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TRANSCRIPT

Jane Coaston: It’s Wednesday, November 6th. I’m Jane Coaston. 

Erin Ryan: And I’m Erin Ryan and this is What a Day the show that is disappointed but not surprised. 

Jane Coaston: A lot of races have been called, not the race for president. What is clear is that at 3 a.m. eastern, former President Donald Trump has overperformed his margins from four years ago. According to the Associated Press, he’s won at least three swing states, North Carolina, Georgia and Pennsylvania. And he remains ahead in the blue wall states of Michigan and Wisconsin. Fox has called the election for Trump, but as of this recording, the Associated Press has not. Early Wednesday, Trump declared victory. 

[clip of Donald Trump] I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honor of being elected your 47th president and your 45th president. [cheers]

Jane Coaston: Unpleasant. Trump thanked his running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, who addressed the audience at the Palm Beach Convention Center. 

[clip of J.D. Vance] And I think that we just witnessed the greatest political comeback in the history of the United States of America. [cheers] And under President Trump’s leadership, we’re never going to stop fighting for you. 

Jane Coaston: By the time Trump declared victory, the crowd at Vice President Kamala Harris’s watch party at Howard University had long dispersed. We haven’t heard from Harris yet. Speaking Tuesday night before some of the big calls, her campaign co-chair, Cedric Richmond, addressed her supporters. 

[clip of Cedric Richmond] We still have votes to count. We still have states that have not been called yet. We will continue overnight to fight to make sure that every vote is counted. That every voice has spoken. So you won’t hear from the Vice President tonight, but you will hear from her tomorrow. She will be back here tomorrow to address not only the HU family, not only to address her supporters, but to address the nation. 

Jane Coaston: Again, we’re recording when we don’t have a complete picture of this election. But at this point, Harris has effectively no path to the presidency. We’ll bring you more information tomorrow along with a new episode of Pod Save America. [music break] Let’s get into some of the big wins of the night. 

[clip of Josh Stein] We chose hope over hate. Competence over chaos, decency over division. That’s who we are as North Carolinians. And I am so honored that you have elected me to be your next governor. 

Jane Coaston: North Carolina’s governor’s mansion remains blue. The state’s attorney general, Josh Stein, won 55% of the vote, beating out Republican Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson. You might remember Mark Robinson having some online porn forum Nazi enthusiasm issues that seemed to maybe turn off some voters. Maybe. I don’t know. 

Erin Ryan: I mean, who among us? And history was made in the Senate. Maryland and Delaware elected two Black women. Delaware Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester and Prince George’s County Maryland executive Angela Alsobrooks. Both women are the first Black senators to represent their states. Here’s Alsobrooks accepting the victory on Tuesday night. 

[clip of Angela Alsobrooks] Now, it’s remarkable to think that in two years, America will celebrate its 250th birthday. And in all those years, there have been more than 2000 people who have served in the United States Senate and only three have looked like me. [cheers]And so I want to salute all of those who came before me, who made it possible for me to stand on this stage tonight, whose sacrifices and stories I will continue to carry with me. 

Jane Coaston: History was also made in Delaware, where state Senator Sarah McBride became the first openly trans person elected to Congress. She will fill her state’s only seat in the House after defeating her Republican opponent. In a statement, she wrote, quote, “Delaware has sent the message loud and clear that we must be a country that protects reproductive freedom, that guarantees paid leave and affordable childcare for all our families. That ensures that housing and health care are available to everyone, and that this is a democracy that is big enough for all of us.” 

Erin Ryan: Here’s the bad news. Republicans have taken back the majority in the Senate after flipping two seats in the chamber. 

Jane Coaston: And Texas did it again. And by that I mean disappointed me personally. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz won reelection in Texas, defeating Democratic challenger Colin Allred. Here’s Cruz during his victory speech. 

[clip of Ted Cruz] Tonight is an incredible night. [cheers] A huge victory here in Texas. [cheers]

Erin Ryan: And that’s enough of Ted Cruz’s voice. Republican Jim Justice won West Virginia’s Senate race, and Ohio Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown lost his race for reelection to his Republican challenger, Bernie Moreno. Here’s Brown’s concession speech from last night. 

[clip of Sherrod Brown] This is a disappointment, but is not a failure. It will never be wrong. It will never be wrong to fight for organized labor. It will never be wrong to fight for the freedom of women to make their health care decisions. It surely will never be wrong to fight for civil rights and human rights. [cheers]

Jane Coaston: We’ll have more on the congressional races on tomorrow’s show. But Erin, let’s talk about reproductive rights. 

Erin Ryan: Abortion access measures actually had a pretty good night. In Missouri, Arizona, Colorado, and New York. Voters decided to enshrine abortion rights in their states. The notable exception here is the state of Florida, where Amendment four failed. We talked about Amendment four on yesterday’s show. In Florida, let me remind listeners, there’s a 60% threshold for referendums to pass. Amendment four received 57% of the vote. Amendment four’s failure means that the state’s six week abortion ban remains in effect. Prior to the state’s six week abortion ban, Florida was an island of abortion access in a sea of restrictions in the American South. Now that the six week ban is in effect for the foreseeable future, patients who would have sought care in Florida must now travel to states like Virginia or Maryland. And if my voice sounds very tired, it’s because it is. I’ve been up early with a sick baby and I will be up again in a few hours to do my show Hysteria withAlyssa Mastromonaco. There will be more news then. Please come and process with us because misery loves company. 

Jane Coaston: More to come after some ads. But if you like the show, make sure to subscribe. Leave a five star review on Apple Podcasts. Watch us on YouTube and share with your friends. [music break]

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Jane Coaston: One more thing. I get it. Whatever you’re feeling right now, I totally get it. Especially if what you’re feeling is what the fuck? 

Erin Ryan: Mm hmm. 

Jane Coaston: Well, here’s the fuck. Every pollster said this was a close race. So much so that as we talked about earlier this week with Nate Silver, there were accusations of herding going on where every poll just sounded the same. Well, it turns out the polls were right. It was just as close as everyone said. And a lot of you might now be thinking, now what? Well, okay. Some of you were probably thinking something way worse than that. Well, here’s what I need you to do. Stop it. Stay focused on what’s actually happening and not what your worst fears are telling you that is happening. We do not know enough right now. Here’s where we are. We live in a big, divided, very strange country in which many people in multiple states voted to both send Donald Trump to the White House and make abortion more easily accessible. That happened. And we have a country where Delaware sent Congress its first trans member and a country where Missouri raised the minimum wage. Like some of you, I grew up in a blue household in a red state, Ohio. We were a little liberal island that felt like it was in a big sea of right wing Republicans who thought marriage equality was the equivalent of letting a horse marry a dog and were not afraid to tell you so. So I know what it’s like to feel disappointed and confused when what you believe, what you care about most, seems totally in opposition to the rest of the world. A world that’s way louder and well way shittier to you and the people you care about. But it isn’t. You aren’t alone and you aren’t crazy. Everyone at Crooked right now is feeling the same way you are. And so are so many other people who care so deeply about our country and its people. Doom doesn’t do anything. It just doesn’t. Doesn’t help trans people get the health care they need. It doesn’t stop school shootings and it absolutely doesn’t do anything about climate change. It just makes things feel worse when that’s absolutely not the vibe we need. What we do need is the stupidest, hardest thing in the world right now, to have hope. I know I hate it. It’s so cringe. But it’s also true. Republicans are hoping that you’re going to be so demoralized that you let them win forever. But there are no forever victories in politics. Nothing always happens. No one always wins. That’s just not how this works. So today we figure out what we know and what we don’t. And then we go from there. That’s all we can do. And God, I wish. I wish I knew that there was something else that we could be doing. But there isn’t. The only way out is through. And we’ll do it together. [music break] That’s all for today. If you like the show, make sure to subscribe. Leave a review. Enjoy the fall leaves if you have them where you live and tell your friends to listen. And if you’re into reading and not just about how important it is to create communities that can [?] change on the local level now more than ever like me. What a Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at Crooked.com/subscribe. I’m Jane Coaston. 

Erin Ryan: And I’m Erin Ryan. 

Jane Coaston: And I know I’ve been trying to resist it, but to quote Jerry Springer, “take care of yourself and each other.” [music break] What a Day is a production of Crooked Media. It’s recorded and mixed by Desmond Taylor. Our associate producer is Raven Yamamoto. Our producer is Michell Eloy. We had production help today from Tyler Hill, Johanna Case, Joseph Dutra, Greg Walters and Julia Claire. Our senior producer is Erica Morrison and our executive producer is Adriene Hill. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka. 

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