Why the Algorithm Favors Right Wing Content with David Pakman

The Supreme Court ruled Friday that the Trump administration can once again use a flawed database to help Republicans purge eligible voters from the rolls, just weeks before the midterms. Some are calling it a partial win. Democracy Docket founder Marc Elias sees a warning. He breaks down the footnote in the majority opinion that leaves the door open, the upcoming Supreme Court case that could slam it shut on voters and why he refuses to look for a bright side when Trump and elections are involved.

Have you ever wondered why bombastic right-wing content seems to travel further and faster on social media than tempered analysis and commentary? Podcaster and author David Pakman joins Democracy Docket founder Marc Elias to discuss how the algorithms that control what you see on YouTube and other platforms favor content that targets "scapegoats and enemies with pithy language," and why the next influencer in your feed might not be a real person at all.

Democrats just sued to block Trump's latest voter intimidation efforts. The administration has been suggesting for months that they will deploy armed federal agents at polling places, even though federal law says it's a crime. Democracy Docket founder Marc Elias breaks down the lawsuit filed by Democratic leaders and explains why the threat matters even if Trump loses in court. The threat of federal agents at the polls serves to intimidate and discourage voters from showing up to cast their ballots.

For the 25th consecutive time, Donald Trump's Department of Justice has lost its case attempting to access sensitive voter data. With just over 40 days left until Election Day, Americans are thinking about how to afford the skyrocketing cost of living – but Donald Trump's only focus is disenfranchising voters in order to tilt the scales in his favor. In this video, Democracy Docket founder Marc Elias explains why free and fair elections are the biggest threat to Trump's authoritarian goals.

Everywhere Democracy Docket founder Marc Elias goes, he's asked two questions: what is Trump going to do next, and is he worried? The first one is easy, because Trump has said, over and over, that he plans to seize control of vote counting in the 2026 midterms. The second one is harder — and it's the one that's been keeping him up at night.

Donald Trump just did something extraordinary on stage at the RNC convention: he made Republicans raise their right hand and pledge to him personally — then pledge that they're going to "cheat like hell," whether they're registered to vote or not. Democracy Docket founder Marc Elias breaks down why this moment matters and why it confirms what he's been warning for months: Trump's plan for the midterms isn't to win a fair fight, it's to make it harder for you to vote and easier for Republicans to cheat.

A federal judge in Washington, D.C. — appointed by Donald Trump — just blocked the U.S. Postal Service's new mail-in voting rule, delivering another major setback to the administration's effort to restrict how Americans vote just 50 days before the midterms.Democracy Docket founder Marc Elias breaks down the ruling in DSCC v. Trump, handed down late Sunday by Judge Carl Nichols. This ruling is separate from the related mail-in voting case out of Massachusetts, which is still pending before the Supreme Court. Marc walks through how the two cases differ, what a Trump appeal could look like next and what voters need to know as ballots start going out. 

Donald Trump's Department of Justice just admitted, in its own words, what we have been saying for months: the U.S. Postal Service's new mail-in ballot rule could strip millions of Americans of their ability to vote by mail. In a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, the DOJ acknowledged there is a "grave risk" that states won't be ready to comply if the rule takes effect for this year's midterms. Democracy Docket founder Marc Elias breaks down the sentence buried in DOJ's filing, what it reveals about the Trump administration's real strategy and why the rule's barcode-matching system could cause tens of thousands of eligible voters to be rejected over a single mismatched name.

[11:35 AM]Less than two months before Election Day, Democracy Docket founder Marc Elias lays out Donald Trump's blueprint to rig the 2026 midterms. An executive order could put the U.S. Postal Service in charge of deciding whether mail-in ballots get delivered at all. The Department of Justice has lost 23 straight lawsuits trying to seize state voter data. A rule change could disenfranchise thousands of voters over a single mismatched name, and a Postal Service slowdown is already increasing ballot rejection rates in this year's primaries. DOJ's seizure of ballots in Fulton County and Maricopa County looks less like an isolated fight over 2020 and more like a dry run for something bigger. Federal law enforcement at the polls is no longer an abstract threat.

Marc Elias sits down with Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward, for a wide-ranging conversation on the state of democracy under the second Trump administration.