PBS Guests Invoke Hitler, Jim Crow Over ICE-Election Conspiracy Theory

Alex Christy
February 7th, 2026 9:38 AM

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Boston Globe columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr and Washington Post counterpart Kathleen Parker pinch-hit for Jonathan Capehart and David Brooks, respectively, on Friday’s PBS NewsHour, where they teamed up with host Geoff Bennett to invoke Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf, chief Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels, and Jim Crow all over a conspiracy theory about ICE monitoring the upcoming midterms that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed as “very silly.”

During an answer about whether Trump’s call to “nationalize” elections is serious or just bluster, Stohr added a few more election-related concerns, “But I'm concerned about call—not denying that ICE will show up at election stations, that the call for this increasing redistricting, mid-decade redistricting in states in order to try to game the system. Elections are supposed to be sacred in any functioning democracy. And that the president of the United States is the one making the call to disparage them and try to rig the system is really alarming.”

 

 

Of course, Stohr means Republican redistricting because she was silent on Virginia Democrats’ Thursday proposal for a 10-1 map in a state where Kamala Harris received only 51.8 percent in 2024.

Double standards aside, Bennett then turned to Parker and wondered, “Kathleen, to Kimberly's point, we have seen this from President Trump before. How much this time feels more organized and, because of that, more dangerous?”

According to Parker, Trump’s behavior is part of a trend that dates back to 2020, “And he can't let it go because I think he's taken a page from Mein Kampf, frankly, you know, the saying that if you say—tell a big lie often enough and repeat it, then people will believe it. And the theory was further refined by the propaganda head in Nazi Germany, Mr. Joseph Goebbels. And the idea is, apparently, it's true that—they would know, I guess—that people will believe a big lie quicker than they will believe a small lie.”

But Parker wasn’t just recalling 2020. She was predicting 2026 as well, “So Trump goes big, you know, with everything he does, big beautiful bills, big beautiful lie. And I think he's just going to keep going and going and trying to make people lose confidence. Maybe they stay away from the polls. Maybe they get together and his MAGA troops will come together and challenge the election results.”

She also declared, “I think you're right that ICE will show up and I think the activists and the MAGA troops, so to speak, will be present at many polling places. So it's very dangerous, because where does that lead, ultimately? It gives Trump an opportunity to say—maybe it gives him an opportunity to challenge the next election, whether it's the midterms or the presidential election in 2026, assuming he allows it to come—to take place.”

Bennett then teed up a video of Leavitt talking about ICE, “On the matter of ICE potentially at polling places, our White House correspondent, Liz Landers, asked that question at a White House press briefing this past week, because it was Steve Bannon who floated it, and the White House didn't rule it out. Here's that.”

In truth, Leavitt told Landers, “That's not something I have ever heard the president consider, no.”

As for Bennett’s claim that “the White House didn’t rule it out,” Leavitt and Landers appeared to have different definitions for “around,” as she told her, “I can't guarantee that an ICE agent won't be around a polling location in November. I mean, that's, frankly, a very silly hypothetical question.”

 

 

However, Bennett tried to cling to the idea, “And you can argue it's not a hypothetical question. It's not a rhetorical question, because, in many ways, this is a multifront strategy, legal pressure, DOJ demands, raids at the Fulton County election office. How do you see it?”

Stohr replied by trying to add on to Parker’s Nazi analogies, “That's exactly right. And we can use another historic analogy, which is during Jim Crow, the fact that police were often sent around polling stations in order to discourage people of color from casting votes, even though the Constitution was amended to specifically protect that right.”

She also claimed, “The law won't protect you if you don't have government that is backing it up and actually flouting it. So all of this is from playbooks from the darkest times in our history, and they can't be ignored. I'm concerned about it, because I don't want people—once people lose faith in their elections, that's a big pillar of democracy that falls in itself.”

What if people lose faith in elections because PBS baselessly speculates about “troops” at polling places trying to intimidate people?

Here is a transcript for the February 6 show:

PBS News Hour

2/6/2026

7:40 PM ET

KIMBERLY ATKINS STOHR: But I'm concerned about call—not denying that ICE will show up at election stations, that the call for this increasing redistricting, mid-decade redistricting in states in order to try to game the system. Elections are supposed to be sacred in any functioning democracy. And that the president of the United States is the one making the call to disparage them and try to rig the system is really alarming.

GEOFF BENNETT: Kathleen, to Kimberly's point, we have seen this from President Trump before. How much this time feels more organized and, because of that, more dangerous?

KATHLEEN PARKER: I agree. It is more organized. And everything he does in terms of, he's trying to undermine confidence and faith in the electoral process all along. And with this whole — now he's still clinging again to the 2020 — we know it was a fully regular election he lost. And he can't let it go because I think he's taken a page from Mein Kampf, frankly, you know, the saying that if you say — tell a big lie often enough and repeat it, then people will believe it.

And the theory was further refined by the propaganda head in Nazi Germany, Mr. Joseph Goebbels. And the idea is, apparently, it's true that — they would know, I guess — that people will believe a big lie quicker than they will believe a small lie.

So Trump goes big, you know, with everything he does, big beautiful bills, big beautiful lie. And I think he's just going to keep going and going and trying to make people lose confidence. Maybe they stay away from the polls. Maybe they get together and his MAGA troops will come together and challenge the election results.

I think you're right that ICE will show up and I think the activists and the MAGA troops, so to speak, will be present at many polling places. So it's very dangerous, because where does that lead, ultimately? It gives Trump an opportunity to say — maybe it gives him an opportunity to challenge the next election, whether it's the midterms or the presidential election in 2026, assuming he allows it to come — to take place.

BENNETT: On the matter of ICE potentially at polling places, our White House correspondent, Liz Landers, asked that question at a White House press briefing this past week, because it was Steve Bannon who floated it, and the White House didn't rule it out. Here's that.

LIZ LANDERS: Thank you, Karoline. Steve Bannon recently said, quote, "We're going to have ICE around the polls come November." Is that something that the president is considering?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: That's not something I have ever heard the president consider, no.

LANDERS: So, you can guarantee to be American public that ICE will not be around polling locations or voting locations in November?

LEAVITT: I can't guarantee that an ICE agent won't be around a polling location in November. I mean, that's, frankly, a very silly hypothetical question.

BENNETT: And you can argue it's not a hypothetical question. It's not a rhetorical question, because, in many ways, this is a multifront strategy, legal pressure, DOJ demands, raids at the Fulton County election office. How do you see it?

STOHR: That's exactly right. And we can use another historic analogy, which is during Jim Crow, the fact that police were often sent around polling stations in order to discourage people of color from casting votes, even though the Constitution was amended to specifically protect that right.

The law won't protect you if you don't have government that is backing it up and actually flouting it. So all of this is from playbooks from the darkest times in our history, and they can't be ignored. I'm concerned about it, because I don't want people — once people lose faith in their elections, that's a big pillar of democracy that falls in itself.

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