On Thursday, CNN’s The Arena With Kasie Hunt entertained a conversation with Representative Jason Crow (R-CO) , who warned that Republicans could “steal this election,” even in the possibility of a massive Democratic “blue wave.” The segment reeked of irony as Hunt failed to press Crow on the tension between his predictions of a Democratic victory and how Republicans could somehow overturn it.
Hunt wasted little time to get to her desired narrative of the segment: the opportunity to push election doom.
After painting a picture of the Trump’s Administration “laying the groundwork to declare an emergency” to flip the election outcome, Crow launched into a mirage of claims into how Republicans could be successful in their endeavors:
Well, there's no doubt in my mind, Kasie, that there are people in the administration, including the President and people close to him that would love to try to steal this election. That are already trying to suppress votes. Who disregard the will of American voters. Who understand that their policies have failed. And America has now realized that in large numbers, which the polling reflects, and they're willing to do anything to hold on to power, which, of course, is the sign of an autocracy or people that don't care about democracy, which they clearly don't.
Crow then declared, “Where does that leave us, though? Where that leaves us is the need to win big, right? Our greatest defense is a large margin of victory here.”
Instead of having stopped to challenge his premise, Hunt kept on trucking and ask how those two scenarios fit together.
Hunt continued to feed Crow the premise of potential election fraud with the introduction of yet another hypothetical, in which Republicans would manipulate who would be seated in the House upon losing the midterms.
In this case Hunt asked about the Democrats’ plan in this “steal the election” scenario. Crow was able to speculate and boast how his party was “looking at every potential” and had a “litigation plan, a communication plan” prepared “for every contingency.”
Later in the conversation, Hunt dispelled the previous talk of a Republican win when she asked Crow about what would happen “should this blue wave be as big as some are predicting or hoping that it will be, Democrats are going to have a group of candidates on the far-left, some of them affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America.” This was really just another chance for Crow to explain the plans Democrats had in store once they took over the House.
In defense of the Democrats ultimate win, Crow went on to gush about the candidates he has recruited and insisted they would soon arrive in Congress and “make a hell of a big difference” (Click “expand”):
You know what's great about that is that we're not a lockstep party, that we're not like the mega Republicans now who lack ideological diversity, who lack ideas, who lack independence, and just do what this president requires them to do. I never want to belong to any organization, a political party, anything that requires singularity, that requires moral bankruptcy.
We are a broad tent. We have ideological diversity, which is why we're stronger, which is why we have better ideas and why we're going to win. So that's number one. Number two is, again, as a battleground chair, I'm working now with over 40 candidates who are pragmatic folks. Who are fighters, who are former sheriff's deputies, small business owners, combat veterans, nurses, doctors, scientists, people that worked for NASA, people that were DOGEd by this President who said “my time in public service isn't up. I'm going to serve in a different way."
That's the story of this election. These patriots have stepped up to defend our country, and they're going to come into this caucus. They're going to make a hell of a big difference, and they're going to help us build something new and better.
So which was it? Was a Democratic “blue wave” coming, or were Republicans somehow going to “steal” an election Democrats were supposedly winning by a massive margin?
Hunt never asked, letting Crow bounce between predictions of a Democratic landslide and dire warnings about Republicans overturning it.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
CNN’s The Arena With Kasie Hunt
October 1, 2026
04:21:55 p.m. Eastern(...)
KASIE HUNT: Congressman, there had been a number of behind-the-scenes conversations among Democrats about the possibility that the administration was laying the groundwork to declare an emergency that would essentially allow them to invoke some of these powers. Where are those conversations today, especially as polling seems to indicate that a blue wave may be bigger than perhaps initially anticipated?
(D) REP. JASON CROW (ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE): Well, there's no doubt in my mind, Kasie, that there are people in the administration, including the President and people close to him that would love to try to steal this election. That are already trying to suppress votes. Who disregard the will of American voters. Who understand that their policies have failed. And America has now realized that in large numbers, which the polling reflects, and they're willing to do anything to hold on to power, which, of course, is the sign of an autocracy or people that don't care about democracy, which they clearly don't.
Where does that leave us, though? Where that leaves us is the need to win big, right? Our greatest defense is a large margin of victory here.
I'm the battleground chair for House Democrats. And for the last 18 months, I've been recruiting and mentoring candidates, building out our battlefield around the country. I've been to 11 different states. I'm working with dozens of candidates. I've held dozens of events, roundtables from Wisconsin to Michigan to New Hampshire to Virginia to Arizona to California and everywhere in between.
And what I can tell you is something big is happening here. We have incredible candidates. Americans right, left, and center are joining together to retake their country, and we're going to win. So, we're going to have a large margin of victory, that is my hope, which will limit their options to try to steal this election.
HUNT: Using the language “steal the election” echoes what Republicans have said. Do you think Democrats using that rhetoric helps build faith in the system?
CROW: Well, there's a difference between the actions of a runaway presidency and someone who doesn't care about the Constitution in what is an extremely safe and secure election system, right? Our election system is very safe. It's very secure.
I sit on the Intelligence Committee, Armed Services Committee, and what I can tell you is it remains safe and secure. And our intelligence assessments right now, under this intelligence community, is telling us that it remains safe and secure. And in Colorado and other places around the country, we have high rates of voter participation, we have mail-in voting.
So that's not the issue. The issue is whether or not you have a president that will disrespect that and ignore the will of the voters. That's the difference. And that's what we're trying to combat right now.
HUNT: One of the other pieces of this conversation, too, behind the scenes has been questions about how the Republican- the current Republican majority might use the rules and procedures in the House or change them or try to alter them if, in fact, they lose, to try to perhaps not seat the next Congress appropriately.
There are a lot of hypotheticals there, of course, but I'm interested to know what you have heard or what you are hearing among Democratic leaders about laying groundwork to potentially prepare for that.
CROW: Well, hope is not a plan, right? I'm a military guy --
HUNT: Of course, not.
CROW: -- so military people plan for every contingency.
We red team things, we war game things. We're looking at everything. We're leaving no stone unturned.
We have an incredible task force and group of people in the House. We have a litigation plan, a communication plan. We're looking at every potential, and we're not going to just hope things go our way. So, number one, again, our greatest defense is a large margin of victory. The bigger our margin of victory and the deeper we go into red territory, the fewer options they have.
But we're going to be vigilant. We're going to be prepared, if necessary, to defend Americans, to defend Coloradans, to defend the rule of law.
That is our job. That's what the Constitution requires, and we'll be ready for it.
HUNT: Of course, should this blue wave be as big as some are predicting or hoping that it will be, Democrats are going to have a group of candidates on the far-left, some of them affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America. They're already potentially calling themselves The Bloc. We, of course, have seen factions like that really disrupt governance, mostly on the Republican side with the Tea Party and the Freedom Caucus.
But I'm interested to know if you think Hakeem Jeffries, who's the likely next Speaker, is up to the task of handling that?
CROW: Yeah. Well, absolutely he is, number one. Number two, that's not a controversy, actually. That's the beauty of our caucus. Everyone's like, oh, controversy, infighting. You know what's great about that is that we're not a lockstep party, that we're not like the mega Republicans now who lack ideological diversity, who lack ideas, who lack independence, and just do what this president requires them to do. I never want to belong to any organization, a political party, anything that requires singularity, that requires moral bankruptcy.
We are a broad tent. We have ideological diversity, which is why we're stronger, which is why we have better ideas and why we're going to win. So that's number one. Number two is, again, as a battleground chair, I'm working now with over 40 candidates who are pragmatic folks. Who are fighters, who are former sheriff's deputies, small business owners, combat veterans, nurses, doctors, scientists, people that worked for NASA, people that were DOGEd by this President who said “my time in public service isn't up. I'm going to serve in a different way.”
That's the story of this election. These patriots have stepped up to defend our country, and they're going to come into this caucus. They're going to make a hell of a big difference, and they're going to help us build something new and better.
HUNT: All right. Congressman Jason Crow, thank you so much for being here. Appreciate your time today.
(...)
