MS NOW Speculates Election Day Will 'Be The Equivalent' of Jan. 6

Siena Do
August 7th, 2026 4:49 PM

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With the midterms fast approaching, the liberal media is eagerly speculating about the upcoming elections’ legitimacy, which they have condemned Republicans for doing for six years. We’ve already heard plenty of fearmongering over voter ID, election monitors, and soldiers at polls from every leftist news outlet. But, not to be outdone, MS NOW’s Ali Velshi invited former Judge J. Michael Luttig on Thursday’s The 11th Hour to assert President Donald Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson will deny House seats to Democratic members-elect. 

Luttig’s crazy claim was rooted in Article I, Section Five of the Constitution, which reads in part, “Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members.” 

“You're worrying that this might be used by Mike Johnson and Republicans in the House to not honor the results of the election in November,” Velshi prompted.

“Since his first day back in the White House in January of 2025, Donald Trump has attempted every lawful means. . . and every possible unlawful means to rig the midterm elections in favor of the Republican Party.” Luttig answered. The midterms will be “the final battle of his war against American democracy on November 3rd, 2026. On that day, the President has given Americans every reason to believe that he and the speaker, Mike Johnson, and the Republican House of Representatives, will challenge the elections of the Democrat members-elect and refuse to seat them in the 120th Congress of the United States.”

 

 

Now, any reasonable person would look at this statement and give it absolutely zero credibility because there is no evidence for it. But to Luttig, it’s less of a possibility and more of a certainty:

It's a foregone conclusion that the - Mike Johnson in the House of Representatives will refuse initially to seat Democrats' members-elect. Donald Trump, from his first day in office, has been trying, as I said, all means within his power and even unlawful means to literally take control over the upcoming midterm elections. 

 

 

As everyone knows, elections are run by the states and, to some extent, Congress. Luttig seemed to think only Congress ran elections:

Under the Constitution of the United States, the president has absolutely no power or authority whatsoever over the federal elections in America. The Constitution confers that power and authority in the Congress of the United States only.

This nutjob judge really needs to review his Constitution if he’s going to be making such outlandish claims.

In his crystal ball, Luttig predicted that the midterms “would be the equivalent of Donald Trump's effort in 2020 to overturn the presidential election,” and called on Americans to “not accept another January 6th, 2021, on November 3rd, 2026.”

 

 

While there was some controversy over Johnson’s delay to seat Arizona congresswoman Adelita Grijalva, he never tried to give her seat to a Republican. However, Democrats did try to supplant Iowa Republican Congresswoman-elect Mariannette Miller-Meeks in 2021 and give her seat to Democrat Rita Hart. So, it seems that if any party would attempt to steal House seats, it would be the Democrats, in their desperate grab for power that the liberal media fuels every day.

The baseless speculation from Luttig and support from Velshi gave a glimpse into the weird fantasy land leftists live in, completely divorced from reality. In it, they fancy themselves to be under an authoritarian fascist because they want a world where a bearded man can put on a dress and automatically become a woman, and communism is the ideal society.

The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:

MS NOW's The 11th Hour
8/6/26
11:05:52 p.m. Eastern

ALI VELSHI: Here's where the two stories that I just told you about collide. The belief that the 2020 election didn't count meeting the machine built to make sure that the next election doesn't count either. 

 

My next guest says that the place that they finally intersect is the simplest and most dangerous place of all. Not who wins in November, but who gets seated in January. 

 

Joining me now is Judge J. Michael Luttig, a former federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Judge Luttig, welcome to the show, thank you for being with us tonight.


JUDGE J. MICHAEL LUTTIG: Thank you. Ali, it's always a pleasure.

VELSHI: We all know and watched what happened on January 6th. There were Republican members of Congress who were willing to participate in Donald Trump's attempt to deny Joe Biden the presidency. 

 

You have directed me to Article I, Section Five, Clause One of the Constitution, which reads, quote, "Each house shall be judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members."

 

And you're worrying that this might be used by Mike Johnson and Republicans in the House to not honor the results of the election in November.

LUTTIG: That's right, Ali, since his first day back in the White House in January of 2025, Donald Trump has attempted every lawful means, of which there are very few available to the president of the United States, and every possible unlawful means to rig the midterm elections in favor of the Republican Party. 

 

So, the executive order that's pending now before the Supreme Court of the United States is the president's last effort in anticipation and preparation, the final battle of his war against American democracy on November 3rd, 2026. 

 

On that day, the president has given Americans every reason to believe that he and the speaker, Mike Johnson, and the Republican House of Representatives, will challenge the electoral - elections of the Democrat members-elect and refuse to seat them in the 120th Congress of the United States. That's where Article I, Section Five comes in, Ali. Under Article One, as you just read, the House is the judge of its elections. Also, the House is the judge of the qualifications of its members. 

 

In Powell v. McCormack, a Supreme Court precedent many years ago, the House refused to seat a member who was constitutionally qualified to be seated, and the Supreme Court reviewed that decision by the House not to seat the congressman and reversed the decision, ordering the House of Representatives to seat the member. So also, when Mike Johnson and the Republican House attempts to - not to seat elected Democrats after the November 3rd election, the Supreme Court will have the final word as to whether those members must be seated in the 120th Congress.

VELSHI: Will that go right to the Supreme Court, or will it have to go somewhere intervening?

LUTTIG: No. It will start, as most litigations do, in the federal district courts, and it will go from there to the courts of appeals and from there to the United States Supreme Court for final decision. 

 

Ali, the Congress, historically, has taken the position that its decisions not to seat a particular member to the Congress is unreviewable by the federal courts. That's not correct. This decision, if it's made by the House in November, it will be reviewed by the federal courts--

 

VELSHI: Right.

 

LUTTIG: --up to and including the Supreme Court of the United States.

VELSHI: There's some precedent for this. Last fall, you'll remember, Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House, waited seven weeks to swear in a Democratic congresswoman, Adelita Grijalva of Arizona. This had to do with the number of signatories necessary to release the Epstein files, although that's not what Mike Johnson said. It was just taking their time doing it. 

 

I sometimes wonder whether they do these things to test the strength of the system.

LUTTIG: Well, Ali, it's a foregone conclusion that the - Mike Johnson in the House of Representatives will refuse initially to seat Democrats' members-elect. Donald Trump, from his first day in office, has been trying, as I said, all means within his power and even unlawful means to literally take control over the upcoming midterm elections. For instance, in an interview with talk show host Dan Bongino in February, Donald Trump said literally something to the effect "we, the Republicans, should take control--

 

VELSHI: Yup.

 

LUTTIG: --over the federal elections in America."

 

 Now, the significance of that statement and the significance of the unlawful efforts that the president has attempted up to now is that under the Constitution of the United States, the president has absolutely no power or authority whatsoever over the federal elections in America.

The Constitution confers that power and authority in the Congress of the United States only. The president cannot act unilaterally without congressional approval. Period. 

 

Donald Trump knows that. He's known it since the first day he took office. He doesn't care. But that's why Americans have seen the federal courts strike down as unconstitutional literally every single effort that he's made to take control over the federal elections in the United States of America.

VELSHI: So other than to vote in numbers that seem decisive, what can anybody do to prepare for this scenario that you're describing, that we've seen some examples of in the past, this idea that Democrats may win control of the House and/or the Senate in November, but that not that may not mean that they take control of them in January.

LUTTIG: Yes. Unfortunately, there is nothing whatsoever that the American people can do to avoid the House of Representatives attempting not to seat duly-elected Democrat members of Congress. 

 

Now, what every American citizen should do today and between now and the election is tell their representatives in the Congress that they will not tolerate and they will not accept another January 6th, 2021, on November 3rd, 2026. 

This would be the equivalent of Donald Trump's effort in 2020 to overturn the presidential election. This time, I do not believe the American people will stand for it. The best way to avoid it altogether is for our elected representatives to the Congress of the United States to announce prior to November 3rd--

 

VELSHI: Right.

 

LUTTIG: --that they will not be party to this insurrection against the Constitution of the United States.

VELSHI: Yeah, I think that's a good point. I don't think most Americans are thinking that this is an option. But you got to be on your toes these days with the things that this administration is coming up with. 

 

Judge, thanks very much for your time, and we'll continue to discuss how people can prepare themselves for this outlandish but possible eventuality. 

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