With the midterms a month out, the Elitist Media are in a clear holding pattern: run out the clock with as little political news as possible except for two types of stories- “Republicans in Disarray” and/or polling DOOM for the GOP and President Trump. Tonight we got both stories, along with a major omission on the Democrat side.
On the TV news side, it is interesting to watch the feeble politics coverage be buried at the bottom of the A-block. This stood in full contrast to 2024, where politics even beat out the weather for right to be the top story. Here is CBS’s brief entry, which dutifully mentions both the POLLS and the disarray angle:
WATCH: A month out, the Elite Media evening news is locked on two types of political story: "Republicans in Disarray" or polling DOOM!1!1! pic.twitter.com/uTBB07kRI1
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) October 6, 2026
CBS EVENING NEWS
10/5/26
6:42 PM
TONY DOKOUPIL: Election Day is four weeks from tomorrow and President Trump is back on the campaign trail, not in an effort to gain ground on Democrats but to protect what has historically been Republican-friendly territory. CBS Senior White House Correspondent Ed O'Keefe is with the president in Nebraska. Ed, good evening.
ED O’KEEFE: Tony, what's notable about being in Nebraska tonight- this is the fifth Republican-controlled state the president has been in since last Thursday. Why all the focus on red states? Well, it’s designed to turn out the president’s base. He understands the GOP candidates are struggling because of the state of the economy. New CBS News polling shows 70% of voters say Trump's policies are making prices go up. So the president is here to help Republican Senator Pete Ricketts, who’s locked in a tighter-than-anticipated contest with independent Dan Osborn- who is taking monetary and political support from Democrats but say he would caucus with neither party. Looking for an edge, the president is now offering incentives. He’s saying he would give about 20 million seniors on Medicare Part B a $90 dollar check on top of the $5000 he’s promising American adults if Republicans hold on to Congress. Democrats say he’s trying to buy votes. Tony.
DOKOUPIL: Ed, thank you.
The new wrinkle to “Republicans in Disarray” is “Trump shoring up red states,” which Ed O’Keefe performs here. Although the report is a minute long, O’Keefe stuck a polling reference in there before accusing Trump of “buying votes.”
NBC ran a lengthier report which hit all the familiar notes:
WATCH: @NBCNightlyNews runs with "Republicans in Disarray" and polling DOOM- forwarding Paxton's new quotes as published in Politico, and rehashing their Telemundo poll of Hispanics pic.twitter.com/MLj1AFHKq0
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) October 6, 2026
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS
10/5/26
6:43 PM
TOM LLAMAS: We turn to politics now because tonight, a Republican Senate candidate in Texas in a very tough race is making some headlines over what appears to be criticism aimed at the Trump White House over midterm strategy. Here's Ryan Nobles
RYAN NOBLES: Tonight, with Republicans under pressure before the midterms, new campaign criticism apparently aimed at The White House from a Trump-endorsed Republican candidate in the key state of Texas. Politico, citing two people at the event reporting Ken Paxton privately told donors last month his campaign is being run from D.C. instead of the Lone Star State. “I don't control the message or what we're doing,” he said. His campaign telling Politico Paxton was referring to outside SuperPACs, and Paxton recently blasted the president's midterm convention.
KEN PAXTON: When we did that convention, it dropped our numbers.
NOBLES: Where the president went after his looks.
DONALD TRUMP: I don't really like the way he looks (VIDEO SWIPE) but you know what I do like? He was the greatest attorney general in the history of Texas.
NOBLES: It comes as some Republicans criticize President Trump's message on the economy, the top issue in the midterms just weeks away.
JOHN KENNEDY: Telling them not to believe their own lying checkbooks is not going to work.
NOBLES: Louisiana senator John Kennedy says he thinks the midterms will be close, and Republicans can win. While tonight, mixed messages from President Trump on mail-in ballots.
TRUMP: Mail-in ballots are inherently corrupt.
NOBLES: Now urging Republicans to send them in but still slamming them as corrupt, though they’ve not been linked to widespread fraud.
TRUMP: Vote by mail or vote in person. I'd rather have them vote in person, but they can vote by mail if they want.
NOBLES: And tonight, a growing challenge for Republicans, Latino voters who were key to president trump's 2024 victory. 74% in our poll saying they disapprove of his economic policies, including here in South Texas.
JAVIER PALOMARES: Two words: buyer's remorse.
NOBLES: But in Nebraska, some Latino voters backing Republicans. This voter’s message to President Trump:
VOTER: Keep doing what you’re doing and don’t let ‘em stop you.
NOBLES: Ryan Nobles, NBC News, McAllen, Texas.
The discordant note is provided here via the Paxton item wherein he allegedly complains about his D.C.-driven campaign. I will note that there is no mention of the ad his estranged wife cut for him, which is in line with the Elitist Media hiding an inconvenient story. The Angela ad does not serve The Narrative™.
“Disarray” is additionally served by quoting Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) on midterm campaign strategy. For the polling DOOM portion of the program, NBC rehashed the Telemundo poll showing a Democrat advantage with Latinos but not as significant as 2018.
As I’ve often said, news stories as seen on the network evening news are often anti-news filler meant to run the clock out on stories that are actually important but inconvenient. One such story comes to us from California, where its Democrat nominee for Governor appears to have botched his own origin story. Per The New York Post:
Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton blasted rival Xavier Becerra as a “smug, arrogant, machine politician” after conservative critics hammered Becerra for calling his late father an “immigrant” despite being born in Sacramento.
Becerra, who often touts his Mexican American family’s immigrant roots on the campaign trail, recently drew criticism over how he described his late father Manuel Guerrero Becerra’s heritage.
The apparent inconsistency was boosted by accounts on X and by rival Steve Hilton, who slammed the former Health and Human Services secretary as a “smug, arrogant, machine politician” and suggested he’s fudged his family history.
Details of the alleged family history fudging, per independent journalist Anthony Cabassa, who originally broke the story:
REPORT 🚨: During CNN's Gubernatorial debate, Xavier Becerra stated that his parents "came to this country with $12". This is a line he has repeatedly used during his campaign for Governor.
The only problem? His dad was born IN California, and the timeline is not adding up.🧵 pic.twitter.com/GFO2vvLCUT— Anthony Cabassa (@anthonycabassa) October 4, 2026
It goes without saying that had this happened to a Republican, the newscasts would open with this story, and run it into the ground. There would be a multi-week cycle ending with the resignation of the aforementioned candidate. But this isn’t the case. The media, interested in flipping Texas blue and keeping California blue. We are reminded yet again that if it weren't for double standards there'd be none at all.
