In more lead-up and fearmongering ahead of the midterms, Thursday’s Morning Joe had a report from MS NOW congressional reporter Kevin Frey, where he described “secretive” House Democratic meetings where they were “prepping for this fall” in fear of President Trump “meddling” in the elections. Frey’s report seemed to build off conspiracies of a stolen midterm election, months before voting even begins.
Frey emphasized how Democrats “are being incredibly secretive about this,” as he said they feared “presidential reprisals against those that are participating in these efforts.”
He continued, “But they will say that they are taking this incredibly seriously and have more than 100 different scenarios in mind as they are prepping for this fall.”
Frey then introduced the key Democrat lawmaker in his piece, Congressman Joe Morelle (D-NY), and said the congressman was “constantly wrestling with one central question: What if?.”
Thursday’s Morning Joe continued to instill fear of a stolen midterm election, as Kevin Frey reported on “secretive” Democratic meetings preparing for hypothetical election scenarios, which included the possible unilateral implementation of the SAVE America Act. pic.twitter.com/F4es5qFhlT
— Nick (@nspin310) July 16, 2026
Morelle then said Trump “will do anything that he can to subvert the election. I mean, he’s made that clear.”
Frey continued to state possible election conspiracies: “Trump and his team have hinted at a number of possible actions, from leaning on the postal service to not deliver mail-in ballots, to deploying ICE agents to polling places.”
He asked Morelle, “How many different scenarios were discussed?” To which, Morelle replied, “Well, certainly north of 100 that we've identified. And we're, frankly, working through scenarios that have never been encountered in American life before.”
After Morelle described the identification of hypotheticals, Frey continued to emphasize “uncertainty.”
One of Morelle’s theories Frey highlighted: the implementation of the SAVE America Act:
MS NOW got a preview of that strategy session as Morelle and his staff test-ran one possible scenario where the president unilaterally implements aspects of the SAVE America Act and requires proof of citizenship to vote.
Frey described how the strategy was to educate voters and possible lawsuits, as he brought up another hypothetical scenario of “the possibility of Trump shutting down a polling place in a key Democratic city.”
At the end of Frey's report. Geist remarked, "Extraordinary that they're even having these conversations, and that a congressman has to reassure voters that their votes will, in fact, be counted." pic.twitter.com/axyZUkr29v
— Nick (@nspin310) July 16, 2026
At the close of the minutes-long report that feared of election interference, Morelle was asked if he was confident the election interference would be stopped, to which he stated, “Yeah. I have every confidence that Americans will get to the polls. They'll have their chance to vote, and their votes will be counted.”
After Frey finished his report, co-host Willie Geist exclaimed, “Extraordinary that they're even having these conversations (...).”
Yes, it was, just not in the way Geist thought, as the amount of doom being instilled months before the election has been extraordinary.
The transcript is below. Click "expand":
MS NOW’s Morning Joe
July 16, 2026
6:38:07 AM Eastern
(...)
WILLIE GEIST: Meanwhile, more than two dozen House Democrats held a secret closed-door strategy session this week to game out how best to respond to President Trump and potential attempts by his administration to interfere in this year's midterm elections.
Let's bring in MS NOW congressional reporter Kevin Frey with more details on Democrats' strategy session that was shared exclusively with MS NOW. Kevin, good morning. What did you learn?
KEVIN FREY: Yeah. And I do want to stress they are being incredibly secretive about this. They won't even say on the record what day this happened. They certainly won't say which people were in attendance, whether it be lawmakers or outside groups. They are so concerned about presidential reprisals against those that are participating in these efforts. But they will say that they are taking this incredibly seriously and have more than 100 different scenarios in mind as they are prepping for this fall.
[Cuts to package]
With just over three months until election day, Congressman Joe Morelle is constantly wrestling with one central question: What if?
REP. JOE MORELLE (D-NY): The president will do anything that he can to subvert the election. I mean, he's made that clear.
FREY: The New York lawmaker is the point man for House Democrats on countering the president's potential efforts to meddle in the midterms. Trump and his team have hinted at a number of possible actions, from leaning on the postal service to not deliver mail-in ballots, to deploying ICE agents to polling places.
[To Morelle] How many different scenarios are you kind of working through as potential avenues that the president or his allies might take here?
MORELLE Well, certainly north of 100 that we've identified. And we're, frankly, working through scenarios that have never been encountered in American life before. But that hasn't stopped Donald Trump.
FREY: Morelle and his team have been gearing up for that uncertainty, working with voting groups and meeting with election officials across the country.
This week, though, the preparations entered a new phase, with House Democratic lawmakers secretly meeting for the first time for a strategy session to walk through possible scenarios and identify vulnerabilities.
MORELLE: We're going to be having to think through with our partners how to make sure that we push back now.
FREY: MS NOW got a preview of that strategy session as Morelle and his staff test-ran one possible scenario where the president unilaterally implements aspects of the SAVE America Act and requires proof of citizenship to vote.
MORELLI: That will be going into court. It's going to be working with local administrators, working with secretaries of state.
FREY: Morelle says their overall strategy boils down to educating voters and local officials, while also being prepared legally. He says they have attorneys lined up around the country preparing court filings for any scenario.
Take, for example, the possibility of Trump shutting down a polling place in a key democratic city.
[To Morelle] Other than going to a court and appealing to them to intercede. What options are on the table?
MORELLE: Well, first and foremost, we're communicating with local election officials so that they know what the law is so that they're not, in a sense, bullied or intimidated by someone who shows up claiming to be in a position to shut the polling place down.
FREY: So far, Morelli's team isn't willing to say who they're working with, fearful that naming any groups or law firms will expose them to reprisals from the president. But Morelli insists whatever the president tries this fall will not succeed.
[To Morelle] Can you say with confidence that Democrats will be able to stop the president, Republicans from any form of meddling in the midterms?
MORELLE: Yeah. I have every confidence that Americans will get to the polls. They'll have their chance to vote, and their votes will be counted.
[Cuts back to live]
FREY: So some confidence there from Morelle. One other thing to add here is that he says if voters have a role to play here, too, and he basically said, one of the things you can do in preparation for this fall is one, make sure that your registration is up to date and everything is good to go there, and also vote as early as possible as you can. As soon as you have the ability to vote, go out and cast your ballot.
GEIST: Extraordinary that they're even having these conversations, and that a congressman has to reassure voters that their votes will, in fact, be counted.
(...)
