How Election Night Unfolded

What began as a day marked by Russian interference - from FBI warnings about Russian-originated bomb threats at polling stations to debunked deep-fake videos - ended with an electoral outcome that seemed to follow a Russian-crafted narrative. Our show began confidently at 9:30 PM ET, with Dean Blundell and Spencer “Spenny” Rice joining me to witness what we expected to be a historic victory for Kamala Harris. The mood was light, even celebratory. "Dancing in the streets by 11:30," we predicted. But as the night progressed, the numbers shifted dramatically. One by one, the critical swing states fell: Michigan (+90,820 for Trump), Wisconsin (a razor-thin +29,797), Pennsylvania (+153,204), and Georgia (+117,384). By the time foreign policy expert Rick Petrie joined our panel, what had started as a celebration had transformed into growing concern about the integrity of what we were witnessing.  By morning, what seemed impossible at 9:30 PM had become reality - Donald Trump had secured victory in nearly every battleground state, with margins that defied both polling and campaign internal numbers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices