what caused Republican losses
Baron Coleman hosts the Candace podcast, analyzing the Republican midterm election losses and what drove voters away from the GOP.
Summary
Sitting in for Candace Owens, Baron Coleman delivers a comprehensive post-mortem on the 2026 midterm elections, in which Republicans suffered a sweeping defeat — losing dozens of House seats, multiple Senate seats, and statewide races across traditionally red states including Texas and Mississippi. Coleman argues the losses were directly caused by the Iran war, unwavering support for Israel, broken campaign promises on deportations, election integrity, and the MAHA movement, and Donald Trump's decision to alienate his own base while elevating commentators like Mark Levin, Ben Shapiro, and Laura Loomer. He presents exit poll data showing 74% of voters called the Iran war a crucial or major factor, and that 68% of Jewish voters voted against Republicans despite Trump's stated 99% approval rating in Israel. Coleman also calls out commentators who supported the Iran war before the election and then pivoted to blaming "the dissident right" afterward, naming Mark Levin, Benny Johnson, Will Chamberlain, and others as having lost the right to a leading voice in the conservative movement.
Key Takeaways
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Opening: Republicans Routed in the 2026 Midterms
Baron Coleman: Welcome in, everybody. Last night was a doozy. We're going to go through some of what happened last night. My show yesterday aged really well — if you did not get a chance to see it, please go back and watch it. It aged remarkably well. I predicted the Republicans would get routed. They did. Not everyone did. We'll go through some predictions over the course of today and let you see what people did. Then we're going to go through the reckoning and let you know how the fallout has gone and maybe even a few predictions of where this is all headed.
The Opening Statement: Two Years of Broken Promises
Everybody wants to know what happened last night. In short, the last couple of years have been an unmitigated disaster. A long unmitigated disaster. In fact, this was me just two years ago on election night. I actually covered the elections all night. We went over the results as they came in. I called the election for Donald Trump about two hours before the AP did, before any of the major networks did. I was following individual counties and comparing them to past years. Once it became obvious to me that Donald Trump couldn't lose, we went ahead and called the election.
Since then, we were given nothing we were promised. We were given everything we were not promised. At one point it got so bad that the president started demanding certain people not even vote for him. Well, he got his wish. Here's how it looked. This was his rant about the Epstein files: "This was the radical left fake Democrats have hit pay dirt again. Just like the fake and fully discredited Steele dossier. Their new scam is what we will forever call the Epstein hoax. And my past supporters have bought into this bulldoodoo hook, line, and sinker."
Notice the highlighted part at the bottom: "I don't want their support anymore."
Mr. President, you got your wish. You did not get their support. Many of them stayed home. A lot of them voted for the other side. You got to be careful in politics what you ask for. I used to work in politics quite a bit and I had someone tell me they'd never received a dollar they didn't ask for, and they made sure every single person they talked to, they asked them for their vote. I said, "Well, why? If they're friends and family, they're going to vote for you." He said, "Because no one's ever given me anything I didn't ask for." You got to ask for the people's support. And if you tell people specifically, "I don't want you to support me," don't complain when they don't. That was the beginning of the end of the Trump administration — that moment.
But that wasn't it. There's a whole long list of things that have gone wrong over the last two years. Speaking of the Epstein files, where are the Epstein arrests? We have Ghislaine Maxwell in jail. Jeffrey Epstein — not in jail, maybe alive, maybe dead. And then, sticking with the Epstein theme, Donald Trump went as far as appointing Epstein's next-door neighbor, Howard Lutnik, to be the commerce secretary. It's kind of an in-your-face move.
And then came Operation Midnight Hammer. Nobody asked for that. Everybody did not want that. Charlie Kirk and Tucker Carlson were getting into the White House begging the president not to do anything. And the president did Midnight Hammer anyway. And then we got the Iran war. Not to mention the Gaza war that's been playing out the entire time Donald Trump has been president — he promised he would end that, he didn't. The Ukraine war has been playing out the entire time Donald Trump has been president — he promised he would end that, he didn't. Speaking of not ending any of these wars, his never-ending support for Benjamin Netanyahu is a little nauseating if you want to be honest. It's getting to the point of idol worship for the president. Mr. President, stop worshiping idols, particularly ones like Bibi.
Then you have the security state. This is something nobody asked for. I don't recall anybody saying, "Can you put up flock cameras on every street corner? Can you make sure people like Peter Thiel have a firm understanding of where I am at every second of my life?" Things that weren't even really brought up in the campaign that I think stuck in the back of a lot of people's minds.
The H-1B visas — they're a disaster. They're not popular. What you're telling Americans is you're not good enough. Someone else out there is better than you and we want to make sure they have jobs that you otherwise would have an opportunity to get. And there are a lot of them here in the United States. It's changing the nature of the United States. And then you've got student visas — hundreds of thousands of student visas, people competing for top spots at top schools. You could be a valedictorian at your school. You could have a 4.0 GPA. You could have a perfect SAT score and you're getting denied from some of the best schools in the country. Why? Because they've given it to somebody from China. Your kid can't compete with somebody from China.
We were promised a wall. There's no wall. We were promised deportations. There really haven't been any deportations, and I'm tired of people telling me there are. This is gaslighting at the highest level. My estimate — probably 100 million illegals in the United States competing for things like gasoline, vehicles, housing, groceries. They're raising the cost of everything. You want to know why your 23-year-old is living at home and can't afford a house? Because there are 100 million people here competing for the same house.
And then you get these little weird issues like the MAHA movement that wasn't. A lot of people voted for Trump for the Make America Healthy Again movement. What did we get? We got glyphosate immunity. We got vaccine schedules that never changed after they promised us they would. And then we get things like the Trumpcoin, this USD1, World Liberty Financial. You almost have to have a PhD to even understand what's going on. But here's an easy way to say it: Donald Trump's family is profiting off of transactions in what used to be US dollars. People are moving into these other coins and the Donald Trump family is profiting off of them. If you're in favor of that, then you probably went out yesterday and voted for Donald Trump. If you're not, you either sat home or voted for somebody else.
What about the Board of Peace? Something that doesn't get talked about a lot. Donald Trump made himself king for the rest of his life, basically, over Gaza — a place where other people lived. And then what happened to Charlie Kirk? We still don't know who killed Charlie Kirk, how or why. The investigation has been a disaster. It's been an abomination. Frankly, we're getting almost no answers.
Speaking of Charlie Kirk, what's up with the incessant support for his very weird wife, Erika Kirk? I'm sorry. I feel bad. She's a widow. She's weird. She acts weird. She talks weird. And it's weird. I'm sorry. You are forcing this woman on us. And people don't like it. And people are pushing back.
And then Republicans are supposed to be deficit hawks, right? We're supposed to be budget-friendly people. Deficits are absurd. They're over a trillion dollars a year. What about election integrity? You promised us the Save Act. You promised us voter ID. You promised us that when I go in to vote, my vote's going to count once and everyone else's vote is going to count once, and no one who's not supposed to vote is going to be voting. You had a Republican House, a Republican Senate, a Republican president. And you Republicans failed on that issue. You failed. And you may not get another shot at this for a decade or more. You've let that opportunity go by. You missed it. Our elections are not secure, and they will not be secure probably for at least the next ten years. Thanks, guys. We appreciate your support. We appreciate all you've done for us.
And then Donald Trump decides the best path forward, when he realizes the election's in trouble, is to launch unhinged attacks on people like Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens. Podcasters — but podcasters with very large bases. Large bases that historically would have voted for Republicans up and down the ballot in all 50 states. But Donald Trump basically said, "I don't want your votes. I don't need your votes. In fact, if you support Tucker, if you support Candace, I don't want you part of my movement."
We still don't have answers on what happened in Butler, Pennsylvania. We know that they have to know something, but we have no answers. There have been no arrests in the deep state — the people who did the FBI operation into Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, no arrests. All the stuff with the Epstein files, no arrests. There's just no deep state arrests. You were there to clean up the swamp, Mr. President, and you failed. Instead, you swam around in it and you rolled around in it like a fat pig. And then you wanted us to vote for you. And the way you did that was to promote people like Ben Shapiro, Mark Levin, Laura Loomer's. This is who you picked. You picked them over us. These people are unhinged. They are not America First. They were not your supporters. These are people who fought your campaign while we were in the trenches fighting in favor of your campaign. They fought your campaign and then you ran to them and sucked up to them in an attempt to save your presidency, to save your precious Republican majorities. And guess what? They failed you.
So the least you can do, if you want to make it up to us — the least you can do — there's a young man sitting in prison right now in Washington DC. In theory, the FBI tells us he planted two pipe bombs on January 5th, 2021. And we know he didn't, and you guys know he didn't. The least you can do, as sort of a measure of apology, maybe swallow your pride and let that young man out of jail. His name is Brian Cole Jr. Brian Cole Jr. did not plant those pipe bombs. You know it. I know it. Everyone who's watched the great reporting from Steve Baker knows it. Let Brian Cole Jr. out of jail. Stop compounding tragedy upon tragedy upon tragedy.
Nobody who pushed any of these positions should have any leadership role in the conservative movement going forward. If you favored the Iran war the day before this midterm election — just two days ago — you're out. No leadership role in the conservative movement going forward. If you pushed any of these stupid wars in Gaza, if you pushed these stupid wars in Ukraine, you're out. You guys tried to silence us and shame us into silence for the last year, but when you wanted our votes, you came crawling back just in time for the midterms, begging us to let bygones be bygones and vote for you despite all of your failures.
Well, guess what? We've proven you cannot win without us. And we've also proven your positions are utter failures. So going forward, the tables have turned. It's our turn now. It's our turn to demand your silence in the movement. Going forward, we will welcome your votes, but we will not welcome your voices.
Exit Poll Analysis: What Voters Actually Said
Everybody wants to know what happened last night, and we're going to talk about it. We can roll through some of the after-action report and get an idea of what went wrong, because I do think it's important when trying to figure out what went wrong to look at the facts. So we're going to roll through a few exit polls to get an idea of where the electorate was and what issues were really driving them. It's confirmation of what we've been talking about for the last year leading up to the midterm elections — that you guys are out of touch, that your election professionals are unable and unwilling to reach out to people like us and tell you what might help you win an election.
First, we have the MAGA poll. Do you consider yourself MAGA? Well, Donald Trump was very confident that he had a 99% approval rating among people who consider themselves MAGA. Now, guess what? That's less than a quarter of the country. Of the people who do not consider themselves MAGA — the other three-quarters of the country — 72% of them voted against you. So you could have your 99% approval rating among your precious little 24% of the population. The other 75% of the country, including myself — because you kicked me out of MAGA when we asked about the Epstein files, you said you don't want our support anymore — MAGA's dead. 72% of us voted against you guys. Did not want you in power.
What about the 2024 presidential election poll? People who voted for Kamala Harris in the last election pretty much came through and voted for Democrats in this election — 97%. But look at Donald Trump: only 91%. Mr. President, you lost 9% of your vote. One in eleven of the people who showed up to vote for you last time chose to vote against you this time. They thought you've abused it. They thought you've abused us and turned your back on us. And they're right.
About the opinion of Democrats — I think this is interesting. Of the people who find the Democrat party favorable, 95% of them voted for Democrats. But the remarkable part of this exit poll is nearly one in five people who don't like Democrats voted for Democrats. Think about how terrible that means you've been for the last two years. One in five people voted for somebody they have an unfavorable opinion of, which means they like you less. They're more upset with you than the party that they oppose.
Now let's look at religion, because this is a really interesting one to me. Basically, you burned this entire country down for Israel. You burned this entire country down. You gave up your Republican majorities. You did it for Israel. You gave up your standing in the MAGA community. You basically collapsed MAGA and you did it for Israel. And what thanks did you get from our Jewish brothers and sisters, who make up 3% of our country? 68% of those people voted against you. 68%. You burned the country to the ground and 68% of the Jewish people voted against you. You should be proud of yourself, Mr. President.
Is the US support for Israel too strong? Notice 51% of the country says it's too strong. And 80% of those people voted Democrat. I would argue it's too strong — count me in that 51%. Only 12% says it's not strong enough. 37% says just right. And even of those that say it's about right, 26% voted for the Democrats. So this right here, in a snapshot, tells me this was the entire election. You guys won the pro-Israel crowd. You got hammered on the anti-Israel crowd. And you're now going to have about an 80-seat deficit in the United States House of Representatives after having about a 10-seat advantage here recently. You lost 80 or 90 House seats. Congratulations.
A lot of people want to blame it on the Iran war. So let's finish this segment with the Iran war exit poll. How important to you was the Iran war? Crucial or major factor: 74%. Almost three out of every four voters who walked into the voting booth yesterday said that the Iran war was a crucial or major factor. And almost two-thirds of those people voted for Democrats. That's how unpopular this war is. You guys won the people who said it's not a major factor. Unfortunately for you, you're again playing to the minority. You're playing to the 26% here. You were playing to the 3% earlier and they voted against you anyway.
Mark Levin, Ben Shapiro, and the Iran War Predictions
So let's dig in just a little bit to our good buddy Mark Levin, because people like Mark Levin — I cannot for the life of me understand how they still have standing, why they have a TV show, why they have a radio show, why they have a podcast. Who the hell is listening to Mark Levin? You know, Mark Levin and Ben Shapiro — you just saw those numbers. 74% of people said the Iran war was a big deal to them, a major factor. And two-thirds of those people voted against Republicans. So what did our brilliant political minds Mark Levin and Ben Shapiro have to say about whether the Iran war would have an effect at all in this election?
Mark Levin: We have this very odd woke right isolationist element. I won't say within the Republican party — they seem to hate the Republican party — but they are of a similar mindset, I remember, of the George McGoverns of old, the similar mindset of the Pat Buchanan of old, and now of the Marxist Islamists on the hard left pushing for isolationism and so forth. And yet, when we look at the Fox survey, Iran is a 4% issue with the American people. So whatever happens in the midterms, it doesn't appear that Iran's going to drive anything one way or another. What's your take on this?
Ben Shapiro: I think that's exactly right. Obviously, there is a contingent who would love to see President Trump do poorly in the midterms, who want Republicans to lose. Some of these people are openly saying they want Republicans to lose. By the way, some of them are openly standing in favor of the pro-terrorism candidate in Michigan, Abdul Al-Sayed. So there are some people who are attempting to destroy the Republican party from within in the hopes that they will then be able to sort of take over whatever remains of the Republican party. I don't think that it's going to work. When you look at the Iran issue, there is one thing that Americans hate more than anything else when it comes to foreign policy, and it is not foreign conflict — it is losing. And the reality is that the president has done yeoman's work in reopening the Strait of Hormuz and putting the United States in a position to really finish off the Iranian regime without having to put boots on the ground in Iran. The president has it within his capacity to essentially finish the Iranian economy with a single bombing sortie over Kharg Island or South Pars. The biggest thing that is the obstacle right now to just completing that victory is just a matter of decision-making. Does the president actually believe that a deal is on the table or does he not? I'm very skeptical the Iranians are ever going to put a worthwhile deal on the table. But as you say, the American people are significantly less interested in any foreign policy issue than they are with how things are going here in the United States. And if the economic numbers continue to boom, if the stock market continues to do well, if the unemployment numbers stay good, if wages increase to keep up with inflation and inflation drops, then Republicans will do fine in the midterms and the rest of the presidency will be a success. It really is almost that simple.
Baron Coleman: It's almost that simple, guys. Is it? What do you think, Ben Shapiro? Well, I think it's pretty — I don't think it's going to be a problem at all. Mark Levin — well, you know, they're saying it's a problem. Well, I don't think it's really that big of a problem. Republicans are going to be fine.
Who listens to these two? Is it the president of the United States? This is who he's listening to. You want to know why they got their butts kicked last night? Because you could listen to people telling you that the Iran war is a massive failure. You could listen to people tell you that support for Israel has been an absolute millstone tied around the neck of the president and the Republican party. You could take action on that. Or you could listen to Mark Levin and Ben Shapiro. That's who you could listen to.
In fact, the president does listen to them. Here's a Truth Social post from President Trump: "Mark Levin, a truly great American patriot, is somewhat under siege by other people with far less intellect, capability, and love for our country. Mark is tough, strong, and brilliant. He hits his nickname, 'the great one.'" Guys, he's praising the guy who just gave you that brilliant political commentary that said the Iran war was going to be a non-factor in the midterms. That's the one he calls brilliant intellect, capability. In fact, if you go to the middle, Donald Trump gives a weird God reference there. He says, "They're not MAGA. I am." No, there's only one I am, Mr. President. You are not him.
After the midterms, Mark Levin weighs in and decides he has figured out who the problem is. Mark Levin blames Tucker Carlson: "Tucker Carlson's a loathsome creature. He did all he could with his foreign followers and influencers to sabotage the president, the GOP, and the midterm elections. Funny how the woke right reprobates say nothing about him, their spiritual leader. As I said before, he's among the biggest traitors to our country in our history."
Tucker was right. Tucker was the one telling you this was going to be an unmitigated disaster and that doing this was going to cause you to lose the elections. Mark Levin, you were the one that told us the Iran war was going to be a non-factor. If I'm having to weigh the credibility right now between Tucker Carlson and Mark Levin, it's a no-brainer. It's an absolute no-brainer.
Others Blaming the "Woke Right"
But he wasn't the only one trying to blame others. Here we have Melissa Strait from PragerU. You can try to blame the neocons in the Trump administration, or you can actually look at what the woke right has been lobbying for. The woke right has been saying that the country is kind of fed up with your undying support for Israel and the Iran war. And the exit polls seem to suggest that the woke right is actually the correct right. They're not woke at all. They're very mainstream. Very mainstream. They've got their fingers in the air. They can feel the wind. They know exactly which way it's blowing.
We also have Dana Loesch get into it. I forget Dana Loesch is a thing, guys. I totally forget she's a thing. Every now and then you'll see her pop up as a speaker. Here's Dana Loesch. Look who she blames: "Well, the foreign op on Iran worked. Great job, Qatari assets. Enjoy your Doha vacation houses."
This election was lost by factory workers in Erie, Pennsylvania. They don't have Doha vacation houses. This was lost by guys named Steve who have mustaches in Columbus, Ohio, who work at the airport. This was lost by regular people. This was not a Tucker Carlson thing. That is — even to suggest that Tucker Carlson actually does have a vacation house in Doha, paid for by the Qatari government who funds his entire operation — guys, news flash: Tucker's already rich. I mean, that's why they hate him. He's rich, so they can't control him. I think all commentators should be rich. Unless you reach a certain point, no one should listen to you — you're subject to being bribed with a little bit of money. I'm not going to knock him for being rich, but what I am going to say is you've read this all wrong.
Joel Pollak gets into the mix. Joel Pollak doesn't just blame Tucker — he also gets in to blame Candace: "The massive swing among young white men away from Republicans was not because Democrats appealed to them. It was because most of the conservative podcasting world poisoned them against Trump. They will blame the Iran war, but the anti-Semitism began with Tucker and Candace in 2024."
Well, as much as I would like to say that the conservative podcasting world is very influential, all you have to do is honestly look at the numbers. A really big show — a few million views cross-platform, maybe five, ten million. That's a small percentage of the people who turned out and voted. This is an excuse. Joel Pollak writes over at Breitbart. This is an excuse to deflect blame against the actual cause of the loss. We saw the exit polls — what was on people's minds when they went in there was the Iran war and support for Israel. That's it, ladies and gentlemen. There is your answer. The people walking out of the polls answered questions and told you the problem.
Not to be outdone, Joel Berry — very low IQ individual — Joel Berry gets into the mix. He also blames Candace and Tucker, and adds every freak show podcaster on the right: "Every freak show podcaster on the right from Tucker to Candace and everyone in between spent the last two years demoralizing their tens of millions of listeners with the message that the GOP betrayed them, Trump is controlled by the Epstein class, that their vote doesn't matter, and that they have no agency or sovereignty over their lives or their nation's politics. So millions of demoralized people on the right stayed home. That's what happened. The base didn't show up because they were told it didn't matter, and they're about to spend two years relearning why it did matter."
Well, a couple of things on that, Mr. Berry. One is they did show up. They voted for Democrats. They voted to throw you guys out. They're sick of you guys. They may not like the other guy, but they like you less. So that's one problem with that. And oh — everything he says in the first paragraph is actually true. That's the problem. They don't want us telling you the truth. That's why they don't like conservative podcasters. The GOP did betray you. They made all these promises they didn't keep. Trump is controlled by the Epstein class — have you seen unredacted Epstein files? Have you seen any arrests? Your vote doesn't matter — did you see them even attempt to pass any kind of election integrity measure? Do you have any agency over the sovereignty of your lives or the nation's politics? Well, certainly not the nation's politics, because we showed up in mass to vote for Donald Trump. Everything that you said is true. I'm sorry that you don't like the truth.
And finally, we have Caleb Hull. Caleb Hull does also blame Candace, but he brings Charlie Kirk into it: "I would like to point out that the assassination of Charlie Kirk could have easily led to the biggest awakening and red wave in American history. Instead, Candace Owens hijacked it and made it about herself."
That was his closing message last night after the Republican party got shellacked. Oh, how we wish we could have rolled Charlie Kirk's bones and his coffin into the voting booths to rally the base. That's sick and it's twisted. I'm sorry. It just is.
JD Vance's Post-Election Tweet and the Reckoning
Let's get to the reckoning, because JD Vance came out with a tweet. But I want to go back to the Iran war exit poll before I show you his tweet. Crucial or major factor in your vote: 74%. Three out of every four voters who walked in and pulled a lever yesterday said the Iran war was a crucial or major factor. And almost two-thirds of those people voted against the Republicans.
So JD Vance comes in, and I think JD Vance is flailing trying to save his political career. JD Vance comes in with this tweet. I'm not going to read the whole thing. I'm going to read the opening paragraph and then point out a couple of things along the way.
"One of the things the data analysts on our side obsessed over..."
Let me pause you right there. That's your problem. You're listening to data analysts. You're listening to pollsters. You're not listening to the people you should be trusting. You're not listening to the American people. JD, pick up the phone and call Tucker. Pick up the phone and call Candace and ask them what's the heartbeat of America right now. Reach over to the other side. Call some Democrats. What are you guys hearing in your office? You're the vice president of the United States. You're not only the vice president of the neocon MAGA right. You're vice president of everybody. You can call everybody and say, "What the hell are your people talking about? What should we be doing?"
"...one of the things they obsessed over was composition, whether the electorate looked close enough to 2024 for Republicans to win. And despite polls that showed a Democrat blowout, the data kept telling us the same story. In some states, turnout was merely okay. In other states, it was downright amazing. And in no state was it catastrophic. There was a genuine sense of optimism on our team. Our people were showing up."
You guys are idiots. If you thought that the people who voted for you in 2024 showing up to the polls was an advantage to you, you're out of your mind. You're not in touch with your people. That's the whole problem. Turn Fox News off. Stop talking to Mark Levin. Cut Ben Shapiro out. Get rid of Laura Loomer's. These people are leading you to ruin. Pick up the phone and call normal people.
There's an irony here too juicy to put down. After talking to yet another pollster — because they only talk to professionals, they don't talk to actual real human beings — he says one of the smartest people he knows in politics. Here are the four things he came up with to fix the thing. One: end the war. I would say wars plural — end the Iran war, stop funding the war in Gaza, stop funding the war in Ukraine. Declare defeat. I don't care. Just come home. Two: focused on the cost of living and inflation. Three: put America first. Notice what number he put America first at. Does anyone not see the delicious irony of this? Put America first — but let's put it third. Four: change our relationship to Israel.
You guys, you just didn't need a list of four. Just put America first. That will end the wars. That will focus on the cost of living and inflation. And that will necessarily change your relationship with Israel. And I don't even think "change" — how about treat Israel like we do Uzbekistan? Treat Israel like we do Hungary. Treat Israel like we do Papua New Guinea. They're just another country. Why do they have any say in our politics outsized over any other country on earth? There are what, 200-something countries. They're just one of 200. Put America first and everything else falls into place.
Matt Walsh and the Greek Tragedy of Republican Foreign Policy
So let's get to Matt Walsh. Now, Matt Walsh has been good and he's been bad. About ten years ago, he was great. And when he did his "What Is a Woman" thing — top-notch work. Hats off to you, Mr. Walsh. And then he went through this phase where he was scared to say anything because his boss is Ben Shapiro. But Matt Walsh kind of identified something. I want to play a clip of him identifying maybe the problem that has set the Republican party back a decade or so.
Matt Walsh: The tragedy — the kind of Greek tragedy, the end political result — is that we've had two Republican presidents in this century and the first one derailed his presidency and destroyed his party for ten years with a pointless foreign war that was deeply unpopular. This Republican president won the presidency in part by lambasting that decision and coming out publicly against it. And now he is going to end his presidency having it derailed with a pointless foreign war that will also probably destroy his party for ten years. You couldn't write a tragedy like this. And this is what the result's going to be.
Baron Coleman: It's an easier answer. Put America first. Change the nature of your relationship with Israel. Why did we go to war in 2001? Why did we go to war in Afghanistan and Iraq? Why did we go to war in Iran? It's the same answer, Matt Walsh. But you were sitting there on a stage with Ben Shapiro and you couldn't say it. I can say it. Ben Shapiro is not here. Matt Walsh, be honest. At a certain point, you're going to have to walk away from that place in order to be honest. You know the answer. I know you know the answer.
Andrew Wilson on Zionism as the Blind Spot
He wasn't the only surprise of the night that actually came out and said something that was almost common sense. Our good friend Andrew Wilson himself jumped on the PBD stage yesterday and addressed the giant elephant in the room. He had about a three-minute appearance and then they never went back to him after he was frankly fairly honest.
Andrew Wilson: The biggest blind spot — and I hate to be the bearer of bad news — is how we deal with Zionism. That is the undercurrent in both Democrats and Republicans. That's what socialists are talking about and that's what the far right-wing dissident is talking about. Zionism.
Host: Can you unpack that for us?
Andrew Wilson: I can. It's how do we deal with Israeli relations and the way that they operate inside of our government in the 21st century. Because nobody wants to address that on the right. And if you do, you're a social pariah. You're not in with the NOs's. You're in big trouble. And that's what we've come to this whole election. If the right wing loses it, let's stop pretending it's not a referendum on what's going on in Iran and what's going on with our relations with Israel, because that's exactly what it is.
Host: Can I play a clip for you? I'm sure everybody's seen it with the president coming up saying what's going to happen with support for Israel. Is this the clip that we're talking about? Okay, go forward and play this clip.
Donald Trump: Now, as far as paying Israel — Bibi Netanyahu and I have made a deal that we give Israel $4 billion a year, and we made a deal months ago that we're stopping. And they're fine with it because, you know, they've become a very successful country. They don't need it and we won't be paying Israel anymore. So it's just a wasted thing because we've already agreed that by the end of this year, we won't be paying Israel. Now, we'll help Israel if they need it. You know, they've been a great ally and we've been the greatest of all allies to many, many countries.
Host: Mr. President, you're saying you're not giving them $4 billion worth of weapons. You're not—
Donald Trump: Total control, Brian. We have total control of the Strait of Hormuz. Total control of the Strait of Hormuz. Nobody thought that was possible. Our navy, our blockade, our military is incredible. We make the best equipment. We have the people that know how to use equipment the best. You know, it's very complex stuff. When you go to the Patriots and the Tomahawks, it's very complex. You need smart people to operate here.
Host: There was another clip if you want to play the other one on what he said that kind of shocked some people. I think he said this a couple of times before. He said if I wanted to go for it—
Donald Trump: Some reason they do need it or they need help. So I'm the number one. I was so voted. I'm at 99% approval rating in Israel. Can you believe it? In fact, if people ever got tired of me in the US, I'll move to Israel and become prime minister.
Host: Think of it. This messaging — do these statements help, hurt, or is there no impact to them?
Andrew Wilson: They hurt bad. You need the dissident right. Republicans got to remember this. They need the dissident right and they don't have the dissident right. The dissident right believe that Donald Trump has become a stooge Zionist puppet and that's a huge problem. Nobody in the mainstream right wants to acknowledge this. They need the dissident right. You're right. You saw what happened when we sit home. You saw what happened when we vote for the other people. You can't continue to abuse your base. You can't continue to use somebody to get elected, stab them in the eye, and then expect them to turn back up and vote for you again two years later. You need the dissident right.
Baron Coleman: The problem with Andrew Wilson being the one to deliver that message is that just in the last few days, he was very hostile to the dissident right. I'm hopeful he's a free agent now. Maybe he got hired by one of these organizations he talks about all the time — TPUSA, maybe, or the Daily Wire. I'm not sure what's going on with Andrew Wilson, but he made a very astute point right there.
Going back to something the president said — he has a 99% approval rating in Israel. You know what the cost of that was? Total annihilation in yesterday's election. Republicans lost — I think they flipped seven Republican Senate seats. The Democrats now have like 55, maybe a shot at 56 United States Senate seats. A Black Democrat in Mississippi won. A Democrat won in South Carolina — Lindsey Graham's seat, Strom Thurmond's seat. A Democrat won there. That's the cost. Georgia's basically been written off forever. Texas may be written off forever. A Democrat won every single statewide race in Texas yesterday. That's the cost of your 99% approval rating in Israel. Congratulations on that.
Here's the problem with Andrew Wilson delivering that message. Here's what he sounded like about a week and a half ago: "It's good to be optimistic about the midterms. I don't think it will be the predicted Democrat landslide at all. It is likely they will end up with a small majority in the House and we keep the Senate."
You missed. They didn't get a small majority in the House. I think they're predicting now like an 80 or 90 seat majority in the House out of 435. I think they're going to end up like 250 to 270 seats. And you didn't keep the Senate. In fact, you got shellacked. They have a 55-45 at worst. It may end up 56-44. Part of this election loss, Mr. Wilson, is on your shoulders. The way you treated the dissident right.
Here is his prediction of the red wave just yesterday: "I'm not going to say it's a red wave, but there's enough happening already that it is terrifying the libs. Good. They should be absolutely quaking in their Uggs by the time the sun sets."
Why are people hiring these people? Who pays for this type of analysis? You guys are out of your minds. You got this for free yesterday. All you had to do is turn on YouTube and I'd have told you you were going to get shellacked. And you did. Why? Because I talk to regular people. I'm not in the West Wing of the White House. I'm in middle Tennessee talking to normal voters every day. I go to the Publix and talk to the cashier. "How's your family doing?" "Not good. Why? Can't afford anything. Having to work overtime this week. My kids are in school. I'm not going to be able to pick them up this week because I got to work overtime." This is not an uncommon story. They all give you basically the same reason. The Iran war. Everything got more expensive after they decided to go to war in Iran.
Laura Loomer's's Post-Election Meltdown
So speaking of Laura Loomer's, she kind of melted down last night. As you can expect, she would. She was up all night. Here was her major meltdown tweet — this is the person Donald Trump leans on for political messaging. Here is her tweet last night:
"Plan for your survival. Stock up on supplies. Finalize your will. In case massive political violence erupts, temper your expectations of your children and grandchildren who will never know the American dream. Make sure your children have food and shelter, but aside from that, most people's kids are not going to have a future full of aspirations. We're going to watch our country implode in the next five years. Eight jihadi candidates will now be headed to Congress after last night's election. They will take their oath of office on the Quran, which explicitly calls for the killing of non-Muslims. They will have access to classified information and will leak that information to America's enemies and sleeper cells in country who will without a doubt work to kill Americans. I'm glad that I was able to predict America's future because it gave me time to plan. But aside from just trying to stay alive every single day, most Americans will not be experiencing much joy in the coming future. If you think things are bad now because gas is a dollar more expensive, you are in for a serious rude awakening."
Well, that would be a bad enough tweet. A tweet like that, you could say, "Well, go to bed. Sleep it off. Maybe you'll feel better in the morning." She did not go to bed. In fact, we were able to determine she only took a three-hour break from Twitter all night last night. Here was her last tweet at 1:28 a.m.: "We now have a full-blown supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood who will be serving in the US Senate. Who knows if he will be leaking classified information to Islamic terrorist organizations." And notice she doesn't worry about other people with other loyalties leaking classified information. "I don't want to hear any Democrats complain in the future if their family members are victimized by Islamic terrorists. We need to start telling people elections have consequences. You get what you vote for."
That was at 1:28. Then you thought, okay, well, she needs her beauty sleep. Well, here's maybe the problem, because three hours later she's back on the tweet machine: "So true. Would have been best to ban TikTok." 4:28 a.m. The three-hour break in the middle of the night.
We put a montage together. We chopped it down to three pages. Here are 17 tweets in which she said "America is over." You can see "America is over" highlighted here and there. 17 tweets where she says "America is over." This is the psychopathy that has the ear of the president of the United States. These are the people he's listening to. Get some sleep, Laura. You'll feel better in the morning. 20 times.
Trump's Post-Election Press Conference: Talking About Ballrooms
Donald Trump, after a shellacking like that, you would expect him to come out and say something positive about the future of America. Instead, he does what he did after the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting — he's bragging about the ballroom. That's what the president's talking about today. Everybody else is wondering, "How did this happen?" We have a clip where he actually talks about it.
Donald Trump: And the kitchen is underneath, because if I put the kitchen on top and we have large staircases coming from the kitchen — who doesn't like a large staircase?
Reporter: On top, you would lose three walls.
Donald Trump: Oh.
Reporter: Because the kitchen takes about 30% of the space.
Donald Trump: No, 30%?
Reporter: The kitchen is all the space that you have.
Donald Trump: I might have voted differently if I had known this. And it's going to be top of the line.
Reporter: Unbelievable.
Donald Trump: So there has never been anything built like this. And it's for the country and it's free. You got it free of charge. Thank you very much. And some great patriots have devoted a lot of money, given a lot of money to get it built. And so we didn't use taxpayers' money to build this ballroom. And it's going to be — when it's completed, it'll be the best anywhere in the world. You know, when I was in China, we went to the Great Hall — it's called the Great Hall of China. And it's incredible. But this is actually larger. And it will be the most magnificent when you see what we're doing between the marbles and the bronzes and all the different things that we're doing. Top of the line, great architects, our top architects.
Baron Coleman: Who needs Republican supermajorities when you have a kitchen that takes up 30% and takes up three walls, but we get large staircases, ladies and gentlemen? And it's bigger than China's. Trust me, it's bigger than China's. We're comparing hall sizes. That's our very serious president of the United States after an absolute shellacking last night. Not huddling with people trying to figure out what went wrong. Not huddling with people figuring out why the American people are upset with him and how he might be able to govern a little better. No, friends. Why would he do all that when he could go and do a presser about the size of his staircases?
Don't come blaming podcasters for losses like these. Blame that man. Blame Laura Loomer's. Blame Mark Levin. Blame Ben Shapiro. Blame all these neocons who talked this man into going to war in Iran and ignoring absolutely every campaign promise that he gave you.
Grifter Alerts: The Post-Election Pivots
We have some grifter alerts, because some people are trying to get off of the island. Some people are trying to vote themselves off of Crazy Island. Benny Johnson has found himself on Crazy Island. He's been supporting this nonsense. He comes out today and tries to sound normal. Tries to sound like he knew all this was coming.
Benny Johnson: How do you do this to your party in a single election cycle? Let neocons make policy decisions. That's it. It's that simple. Neoconism must die for Americans to survive.
Baron Coleman: He's blaming neoconism, obviously referencing the Iran war and the terrible effects it's had. The problem with that is Benny hadn't always felt that way. Check this out — this is Benny Johnson in August: "Trump just hit the button. Iran was just erased. The war is over. US military destroyed everything. Admiral Brad Cooper announced the US moved 750 million barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz while Iran exported zero barrels. The US blockade has given America full control of the strait and shipping lanes are open. Venezuela, which has the world's largest proven oil reserves, is now debating leaving OPEC, which has long held a monopoly over oil markets. Because of all this, Iran has been begging for talks and peace talks. President Trump has reset the global power structure to the West. America won."
Benny, that's neoconism. That's the neoconism you're now decrying. You see the problem? That was August. It's November. That's not even 90 days ago. You are the problem. You are the neocon you hate.
And you're not the only one. Will Chamberlain gets into the mess. Here is Will Chamberlain: "Yeah. If anyone thinks they get to insulate their hobby horse from criticisms after a wipeout like this, they are mistaken. Iran war is clearly catastrophically unpopular and has to end. But like tariffs have to go too. Need to pull every cost of living lever you can."
The Iran war is clearly catastrophically unpopular. Well, let's check out Will Chamberlain just a few months ago. Where was he on the Iran war? Oh — "The case for the Iran war." Oh, okay. I got you. Will Chamberlain lays out the initial argument in our two-part debate series.
Do you see the problem? People like you are the reason there is an Iran war. We were against it. People should have been listening to us. Instead, you were on X telling people we're crazy, telling people we're the woke right, telling people we don't know what we're talking about, telling people they shouldn't watch Candace or Tucker or me or anyone else. We've been right the whole time. We're standing in the same spot, flag still in hand. You guys can't ever seem to get it right until after the fact. Well, after the fact is too late.
After the fact is too late, Andrew Wilson. After the fact is too late, Will Chamberlain. After the fact is too late, Benny Johnson. This is a reckoning. None of these people should have a voice in conservatism going forward. A vote — sure. If you want to fall in line and vote for the people that are truly America First, that are vetted by the people who were correct the last two years, we welcome your vote. We'll even support you voting. But we don't want you to have a voice. You've lost trust. You've lost the right to have a leading voice in the conservative movement.
That goes for you, Ben Shapiro. It goes for you, Mark Levin. It goes for you, Laura Loomer's. You've all lost the voice. And yes, it goes for you, Mr. President. It goes for you, Mr. Vice President. It goes for Marco Rubio. It goes for Pete Hegseth. All these people have lost the right.
You want to know what happened last night? They did. They finally got their way. They had complete control of both houses of Congress. They had complete control of the White House, complete control of the military. And they ruined it. And the American people woke up yesterday and said, "No, we don't like you. We don't like your politics. We don't like your policies, and we would rather go with someone we don't even like." That's where we are. There's your reckoning.
We wake up tomorrow, put it behind us, move forward, and hopefully learn our lessons. And if you wake up tomorrow and want to listen to any of these people you listened to for the last two years who got you into this situation, don't come crying back to us when it goes poorly yet again.
Viewer Comments and Reflections
Got some of your top comments from last episode. He lost the midterms — are we still talking about Epstein? Absolutely. That was a point we made very early on in today's episode. Are we still talking about Epstein? Yes, Mr. President, we are. Good luck in the midterms. You just lost them because you told us you did not want our support.
Top comments from today's episode. "They cannot be this dumb and had to know this was coming. The reality is the Dems are just as pro-Israel as the neocons." They are indeed. The United States Senate will be led by Chuck Schumer. And Chuck Schumer is every bit as Zionist as anybody in the Republican party, the president, or maybe Benjamin Netanyahu himself. The United States House of Representatives in all likelihood will be led by Hakeem Jeffries. That means the Democrats did not learn the lesson from this election either. Hakeem Jeffries has been on like seven or eight pilgrimages to Israel. There are rally clips — at one point he said, "Israel yesterday, Israel today, Israel forever." It hearkened back honestly to George Wallace in Alabama back in the 1960s — "Segregation yesterday, segregation today, segregation forever." It's a similar message, Mr. Jeffries. It does not sound good. I hope you can modify that position somewhat. But no, the Democrats haven't learned their lesson either. But you know what? The Republicans — when they come back in two years, if they come back with this pro-Israel messaging, they're going to get shellacked again. This is reality.
"I'm a Texan and an independent and have been a fan and I'm proud of what Texas voters have said with this election. Billionaires can't buy us anymore. If that means a blue Texas, so be it. Just don't take my plastic bags."
I don't agree with this nihilism over Texas ever going back to the right again. I mean, I think it'll be an uphill battle, but Ohio flipped back to the right pretty hard. Iowa used to go either way at any election. They both went pretty solidly red for several election cycles. Florida actually withstood the blue wave yesterday — they had statewide Senate and governorships go Republican. So I wouldn't write them off forever, particularly if the left goes too hard left. If they bring back all the trans issues and all that, it's going to be a rocky path forward for them as well.
"Be careful. Laura Loomer's is right behind you." Yeah, she is. She is.
"I know Laura Loomer's's tweets are completely unhinged, but kicking Breijit Doll out of her blue cubby — that's a whole new level of cruelty. What did Breijit Doll ever do to deserve that?" She wanted to breathe. She said, "But it's hot in here." I was like, "All right, I'll let you out." So we moved her over here. Breijit Doll is great. We're a big fan of Breijit.
"Free Brian Cole Jr. Expel the hot dog or sandwich believers. Baron gets the only hall pass. My next life goal is to get DJT to ask, 'Are you still talking about the sandwiches?'" Yes. Not until January 1st.
"Can you please do a Mark Levin impersonation of him gushing over Breijit's beauty defending her honor? That accent is money, man." Oh, man. A Mark Levin accent on command. Oh, Breijit. You're just a looker. You look so good, Breijit. I love how you sit down and manspread. Your manspreading is so ladylike. That's all you get.
"They got it backwards. If Charlie Kirk hadn't been taken down, opposition wouldn't have skyrocketed. Candace and Tucker just say what everyone thinks. Best bet now — release Brian Cole, leave the Iran war, cut ties with a toxic ally."
I think the Brian Cole Jr. thing has to be an olive branch. It has to be a peace offering. It has to be. We know he didn't do it. We've seen him on camera miles away at the moment the things were being planted. We know he didn't do it. Steve Baker deserves a Pulitzer Prize, a Nobel Peace Prize. Give Steve Baker all the prizes in the world. The reporting has been incredible on Brian Cole Jr.
"I'm so saddened. This was my first time we didn't vote. We live in California and even with all the bad laws that are being passed by Democrats, every Democrat voted for the same thing — mileage tax and everything else."
You say this is the first time you didn't vote. My wife cried to me last night. She was standing at the kitchen counter when I came home and we were talking about the election returns coming in. They'd already started coming in while I was on my drive home. And so I was listening to those while we were driving in and I drove in and she was standing at the kitchen counter and we started talking about it and she started crying — like a literal actual tear rolled down. Not like an Erika Kirk tear, like a real tear. And I said, "What's wrong?" And she's like, "I didn't vote. Couldn't vote." And I'm sad about it. So this is the first time in her life she hadn't voted. We're four for four voters. We don't miss voting. And she didn't vote. Thanks, Republicans. She didn't vote. And it almost mattered because the Republican governor in Tennessee, who was supposed to win by 20 points, won by two. That's how bad Tennessee got it yesterday.
"I didn't vote for the first time in my life. I refuse to watch or participate. My eyes are open now. I have faith that everything will be okay eventually. Thank you for your help showing the truth. Christ is king indeed." Well, thank you. Thank you for the kind words. I'm sorry it came to this, but the reality is this is where we are.
"I couldn't be more proud of us. The last two elections, both sides showed their party that if you can't keep your promises to us, we will not vote for the party we've always voted for. It's amazing."
It does feel a little bit like, dare I say, the '80s and '90s. You go back to the mid-1990s, there were Democrats all over the South, there were Republicans all over the North. Mitt Romney was the governor of Massachusetts — a Republican governor. It does feel a little bit like that, like voters have agency again. During the Bush and then the Obama era, everything seemed to coalesce into regions, and your region was always going to vote your way and it didn't matter how much they gaslit you, how much they lied to you, how much they didn't do what they said they were going to do. Everybody just sort of showed up and voted the way they were expected to vote.
Mississippi elected a Black man, a Black Democrat. Mississippi — have you seen the movie Mississippi Burning? I mean, have you seen any movie about Mississippi ever? I think it's pretty telling. This is where we are as a country. If you do not do what you say you're going to do, be careful. That's the lesson. Be very careful what you promise on the campaign trail. You guys have gotten complacent the last couple of decades being able to say anything, do nothing, and earn the vote over again because everybody was scared of the other guy. Well, guess what? We're not scared of the other guy anymore. They don't do what they're going to say either. So that fear doesn't work anymore, guys.
"If you have long hair, today would be a battle bun kind of day. You went max and we're here for it."
And I intend to leave it behind me today. I don't intend to take this election anger on into the future, but the last two days I had to kind of speak my piece. I even told a few people, I don't care if anybody watches the show or not — I got to get it off my chest. I shouldn't say that. I do care if people watch the show. But I had to get it off my chest. I was not going to hold this in, and it just so happened that this is the week that I was sitting in for Candace. So you get what you get.