This is the Oct. 20, 2026, edition of “The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe” newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered straight to your inbox Monday through Friday.

Hello, “Morning Joe” family!

We love hearing from you. Here’s what was on your mind this week. As always, you can write to us anytime.

MAILBAG

Joe — it’s so frustrating to see good friends of mine and family be so dismissive of the incompetence and corruption in both Trump administrations. Their rationale is “it’s nothing new and all politicians are corrupt.” As a result they don’t pay attention to the daily goings-on in D.C. Whatever happened to the concept of an informed electorate?

— Kevin H., Wilmington, N.C.

Kevin, I share your frustration. So many friends I have known ignore inconvenient facts while chasing conspiracy theories that make them feel better about supporting Donald Trump.

The facts are not on their side.

When I ask where they get their information, they tell me that they don’t follow the news because media outlets can’t be trusted. But when I push harder, I often learn they are fed a steady stream of lies daily from false posts on Facebook, from websites like Epoch Times run by Chinese religious cults, and from other conspiracy-fueled outlets that have no editors, ethical guidelines, or journalistic standards.

The latest Fox News poll brings welcome news: Corruption is listed by voters as the most important issue in the 2026 election. With costs exploding for groceries, gas, diesel, healthcare, and rent, Americans are paying closer attention to politicians who use their position in government to enrich themselves and their families.

That is bad news for Donald Trump.

Considering Trump’s reckless behavior towards EVERYTHING, if the Democrats manage to flip the House and Senate, what can they do to thaw Trump’s efforts to undermine our democracy, the Ukrainian war, etc.?

— Doug B.

Depending on their margin of victory, Democrats should look for opportunities to work with Republicans to address corruption, the cost of living crisis, and Trump‘s continued support for Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

They should start with the most unifying issue: Ukraine.

Republicans and Democrats should pass bipartisan bills regarding Ukraine with veto-proof margins. Such legislation could aggressively support the freedom fighters’ efforts to push back against the Russian invasion.

Many Republican senators are horrified that their president is eagerly working with a former KGB spy to undermine Western democracy. If Democrats win big next month, expect GOP lawmakers to line up in support of Ukrainian funding measures that could have a powerful impact on the war’s outcome.

Republicans and Democrats can also drive down prices by retaking control of their tariff authority and Congress’s power to declare war.

For two years, Republican majorities have shamefully abdicated those duties to Donald Trump, who has started wars and levied tariffs on countries for the most reckless of reasons. Those wars and tariffs end up working as taxes on middle-class Americans and others who can’t afford higher costs at the grocery store or gas pump.

I would also expect Republicans to work with Democratic majorities on anti-corruption measures aimed at stopping the Trump family from continuing to cash in on public service. Right now, corruption is an issue that unites members of both parties who have been horrified or ashamed by the practices of the president and his family over the past 20 months.

Also expect much activity from the oversight committees in both the House and Senate, as they work to uncover any pay-to-play schemes hatched from the start of Trump’s second administration.

Trump has been talking to Putin a lot lately and giving him relief from sanctions and buying diesel fuel from Russia. With only two weeks for the election, what do you think about the possibility that Trump is having Putin disrupt the midterm elections in return for favors?

— Pat M., Pittsburgh

Despite the lies spread by Donald Trump and his supporters, Vladimir Putin worked aggressively to influence American elections in 2016, 2020, and 2024. I have no doubt that he is using his state authority to spread disinformation across the United States today and every day up until the 2026 election.

Putin’s war on democracy has not just been fought on the front lines in Ukraine. It has also been waged through cyberwarfare and misinformation to twist policy debates and shape political outcomes across Europe and the Americas. Unfortunately, these efforts have worked all too well, as a confederacy of dunces has willingly lined up to play useful idiots for Russia.

Here’s hoping that all of that will be exposed by Democrats if they can take control of Congress.

Joe, leaders fall into two categories: those who appeal to our basest instincts and those who inspire us to become better versions of ourselves. Who has inspired you to become better than you would have been without their influence?

— Gary B., Greensboro, N.C.

Thank you so much for your great question, Gary.

Yesterday, “Morning Joe” ran a package on the life and times of Ethel Kennedy as told by her daughter Kerry. Watching her story and those images flash across the screen reminded me how much Bobby Kennedy influenced my decision to get into politics.

After reading Arthur Schlesinger Jr.’s biography of the senator, I found myself inspired by a man who dared to make a difference — even if his worldview was different than mine.

I was most moved by what Bobby Kennedy did the night Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968. Kennedy was campaigning for the presidency in Indianapolis that day, but wanted to take a detour into the inner city to tell Black voters the terrible news.

The Indianapolis Police Department urged him to stay away, fearing there would be riots and bloodshed downtown. Kennedy persisted, and later that evening, a police escort guided him and his driver to the edge of the neighborhood before stopping and turning around.

Kennedy’s car made its way to his destination, and he got out to address his audience:

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I’m only going to talk to you just for a minute or so this evening, because I have some very sad news for all of you and people who love peace all over the world; and that is that Martin Luther King was shot and was killed tonight in Memphis, Tennessee.

Martin Luther King dedicated his life to love and to justice between fellow human beings. He died in the cause of that effort. In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it’s perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in.

For those of you who are black and are tempted to fill with hatred and mistrust of the injustice of such an act against all white people, I would only say that I can also feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling. I had a member of my family killed by a white man.

But we have to make an effort to go beyond these difficult times.

My favorite poet was Aeschylus. And he once wrote:

Even in our sleep,

pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart,

until in our own despair,

against our will,

comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.

What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love, and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black.

So I ask you tonight to return home to say a prayer for the family of Martin Luther King, but more importantly, to say a prayer for our own country.

We can do well in this country. We will have difficult times.

But the vast majority of white people and the vast majority of black people in this country want to live together, want to improve the quality of our life, and want justice for all human beings that abide in our land.

And let’s dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world. Let us dedicate ourselves to that, and say a prayer for our country and for our people.

Thank you very much.

Remembering that night in a 2007 essay for Washington Monthly, Evan Thomas wrote, “As news of King’s death spread through poor neighborhoods across the country, riots broke out in 110 cities, killing 39 people and injuring 2,500. But in the city of Indianapolis, where Kennedy had spoken, it was quiet.”

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