This is the April 24, 2026, edition of “The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe” newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered straight to your inbox every Monday through Friday.
JOE’S NOTE
Costs. Corruption. Chaos.
I’ve argued that that’s the message Democrats need to focus on if they want to win in November.
A viewer wrote in yesterday with two more worth adding:
Cruelty — as we’ve seen play out from Minneapolis to the courts.
And corrosiveness — the quiet, steady rot of constitutional and political norms.
Regarding corruption and the corrosive impact of our oligarchical government, Rahm Emanuel said it well this morning:
A member of the armed forces gets prosecuted for using insider information. But Wall Street insiders who make millions daily on incredibly well-timed oil trades minutes before war news is announced? Walk scot-free.
Same playbook. Different sets of rules applied differently with different consequences.
It’s as if these people think they’re operating in 1956 instead of 2026, in an age now when everything can be traced.
Hunter Biden’s $3 million Ukrainian business fee was a scandal “worse than Watergate” for most Republicans. It was rightly covered. But relative to what’s happening now — family members on television bragging about Pentagon deals, a crypto operation that made the Trumps hundreds of millions while everyone else got cleaned out — Hunter’s business deals were child’s play.
As with Mr. Biden, justice will come for lawbreakers. Count on it.
ON THE CALENDAR
It’s only April. The Red Sox are heading to Baltimore this weekend, and we’re choosing to remain cautiously optimistic. Here’s what else is going on:
Calling all bookworms, bookpilers, and book collectors: Indie Bookstore Day is tomorrow. More than 2,000 independent shops across the country are participating — stop in at your nearest one and pick up something an algorithm never would have found you.
In the Bronx, this is your last weekend to catch the New York Botanical Garden’s Orchid Show — a stunning floral installation assembled by one of the most celebrated floral artists in the world. Consider it spring in its Sunday best.
In Chicago, North America’s longest-running Latino film festival is screening features from Latin America, Spain, Portugal, the U.S., and beyond. Grab your tickets, your popcorn, and your best ¡Vamos al cine!
Down in North Carolina, MerleFest is filling 12 stages with Americana, blues, folk, and country — the deep, roots-oriented sounds of Appalachia — all stretched across a four-day campout. If you go, you may not want to come back.
In Florida, the monthlong O, Miami poetry festival wraps in gloriously eccentric fashion: a coastal trash cleanup through the mangroves of Crandon Park, followed by a master class in Read to Filth — that is, how to artfully savage someone through the humble limerick. High culture, low brow, maximum fun.And in Los Angeles on Sunday, leave the car at home for CicLAvia, three miles of closed roadways and open streets for cyclists, rollerskaters, skateboarders, strollers — anything that doesn’t go “vroom.”
MAILBAG
Thank you again to all our readers who wrote in this week. As always, you’re welcome to write to us any time.
With the Department of Homeland Security closed, how is the U.S. able to prepare for the safety of the millions of FIFA fans traveling to stadiums throughout the country in a few months?
— Anonymous
As a longtime fan of the Premier League and the World Cup, I have been looking forward to the United States hosting the world’s top football event for years now. How unfortunate that our moment to shine comes at a time when American leaders are held in such low regard around the globe. They have created a brutal police force that will strike fear in many visitors who are coming to watch the World Cup from all over the world.
Senate Republicans seem to understand how dangerous the continued shutdown of DHS is for the nation’s security. Unfortunately, the funding bill they’re pushing will do nothing to discipline Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, who have spent the past year brutalizing immigrants, terrorizing refugees, and shooting U.S. citizens dead in the streets of America.
The greatest danger ahead may be the Trump administration’s attempts to deploy ICE agents to voting locations across America this fall, in an autocratic attempt to scare voters away from the polls.
Democrats must do everything in their power to block funding for this potential danger. Free and fair elections will depend on their success.
Polls keep showing the war, affordability, etc. hurting Trump’s favorables. Is there anything to show that these issues are also affecting Republicans? If not, how do Democrats link these in the elections?
— Marc F., Bar Harbor, Me.
The Democratic Party has historically low approval ratings, and yet it’s doing better in generic ballot tests against Republicans than at any time in the past decade.
Individual Democratic candidates in both Senate and House races are exceeding polling expectations, and suddenly control of the U.S. Senate seems to be in reach of the Democratic Party.
At the same time, Democratic candidates are doing far better in fundraising and in their individual races than their Republican counterparts. That may make races in red states like Texas, Ohio, and Alaska far more competitive than they would be in any other years.
I don’t know if I am alone, but my negative thoughts are toward [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, not the Israeli people. He continues to alienate his country and citizens from others by his atrocities toward citizens of Gaza and Lebanon who have nothing to do with Hamas or Hezbollah. There is a difference that should be defined.
— Cindi G., Watertown, Mass.
Cindi, I am a proud supporter of Israel and a believer in its right to exist. I make absolutely no apologies for that. I also make no apologies for aggressively fighting against antisemitism my entire adult life. Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Islamic Jihad Group are all terrorist organizations that are sworn enemies of the United States and Israel. The weakening of their grip on the Palestinian people is needed.
Those things can be true at the same time that I find myself repulsed by the endless wars Benjamin Netanyahu is fighting in the name of Israel’s security. Far from making the Israeli people safer after Oct. 7, 2023, his endless, unrelenting, vicious campaigns against the people of Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon undermine Israel’s long-term security.
The impact of Netanyahu’s maximalist policies will cause a generational divide between American voters and the Israeli government.
Joe, when did you become such a Red Sox fan and why? I’ve been a fan since the 1960s. I am a Bostonian.
— Roger K., Boston
In the summer of ’75, I noticed that two young rookies were making a big impact in Major League Baseball. I stopped wanting to be the Atlanta Braves when I played Wiffle ball against my brother — and started pretending I was Jim Rice and Fred Lynn. By the time Carlton Fisk’s home run soared over the Green Monster in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series, my conversion to the Red Sox nation was complete!
I love the team and hope that it gets back on its winning track very soon!
ONE MORE SHOT
Farmers muster sheep and cattle on horseback in New Zealand’s hill country, where rising diesel and fertilizer costs have pushed many operations to revive older methods of working the land.
ON THE BOOKSHELF
Bestselling author and bookstore owner Ryan Holiday joined “Morning Joe” to give us his latest recommendations. Get your weekend reading started below.
That’s all the time we have, folks.
Thanks so much for your letters and for reading The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe.
Have a great weekend.
Joe
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