'Vote the bums out': Philly paper demands total repudiation of MAGA

With the 2026 midterms less than two months away, election lawyer Marc Elias is warning that President Donald Trump and his allies will do everything possible to fight any election results he doesn't like. And Elias isn't the only one sounding the alarm. The Philadelphia Inquirer, in a scathing editorial, calls for all MAGA election deniers to be voted out of office on Tuesday, November 3.

"With Labor Day passed, the sprint is on to Election Day," the Inquirer's editorial board writes. "But unlike in prior years, when voters looked to candidates for answers on the economy, taxes, healthcare, and foreign policy, the biggest question is whether the United States will hold a free and fair election and certify the winners. That's because President Donald Trump is doing everything he can to cast doubt on the electoral outcome or possibly reject the results — if the Democrats win control of either or both chambers of Congress."

The Inquirer board continues, "Of course, if the Republicans retain control of the House and Senate, well, then never mind. Under that scenario, the Trump-led effort to gerrymander congressional districts, seize ballots, suppress mail voting, curtail voter access through executive orders, gut election security agencies, send federal agents to the polls, and other efforts will have resulted in a 'perfect' election. But if the Republicans lose either the House or Senate, brace yourself for chaos."

Trump, the Inquirer notes, "was criminally indicted" for his "relentless efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election that culminated in the January 6, 2021 insurrection."

"Hundreds of insurrectionists — inspired by Trump's repeated election lies — were charged with or convicted of crimes related to that violent day that will forever be a stain on American history," the Inquirer writers argue. "Trump freed them all on his first day back in office, including those who attacked police officers. He also pardoned several key election deniers who worked on his behalf, including disgraced former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, election dirty trickster Roger Stone, and many others. Sadly, 2020 may just be a warm-up compared with 2026."

The only solution, according to the Inquirer board, is a total repudiation of MAGA election deniers in the midterms.

"GOP lawmakers have also done little to nothing about affordability issues, the failed war in Iran, deportation abuses, and the U.S. Department of Justice's upending of the rule of law," the editorial says. "For those fed up with the direction of the country under Trump, there is only one answer: Vote the bums out."