The Mark Thompson Show: Daily Summaries Delivered

Outrage Over Communist & Authoritarian White House Photo Display 10/2/26

For an American president who supposedly hates communists so much that he is spending money to advertise against the dangers of such ideology, he sure seems to like pictures of himself with communist leaders. MS NOW’s Jacqueline Alemany is sharing images from the Palm Room at the White House showing gold framed photos of Trump with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin prominently displayed beside a doorway. America’s adversaries, lovingly clad in big ornate golden frames hanging in the White House. So which is it? Does Trump want communist authoritarian leaders in a place of honor or on America’s list of enemies? A picture is worth a thousand words. We welcome Michael Shure and Mo Kelly for This Week in Politics. This lively, engaging discussion on the top stories of the week is one not to miss. Friday shenanigans get underway with Friday Fabulous Florida and The Culture Blaster, Michael Snyder

Hegseth’s Military of the Future: Led by Musk and Gingrich 10/1/26

Elon Musk is back in government. The SpaceX CEO has been tapped to co-lead Project Meridian, a new Department of Defense initiative studying the future of warfare. He's joined by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Palmer Luckey of defense tech company Anduril. The project runs 120 days and will deliver a public report with their recommendations on achieving "absolute technological dominance on the next-generation battlefield." Mark has a very interesting conversation with Marcia Chatelain. She is the Penn Presidential Compact Professor of Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for History for her book Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America. Now, she has a new book called How Bright the Path Grows: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the March on Washington . From the federal government wanting to collect state voter rolls to deporting immigrants to third-party countries, there’s a lot to talk about on the legal front. We welcome former federal prosecutor, and now defense attorney, David Katz to the show.

Jack Smith Hearing Backfires on GOP, Kristi Noem UPDATE (9/30/26)

Bernie Sanders is ramping up his midterm efforts with a major cash injection into races he cares about. After raising $2.8 million for his preferred candidates this cycle, Sanders is now putting hundreds of thousands of dollars directly toward key campaigns, including Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota's Senate race, Angie Nixon in Florida, and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison's reelection bid. These are his first general election donations from his campaign account, marking a significant escalation in his midterm push. Beyond the money, Sanders is also spending to hire full-time organizers in Michigan, Minnesota, and Florida, while planning get-out-the-vote text campaigns for candidates he's endorsed. In this clip, Guest today include: John Rothmann. Presidential Historian, author & host of the podcast Around the Political World With John Rothmann. Jared Yates Sexton is a political analyst and author. He is the co-host of The Muckrake Podcast and his writings can be found at Dispatches From a Collapsing State. https://www.jysexton.com/books Substack - https://jaredyatessexton.substack.com/ Robert A. Pape is a professor of political science at the University of Chicago and director of the Chicago Project on Security and Threats. One of the world's leading scholars of political violence, he is best known for groundbreaking research on suicide terrorism, coercion, and the rise of political violence in democracies. His new book is called: Our Own Worst Enemies. Find more on Substack at: https://substack.com/@professorrobertpape Find the book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Our-Own-Worst-Enemies-Populism/dp/1620979586/ref=sr_1_1?crid=5CP7FSHQ20N5&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.w-d4izGrZU7Ga0vjxLUYjecV3WDdsao9WqwQWKcxJiKjJ3OOcLvE-L3N0_Emk7YPG_Ex6Pt4IlypBR4vjYheWrBFtdSBm3ntbWyVOgcD7Itd_P7ouzKFp9OfFUyc5jmwZWjeteIbRUeH6b7D0RWvlg.B_1l6vD7-gzz1OPWQwzoDK43UnBkVU32sBFFHNi4pxE&dib_tag=se&keywords=our+own+worst+enemy+robert+pape&qid=1790778815&sprefix=our+own+wor%2Caps%2C166&sr=8-1 The Mark Thompson Show Patreon subscribers are the backbone of the show! If you’d like to help, here’s our Patreon Link: https://www.patreon.com/themarkthompsonshow Maybe you’re more into PayPal. https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=PVBS3R7KJXV24 And you’ll find everything on our website: https://www.themarkthompsonshow.com The Mark Thompson Show has an official new Facebook page. Please join! Here's the link: https://m.facebook.com/TheMarkThompsonShow/ Show sponsors: coachellavalleycoffee.com - use code MarkT at check out to save 10%

Canada Calls Trump's Bluff, Obama Rips Into Spineless GOP, David Cay Johnston Joins (9/29/26)

President Trump just signed off on sweeping import restrictions on Canadian goods, and they're taking effect tonight at midnight ET (September 29, 2026). From whiskey to the whey protein in your favorite supplement to motorcycles,we’ll look at what Canada's saying about retaliation, how Trump’s trade war will raise prices for Americans yet again and why trade talks between the U.S. and Canada are stalling out. We turn to Pulitzer Prize winning author and investigative journalist David Cay Johnston to dig deeper. Find more of David’s writing on his Substack: https://substack.com/@davidcayjohnston Mark sits down with Charles Derber, eminent sociologist and prolific author. Derber says America was wired for authoritarianism long before the emergence of Trump. We dislcuss his latest book ‘Wired for Authoritarianism: American Oligarchies and How to Re-Wire America for the People.’ Find the book at: https://www.routledge.com/Wired-for-Authoritarianism-American-Oligarchies-and-How-to-Re-Wire-America-for-the-People/Derber/p/book/9781041267553 The Mark Thompson Show 9/29/26 Patreon subscribers are the backbone of the show! If you’d like to help, here’s our Patreon Link: https://www.patreon.com/themarkthompsonshow Maybe you’re more into PayPal. https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=PVBS3R7KJXV24 And you’ll find everything on our website: https://www.themarkthompsonshow.com The Mark Thompson Show has an official new Facebook page. Please join! Here's the link: https://m.facebook.com/TheMarkThompsonShow/ Show sponsors: coachellavalleycoffee.com - use code MarkT at check out to save 10%

Trump Makes Government Funded Campaign Ads for Himself, Election Guru Predicts Midterms (9/28/26)

A strange Trump ad caught football fans by surprise. The taxpayer-funded advertisement aired during NFL games this past Sunday, appearing in commercial breaks of the Seahawks versus Commanders and Browns versus Panthers matchups. The spot shows Trump walking through a hallway declaring "this is the final battle" while his voiceover states he'll "cast out the communists, Marxists, and fascists" and "liberate America from these villains once and for all." The ad drew criticism from both Democrats and Republicans for using federal funds for what many argue is political campaigning. We welcome guests: Sarah Kendzior. She is a best-selling author, scholar and journalist. Find Sara at both: https://substack.com/@sarahkendzior Sarahkendzior.com David Shuster is an Emmy award winning broadcast journalist best known for his work at NBC News and MSNBC and his ongoing YouTube videos on "Rebel HQ." Find David a: https://substack.com/@davidshuster The Mark Thompson Show 9/28/26 Patreon subscribers are the backbone of the show! If you’d like to help, here’s our Patreon Link: https://www.patreon.com/themarkthompsonshow Maybe you’re more into PayPal. https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=PVBS3R7KJXV24 And you’ll find everything on our website: https://www.themarkthompsonshow.com The Mark Thompson Show has an official new Facebook page. Please join! Here's the link: https://m.facebook.com/TheMarkThompsonShow/ Show sponsors: coachellavalleycoffee.com - use code MarkT at check out to save 10%

Trump's Plan to Declare Martial Law, Marjorie Taylor Greene Drops Epstein TRUTH BOMB (9/25/26)

Some of Trump's advisers are pushing him to intervene in federal elections. According to The Atlantic, Peter Ticktin, a longtime Trump associate wants him to consider extraordinary measures before the midterm elections.How much influence Ticktin has remain s to be seen ? We have seen Trump’s repeated calls for greater federal control over elections, election-fraud conspiracies and voter restrictions. Now, comes this rhetoric about martial law that could create chaos and shape the political landscape heading into November. We'll talk about this and more with political analysts Michael Shure and Mo Kelly during This Week in Politics. Then it's Friday levity with Friday Fabulous Florida and the Culture Blaster, Michael Snyder.

WH Press Returns, Mother Of Renée Good Speaks Out, Mamdani Outsmarts Trump (9/24/26)

Republican Scrubs Trump From Website, Scott Bessent Corruption Exposed, Bleak GOP Polls (9/23/26)

With the midterms just weeks away, Republican candidates are making a strategic pivot and it's pretty telling. Trump's approval rating is below 40%, with some polls putting it closer to 30%. His policies aren't polling great either. Half of Americans think his deportation agenda goes too far, and even his own MAGA base is getting tired of his foreign policy moves. So what are GOP candidates doing? They're distancing themselves and fast. Some candidates are scrubbing all Trump references from their campaign websites and eliminating him from their ads. Out of hundreds of new campaign commercials from Republicans in competitive races since August, only two have mentioned Trump. One GOP strategist put it bluntly: candidates know Trump is "kryptonite" in 2024. They can read the polls, and the polls are saying loud and clear—don't tie yourself to him if you want to win. We have some great guests on the show today, including John Rothmann, host of “Around the Political World with John Rothmann. “ He is a presidential historian and political analyst. The conversation continues with author and political analyst Jared Yates Sexton. He is the co-host of The Muckrake Podcast and his writings can be found at Dispatches From a Collapsing State. Get more Jared at: https://www.jysexton.com/books Substack - https://jaredyatessexton.substack.com/ The Mark Thompson Show 9/23/26 Patreon subscribers are the backbone of the show! If you’d like to help, here’s our Patreon Link: https://www.patreon.com/themarkthompsonshow Maybe you’re more into PayPal. https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=PVBS3R7KJXV24 And you’ll find everything on our website: https://www.themarkthompsonshow.com The Mark Thompson Show has an official new Facebook page. Please join! Here's the link: https://m.facebook.com/TheMarkThompsonShow/ Show sponsors: coachellavalleycoffee.com - use code MarkT at check out to save 10%