Brian Williams Hosted Amazon’s Election Show
Amazon’s decision to bring Brian Williams back from media exile to host its election night coverage seemed poised to make headlines. And it did—just perhaps not the way they hoped. As the election results rolled in, with Trump steadily pulling ahead to secure another term, Williams seemed to be reaching into old habits, reviving his signature brand of dramatic analysis from his MSNBC days.
In a moment of stark commentary, he declared that Republicans are “stone cold killers” in politics, while Democrats, in his view, are still “student council presidents” and “earnest recycling enthusiasts.” If Democrats want to reclaim power, he suggested, they need a new approach—one that shakes off their “nerdy” reputation and channels a more ruthless attitude.
Abby Huntsman, also a former MSNBC figure, chimed in, framing this loss as another signal for Democrats to conduct a post-election “autopsy.” For Huntsman, losing an election necessitates soul-searching, examining strategy, and figuring out “what did we do wrong?” Williams agreed, stating the losing party must take a “strip down” approach, reassessing both strategy and candidates for the future.
But Williams’s idea of what Democrats need struck many as strange. While his “student council” metaphor might sound humorous, it sidesteps a glaring reality: Democrats have hardly been meek in recent years.
Consider the record. Democrats twice impeached Trump, filed numerous lawsuits, and even saw their own 2024 candidate call him a “fascist.”
Their messaging warned that democracy itself was at risk if Trump returned to power, invoking fears about threats to women’s rights, racial justice, and global stability. With accusations flying and some officials even attempting to prevent Trump’s name from appearing on ballots, it’s hard to argue they’ve held back.
If Democrats interpret this latest loss as a failure to play “hardball” and their autopsy yields another round of finger-pointing and heightened rhetoric, they may be setting themselves up for further defeats. By ignoring the appeal Trump’s platform holds for working-class voters of all backgrounds, they risk overlooking the very real issues that continue to shape the American political landscape.
Republicans didn’t pull off this victory by sheer force—they built a coalition with voters who wanted change, who felt overlooked, and who see the policies of the Left as increasingly out of touch.