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Bill Kristol: This Is the Trump Flailing Phase

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Cite

Miller, T. (2026, November 9). Bill Kristol: This Is the Trump Flailing Phase. The Bulwark. https://www.thebulwark.com/p/bill-kristol-this-is-the-trump-flailing

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

The Bulwark · collected 2026-11-09 · by Tim Miller commentary

Quick Summary

Bill Kristol discusses President Trump's reaction to midterm election defeats in an episode of Tim Miller’s podcast "The Bulwark Daily." Kristol notes that Trump made claims about a rigged election and attempted to distract from his losses by offering to work with Democrats on immigration issues while elevating Stephen Miller. The article also mentions ongoing concerns about ICE operations and the need for Democrats to address immigrant detention issues.
Written by AI on 2026-11-09, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

President Donald Trump, six days after Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress in the 2026 midterm elections, posted on Truth Social on November 9, 2026, questioning the election's integrity. He wrote, "Does anybody really believe that this ‘Election’ was honest." This contradicts his earlier statement to The New York Times where he said he would accept the results. Trump also alleged that voter fraud influenced the outcome and criticized pre-election polls for inaccurately predicting the scale of Democratic victories. His claims have drawn sharp criticism from across the political spectrum, with many calling them baseless and a return to his previous denialism following the 2020 election loss.

Written for “Trump Revives Voter Fraud Claims” on 2026-11-10, grounded in this article and the 16 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

Trump Revives Voter Fraud Claims
Politics · 17 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

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How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
12
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
17%
2 of 12 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans strongly left
expected in commentary, which argues a position · beta estimate
Publisher signals
not measured
these signals count newsroom corrections; Commentary has none to count
Outlets on this story
17
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-09 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Bulwark · 652 article(s) · 0 correction(s) detected
No corrections detected for this publisher. That may mean careful reporting, or simply that nothing has been checked.

Who wrote this

Tim Miller
79 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
Plus: Now we know Bill had just about the right amount of hopium, the polling misses continued, Trump will play game show host in choosing a successor in ’28, and he sure looks like he subverted our national security interests just for a $25 million bribe for his ballroom. Bill Kristol (Mr. Right) joins Tim Miller. show notes: As always: Watch, listen, hit the like button or leave a comment.
2026-11-09 · assertive framing · Bill Kristol: This Is the Trump Flailing Phase
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Over at the White House, POTUS flip-flopped and un-canceled his Midwest rallies—so there will be more opportunities for the flat-out racism to keep flowing into Election Day.
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David French: Kansas Hopium Is it possible Adam Hamilton could be the first Democratic senator elected from Kansas in 94 years?
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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 79 articles by Tim Miller →

Topics

Bulwark+ Democrats Dems ICE The Bulwark Daily

Subjects

Trump PERSON · 4× Bill Kristol PERSON · 2× The Bulwark Daily ORG · 2× Bill PERSON · 1× Bulwark+ ORG · 1× Democrats NORP · 1× Dems NORP · 1× ICE ORG · 1× Stephen Miller PERSON · 1× Tim Miller PERSON · 1×

Narrative

Plus: Now we know Bill had just about the right amount of hopium, the polling misses continued, Trump will play game show host in choosing a successor in ’28, and he sure looks like he subverted our national security interests just for a $25 million bribe for his ballroom. Bill Kristol (Mr. Right) joins Tim Miller. show notes: As always: Watch, listen, hit the like button or leave a comment.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-09
Plus: Now we know Bill had just about the right amount of hopium, the polling misses continued, Trump will play game show host in choosing a successor in ’28, and he sure looks like he subverted our national security interests just for a $25 million bribe for his ballroom. Bill Kristol (Mr. Right) joins Tim Miller. show notes: As always: Watch, listen, hit the like button or leave a comment.
2026-11-09 · The Bulwark
Bill Kristol: This Is the Trump Flailing Phase · assertive framing

Claims (12 extracted, 2 hedged)

Bill Kristol: This Is the Trump Flailing Phase asserted
This → flail → ?
Nearly a week after the midterms, Trump made a feeble rigged election claim. uncertain
Trump → make → claim
Nearly a week after the midterms, Trump made a feeble rigged election claim. uncertain
Trump → make → claim
He also made a phony offer to work with Democrats on an immigration deal, hoping somehow to distract them from their oversight powers. asserted
He → make → powers
And like a true mob boss, Trump elevated tough guy Stephen Miller to keep the administration from falling apart—and to protect the grift. asserted
Trump → elevate → grift
But he knows he was swamped in a massive defeat and that the country now has the possibility of a very different future. asserted
country → know → future
Still, the ICE terror state is ongoing, and the Dems have to push for the release of nonviolent immigrants from the internment camps. asserted
Dems → have → camps
Plus: Now we know Bill had just about the right amount of hopium, the polling misses continued, Trump will play game show host in choosing a successor in ’28, and he sure looks like he subverted our national security interests just for a $25 million bribe for his ballroom. Bill Kristol (Mr. Right) joins Tim Miller. show notes: As always: Watch, listen, hit the like button or leave a comment. asserted
notes → know → comment
We want to hear from you. asserted
We → want → you
Tim Miller’s Bulwark Daily is available wherever you get podcasts and on YouTube. asserted
you → get → YouTube
New shows drop each weekday afternoon. asserted
shows → drop → ?
If you like the show, leave a comment and ⭐⭐⭐⭐ wherever you listen. asserted
you → like → comment
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