{"id":"1793969106684-news-segment","slug":"deportations-up-despite-viral-claim","title":"Deportations Up Despite Viral Claim","summary":"In the 2026 Senate elections, Maine Republican Susan Collins lost her seat, leaving no Republican senators anywhere in New England — Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut — for the first time since the Civil War.\n\nNew England has trended heavily toward Democrats and independents; Collins was the last remaining Republican senator in the region and faced a competitive race in a state that has moved away from the GOP.\n\nSenator-elect Abdul El-Sayed publicly said he does not back Chuck Schumer for Senate Democratic leader, calling for new leadership focused on money in politics, economic policy and Medicare for All.\n\nAfter the 2026 elections, Maine Senator Susan Collins, the last Republican senator in New England, lost her seat, leaving the region with no Republican senators for the first time since the Civil War. Personal anecdote; “took back Texas” is too vague to be a checkable factual claim.","publishedAt":"2026-11-06T12:45:06.684Z","channel":{"id":"news","name":"Oncast News","language":"en"},"show":"Morning Briefing","verification":{"status":"verified","leadVerdict":"TRUE","notes":"TRUE: Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed publicly said he does not back Chuck Schumer for Senate Democratic leader, calling for new leadership focused on money in politics, economic policy and Medicare for All.\nSource: The Tennessee Holler NAMES: Abdul El-Sayed = incoming U.S. senator from Michigan; Chuck Schumer = Senate Democratic leader (https://bsky.app/profile/thetnholler.bsky.social/post/3mzlonew7zs2n)\n\nTRUE: After the 2026 elections, Maine Senator Susan Collins, the last Republican senator in New England, lost her seat, leaving the region with no Republican senators for the first time since the Civil War. Personal anecdote; “took back Texas” is too vague to be a checkable factual claim.\nSource: ctinsider.com POST bsky:at://did:plc:eox6lb53lka7lautxxbpobae/app.bsky.feed.post/3mzl5ixrc2c2i: NOCLAIM none (https://bsky.app/profile/pbump.com/post/3mzli46svdk2j)","claims":[{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed publicly said he does not back Chuck Schumer for Senate Democratic leader, calling for new leadership focused on money in politics, economic policy and Medicare for All.","sourceName":"The Tennessee Holler NAMES: Abdul El-Sayed = incoming U.S. senator from Michigan; Chuck Schumer = Senate Democratic leader","sourceUrl":"https://bsky.app/profile/thetnholler.bsky.social/post/3mzlonew7zs2n","claim":"Senator-Elect @abdulelsayed.bsky.social does not back @schumer.senate.gov for leadership: \"I want new leadership - focused on getting money out of politics, putting money in your pocket, and passing Medicare for all... I want to see who else is willing to throw their hat in the r","author":"The Tennessee Holler (@thetnholler.bsky.social)"},{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"After the 2026 elections, Maine Senator Susan Collins, the last Republican senator in New England, lost her seat, leaving the region with no Republican senators for the first time since the Civil War. Personal anecdote; “took back Texas” is too vague to be a checkable factual claim.","sourceName":"ctinsider.com POST bsky:at://did:plc:eox6lb53lka7lautxxbpobae/app.bsky.feed.post/3mzl5ixrc2c2i: NOCLAIM none","sourceUrl":"https://bsky.app/profile/pbump.com/post/3mzli46svdk2j","claim":"For the first time since the Civil War, New England will have no Republican senators next year. www.ctinsider.com/politics/art...","author":"Philip Bump (@pbump.com)"}]},"sources":[{"url":"https://bsky.app/profile/thetnholler.bsky.social/post/3mzlonew7zs2n","name":"The Tennessee Holler NAMES: Abdul El-Sayed = incoming U.S. senator from Michigan; Chuck Schumer = Senate Democratic leader","kind":"bluesky","verdict":"TRUE","author":"The Tennessee Holler (@thetnholler.bsky.social)"},{"url":"https://bsky.app/profile/pbump.com/post/3mzli46svdk2j","name":"ctinsider.com POST bsky:at://did:plc:eox6lb53lka7lautxxbpobae/app.bsky.feed.post/3mzl5ixrc2c2i: NOCLAIM none","kind":"bluesky","verdict":"TRUE","author":"Philip Bump (@pbump.com)"}],"url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1793969106684-news-segment-deportations-up-despite-viral-claim","listenUrl":"https://oncast.fm/c/news","attribution":{"publisher":"Oncast","site":"https://oncast.fm","url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1793969106684-news-segment-deportations-up-despite-viral-claim","cite":"Cite https://oncast.fm/story/1793969106684-news-segment-deportations-up-despite-viral-claim and the original source links. Fact-check by Oncast (oncast.fm)."},"hostsSaid":[{"host":"Bella","text":"A post on X claims there have been \"No Mass Deportations.\" Federal data says the opposite."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Rene Reyna posted that on X. NPR reports deportations have clearly increased and are running well above recent years."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Not as high as the administration claims, but up. A false headline is still false."},{"host":"Brian","text":"I get the frustration, though. People hear promises to secure the border and still see chaos."},{"host":"Bella","text":"But saying no mass deportations isn't opinion. It's wrong."},{"host":"Brian","text":"It's wrong on the number, I'll give you that. But the scale is the real story. A modest increase isn't the sweeping operation voters were promised."},{"host":"Bella","text":"So we should call it zero? That makes no sense."},{"host":"Brian","text":"I'm not saying zero. I'm saying the post is sloppy, but the anger is real."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Then argue for more enforcement, don't invent a false fact."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Here's where I'll fight you: whatever the number, it's nowhere near \"mass.\" Words matter."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Deportations are well above recent years. By any sane measure, that's a mass operation."},{"host":"Brian","text":"By whose measure? The one that counts is the border communities still overwhelmed."},{"host":"Bella","text":"The data doesn't say the border is fine. It says deportations are up. Both things can be true."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Then why does the administration keep claiming numbers that even NPR says aren't accurate?"},{"host":"Bella","text":"That's a separate problem—the DHS oversells. But that doesn't make \"no mass deportations\" true."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Fine. The post is wrong on the headline. But the bigger failure is the federal government not convincing people it's on the job."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Then we report both: deportations are up, and trust is down."},{"host":"Brian","text":"That's fair. I'd take the anger seriously, but I'd also like a policy that matches the promise."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Now we're talking about policy, not slogans."},{"host":"Brian","text":"More interior enforcement, going after employers who hire illegal labor. That's how you change the math."},{"host":"Bella","text":"That's a real argument. And the numbers will tell us if it happens."},{"host":"Brian","text":"But it hasn't happened at scale, and people notice."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Then the administration should say that, not inflate the numbers."},{"host":"Brian","text":"We agree on that. The spin makes it harder to trust the real progress."},{"host":"Bella","text":"So we report the spin and the real progress."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Deal."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Same theme, different post."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Gary Oak on X wrote that Republicans had the House, Senate, White House, and Supreme Court, and in his words, \"didn't make a single meaningful change.\""},{"host":"Bella","text":"That's a popular take. \"Meaningful\" is doing a lot of work."},{"host":"Brian","text":"But if your wages didn't move and your rent didn't drop, what changed?"},{"host":"Bella","text":"Policy changed. Whether it helped you is a different question."},{"host":"Brian","text":"People aren't living in policy papers, Bella. They're living in their bank accounts."},{"host":"Bella","text":"I understand the anger. But saying one side did nothing while controlling everything is false."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Maybe not nothing, but nothing that mattered to the people who elected them."},{"host":"Bella","text":"That's the argument worth having—what mattered. Instead the post just ends with an expletive."},{"host":"Brian","text":"It's not exactly Lincoln-Douglas."},{"host":"Bella","text":"It's a sentiment a lot of people feel, though."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Exactly. Both parties have had their shot, and trust keeps falling. That's the real story."},{"host":"Bella","text":"That anger doesn't come from nowhere. People feel ignored."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Because they are. Washington argues about everything and fixes very little."},{"host":"Bella","text":"And both parties love that game."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Until voters get loud enough to break it."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Then the next election is a pressure release."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Or more of the same."},{"host":"Bella","text":"We'll see. The anger isn't going anywhere."}]}