Debunked! Mehdi Dismantles the Myth of Progressive ‘Underperformance’ in the Midterms

Senator Chris Van Hollen announced he will challenge Chuck Schumer to be majority leader in the next Congress, triggering a dramatic power struggle as Democrats prepare to take control of Capitol Hill after their midterms win.

“I would love if both of them were ousted, a hundred percent,” co-host of ‘The Majority Reports’ Emma Vigeland tells Mehdi.

During the interview, the two also discuss “habibi” J.D. Vance, who will now have to swear in El-Sayed to the Senate in January, and react to the vice president’s own provocative analysis of why Republicans were “smoked” in the midterms. “This is what happens when you rubber stamp the dumbest possible president in American history, and then this man ruins your political future, and then now, all of a sudden, you’re trying to pretend like you had nothing to do with it,” El-Sayed says.

“‘Allah put the different people on the earth not that they might despise one another, but that they might come to know one another and learn from one another.’

And will the Democrats be able to successfully sway not just independents, but former Trump voters?

If she succeeds, she will be the first woman, the first Muslim, and the first person of Palestinian descent to be appointed UN Secretary-General.

In this special, live edition of ‘Mehdi Unfiltered,’ Ramirez discusses the growing support for her bill to block weapons to Israel, whether Gaza and AIPAC will be litmus tests in the 2028 Democratic presidential primaries, and how the lobbying group’s fading influence has forced it into operating “in the shadows.”

Senator Chris Van Hollen might not be gunning for a leadership position in the Senate, but he is “kicking the tires on a 2028 national campaign,” he tells Mehdi.

The highlights include: How billionaires, right-wing politicians, and religious fundamentalists have formed a coalition set on destruction (“They believe they are chosen and they’re going to a bunker in the sky,” Klein says) The Trump administration’s dystopian reconstruction plan for Gaza, and the ongoing genocide there How centrists like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have allowed fascism to rise The dangerous role of unregulated artificial intelligence (“AI money should be as toxic as AIPAC money,” Taylor says) How Zohran Mamdani’s 2025 New York City mayoral campaign offers a blueprint for fighting fascism. Paid subscribers can watch the full 48-minute interview in full above, without a paywall.

The author and friend of Zeteo attended the hearing to protest the county’s massive investments in Israeli bonds (the largest globally), a matter the county’s mayor, Sarah Baxter, had no appetite for.