We’re facing the most concerted assault on the Declaration of Independence
This is the June 9, 2026, edition of “The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe” newsletter.Subscribe hereto get it delivered straight to your inbox every Monday through Friday.
MIKA’S NOTE
Donald Trump, top members of his administration, and his allies in Congress, are amplifying baseless claims of voter fraud in California.
The president, along with Speaker Mike Johnson, Vice President JD Vance, and Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, all spent time claiming Spencer Pratt‘s defeat in the Los Angeles mayoral race was due to some nefarious scheme against Republicans.
Donald Trump knows — as does everybody in Washington — that California always takes 30 days by law to count their votes.
That’s what the state did when Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected governor. That’s what it did when Republicans took back control of the House in 2022. That is what it did when Republicans maintained their House majority in 2024. That’s how California counts its ballots every year.
Donald Trump knows that. Speaker Mike Johnson knows that. Sen. Ron Johnson knows that.
They say elections are only legitimate when Republicans win them. Even in California. Especially now in California.
These are cynical, autocratic gestures that undermine American democracy.
As for Ron Johnson: He was caught on tape in August 2021, patiently explaining to someone who he thought was a MAGA supporter, telling them that Donald Trump legitimately lost the 2020 election. He went into great detail about how every statewide Republican on the Wisconsin ballot got 51,000 more votes than Donald Trump, and that Donald Trump did not get those votes because he hurt his standing with Wisconsin Republicans. Take a look:
Ron Johnson said the election was legitimate.
After all, Trump lost the 2020 election by more than 7 million votes.
These men know the law.
The only time they say elections in California, or elsewhere in the U.S., are legitimate is when Republicans win.
Or when they know the cameras are rolling — for Trump.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“People are tired of watching the highly political @NBA. Basketball ratings are WAY down, and they won’t be coming back. I hope football and baseball are watching and learning because the same thing will be happening to them. Stand tall for our Country and our Flag!!!”
—President Donald Trump in 2020 after the NBA backed the Black Lives Matter movement and anti-racism protests across the country.
CHARTS OF THE DAY
Source: Reuters/Ipsos poll of 4,531 U.S. adults, conducted June 3-8, 2026. Margin of error: +/- 1.5 percentage points
ON THIS DATE
In 1954, during the Senate Army-McCarthy hearings, Army special counsel Joseph N. Welch berated Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, a Republican from Wisconsin, asking: “Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?”
Joseph Welch (seated, left) and Sen. Joseph McCarthy (standing) during the 1954 Army-McCarthy hearings.
WHAT THEY SAID
Jonathan Lemire on Republicans’ claims of fraud in California
“There’s no surprise here: What they’re doing is laying the groundwork for two different plays for November. They could claim irregularities, conspiracies, and actively take measures to interfere with the vote, or they could claim the voting result is illegitimate and not honor it.”
Richard Haass on elections
Recommended
“Don’t be surprised in November if we see voting machines and ballot boxes seized to ‘prevent fraud.’ This is the 250th year of this country, and we’re meant to be honoring the Declaration; instead, we’re facing the most concerted assault on it.”
Jim VandeHei on the U.S.-Israel relationship
“If I were in Israel, or I was a pro-Israel American, I’d be really worried about the next two years. Public support in the U.S. is cratering on both sides, and the White House is looking for the least messy, most publicly defensible way to get out of this mess.”
Rev. Al Sharpton on the Knicks
“New Yorkers were out there for New Yorkers, people were excited to see the championship finals back in the city, and it was one of the most unifying, electric events that I’ve seen in many years. I think the president was the only one who had any negatives.”
Jane Fonda on the First Amendment
“What’s happening now has never happened before in this country to white people. Black people have experienced authoritarianism. Today, all our First Amendments are being destroyed, our voting rights are being taken away, and people are being arrested and deported without due cause. This is not what happens in a democracy — like a pancake, it’ll take an iron and just flatten our cultural discourse. We have to fight back.”
PRIMARY DAY IN CLOSELY WATCHED MAINE SENATE RACE
Primary voters in Maine go to the polls today in one of the most critical races on the 2026 battleground map — a Senate contest that could help decide control of the upper chamber.
Incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins is running unopposed on the GOP side. But it’s her likely Democratic opponent – Graham Platner – who has been grabbing headlines of late.
Platner is expected to win his primary, despite a series of scandals that have engulfed his campaign.
He has expressed regrets for offensive posts online and says he covered a tattoo on his chest after realizing it looked like a Nazi symbol. He’s also denied allegations of physically threatening behavior in at least one previous relationship.
Despite Platner’s personal indiscretions, many high-profile Democrats are standing by him … or at least not asking him to drop out.
10,800
—The number of cases of Noble Oak bourbon stolen in a daytime heist off a truck traveling between Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The thieves made off with nearly $500,000 worth of the liquor.
ONE MORE SHOT
Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks shoots the ball between Julian Champagnie (No. 30) and Victor Wembanyama (No. 1) of the San Antonio Spurs during the fourth quarter in Game 3 of the NBA Finals.
CATCH UP ON MORNING JOE
Mika Brzezinski is the co-host of MS NOW’s Morning Joe, founder of “Know Your Value” and author of four best-selling books, including “EARN IT!: Know Your Value and Grow Your Career, in Your 20s and Beyond” (Hachette Books; May 7, 2019) with co-author Daniela Pierre-Bravo. Prior to joining MSNBC in 2007, Mika was an anchor of CBS Evening News Weekend Edition and a CBS News correspondent who frequently contributed to CBS Sunday Morning and 60 Minutes.
