The Takeaway

Ahead of Election Day, Misinformation Rampant on Social Media

Both Facebook and Twitter have taken steps in 2020 to more proactively slow the spread of mis-and-disinformation, but misinformation has still been rampant on social media.

A Votar: Latino Voters Confront Disinformation in 2020

In battleground states like Florida, Latino voters have been seeing a wave of mis-and-disinformation in recent weeks. 

Why Some Black Men are Voting for Trump

Hip Hop artists have supported the President — sort of.

Supreme Court Weighs In On Voting

This week, the U.S. Supreme Court decided three major voting cases affecting the battleground states of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina. 

Fans Will Have to Look Harder to Find Charlie Brown's Great Pumpkin This Year

The Peanuts' Halloween special, “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” will not air on network TV since it debuted in 1966, but on Apple's streaming service, APPLE TV plus. 

For transcripts, see individual segment pages.

For transcripts, see individual segment pages.

For transcripts, see individual segment pages.

This week marked the second and final debate between Joe Biden and President Donald Trump. What has felt like a never-ending election cycle is taking place against the backdrop of a pandemic, an economic crisis, and a groundswell for racial justice and police reform. With less than two weeks until Election Day, Joel Payne, Democratic strategist and Host of Here Comes the Payne, and Patrick Ruffini, Republican Party pollster and political strategist, reflect on the rest of the race. 

It’s been six months since the $2 trillion CARES Act was signed into law. The bill provided much-needed aid to states, businesses, and individuals who were deprived of traditional means of income as a result of the pandemic. The relief the CARES Act provided has since dried up and millions have fallen into poverty as a result. Emily Cochrane, a congressional reporter at The New York Times, shares the latest from the ongoing stimulus talks between Speaker Pelosi and Secretary Mnuchin and what could happen if a deal doesn’t come together before Election Day.

Turnout is up in Wisconsin where voters will play a pivotal role in deciding who will become the next president of the United States. As some Wisconsin neighborhoods have already surpassed turnout levels from 2016, Congresswoman Gwen Moore of Wisconsin shares how the level of enthusiasm compares to four years ago. Plus, Craig Gilbert of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel describes trends in early voting and what’s happened to pockets of support for President Trump since 2016.

This election cycle special attention is being paid to growing voting blocs that have the power to move the needle towards or away from a second term for Donald Trump. Since 2016, millions of Latino voters have become eligible to vote, making young Latino voters a powerful political force. Takeaway host Tanzina Vega joins Amy to discuss what A Votar series and what she's observed from the conversations she’s had with this group ahead of Election Day.

For transcripts, see individual segment pages.

For transcripts, see individual segment pages.

For transcripts, see individual segment pages.

For transcripts, see individual segment pages.

After the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on September 18th and nomination of Amy Coney Barrett just a week later on September 26th, there’s been a lot of speculation about the political implications of a Supreme Court fight just days before Election Day.

Democrats have seen a boon in fundraising with Jaime Harrison, the Democrat running against Republican Judiciary Chair Lindsey Graham, pulling in millions in the days after Ginsburg’s death. Graham himself, as well as several other vulnerable Republican senators, are hoping that the confirmation of a conservative to the court will help boost GOP enthusiasm and turnout.

As the hearing wrapped up on Thursday, it was clear that Barrett had made it through the process unscathed. A vote is expected on October 22nd in the Judiciary Committee and by the full Senate at the end of the month. We spoke about this with Sahil Kapur, national political reporter for NBC News, and Jessica Taylor of The Cook Political Report. 

Also on the show, a look at the political landscape in Texas going into the 2020 election. For years now, Democrats have been predicting they can turn this red state blue. But the last time a Democratic presidential candidate actually won the state was in 1976. 

However, Texas is changing. A diverse electorate, combined with a backlash to Trump in traditionally Republican suburbs has given Democrats serious political traction. The latest polls show President Trump leading Joe Biden by an average of just two points. We got an overview of what’s happening in Texas from Abby Livingston, D.C. Bureau Chief at the Texas Tribune.

There’s also a Senate race in the state this year. In 2018, a Texas Senate race was the center of the political universe. Then, Democratic Representative Beto O’Rourke raised millions of dollars and gained national attention for his race against Senator Ted Cruz. O’Rourke came up short, but his impressive showing gave him enough momentum and fame to mount a presidential run—albeit a short-lived run. Two years later, another Republican Senator, John Cornyn is up for re-election in Texas.

We spoke to his opponent, MJ Hegar, the Democratic Senate candidate and U.S. Air Force veteran, about her race against the three-term incumbent. Her campaign brought in $13.5 million in the third quarter and she’s been outspending Cornyn in TV ads over the past few weeks. But even though the race is tightening, polls show Cornyn is still ahead by over seven percentage points. 

We also took a look at the Latino vote in Texas with Jason Casellas, an associate professor of political science at the University of Houston. According to recent estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau, the Latino population in Texas grew by two million over the last decade, and it’s on track to become the state’s largest demographic group in 2021.