Daily Show' Host Michael Kosta Tears Into MAGA Pundits After Trump's Party Suffers Election Losses: 'You Couldn't Even Get South Carolina'

The Daily Show correspondent Michael Kosta aimed at conservative commentators attempting to downplay the Republican Party's losses in the 2026 midterm elections.

During Wednesday's, November 4, episode of The Daily Show, Kosta challenged the explanations offered by Fox News host Sean Hannity and former Trump administration official Katie Miller.

"You guys recognize how bad a loss this was, right?" Kosta asked. "You're not going to pretend that this is normal, are you?"

The comedian played clips of the two commentators suggesting that Republicans' poor performance was consistent with historical midterm trends.

"What you're seeing is historically, the party in power loses the midterms," Miller said.

"History matters. Midterms are very, very predictable," Hannity added.

However, Kosta argued that the scale of the Democratic victories made those explanations difficult to accept. Democrats made major gains in traditionally Republican states, including Kansas and Texas, while also securing an upset victory in South Carolina.

Kosta also aimed Fox News host Larry Kudlow, who suggested that President Donald Trump had been "too successful" during his first year in office but had failed to communicate his achievements effectively in his second.

"Of course, he didn't sell it enough," Kosta said sarcastically. "Because if there's one thing we know about Donald Trump, it's that he hates flaunting his own success."

The comedian then addressed comments from former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who criticized the mainstream media for what she described as a "bias of omission" in its coverage of Trump's executive orders.

Kosta mocked the administration's attempts to highlight its accomplishments, pointing to initiatives involving paper straws and the recognition of the Army-Navy football game.

Kosta further ridiculed Republicans' attempts to dismiss the election results, highlighting the upset in South Carolina, where Democrat Annie Andrews defeated Republican Darline Graham.

Graham had taken over the Senate seat following the death of her brother, longtime Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham. The outcome gave Kosta another opportunity to mock the party's explanation for its poor performance.

"You couldn't even get South Carolina to vote for Lindsey Graham's sister-widow," Kosta said. "It's one thing to say that lots of couples have messy breakups. It's another thing to say that if you're O.J."

The comedian then challenged conservative commentators to provide what he considered a reasonable explanation for the Republican defeats.

The segment took an even more bizarre turn when the show played a clip of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones suggesting that Trump was secretly working for Democrats.

"I think he's the ultimate Democrat sleeper cell and he works for them!" Jones declared.

"Yes, that's the good stuff!" Kosta responded.

The Republican defeats also raised questions about the issues that motivated voters to turn against the party.

Democrats won control of both the House and Senate, marking a major setback for Trump as he entered the second half of his presidency. The party also made significant gains in traditionally Republican territory, including Kansas, Texas, and South Carolina.

Economic concerns were among the biggest factors behind the results.

According to an Associated Press voter poll, approximately four in 10 voters identified the economy as the country's most important issue, while about half said the cost of living was a major consideration in their congressional vote.

Immigration enforcement also emerged as an important issue, particularly among Hispanic voters. Reuters reported that concerns about deportations and affordability helped drive Latino voters toward Democrats in several Republican strongholds.

The AP voter poll found that approximately six in 10 Hispanic voters supported Democratic House candidates, highlighting a significant shift in a voting group that Republicans had previously made gains with.

Trump also turned his attention to Fox News as the election results came in, accusing the conservative network of contributing to the Republican Party's poor performance.

In a series of Truth Social posts, the president criticized the network's election coverage and complained about its decision to feature Democratic commentators.

He also claimed Fox News' ratings had dropped 27 percent because of its coverage of Democrats.

"FoxNews Ratings are way down (27%!) because they're spending too much time covering the Trump Deranged Dumocrats!" Trump wrote. "All of those people who used to watch Fox, and no longer do, get it. It's them, not me — My numbers are better than they have ever been."

However, the reported ratings decline was not solely related to election coverage. Fox News' total-day audience had fallen 27 percent year over year in October, according to figures cited by The Guardian. The network's CEO, Lachlan Murdoch, had previously pointed to viewer fatigue as a possible explanation.