Clock It with Symone & Eugene

Michael Steele remains a Republican, but the party as it stands today is unrecognizable to him. “For the sake of power, we bought the idea of the South will rise again,” he says. “We should've killed it in its infancy and [been] done with it because it gave rise to what happened on January 6th.” The first Black chairman of GOPAC and the RNC joins the groupchat to offer his take on big money (and dark money) in politics, to reflect on how his faith guides his politics, and to explain why he’s stuck with the Republicans in spite of their about-face with regard to individual liberties. “ The easi

We're a month out from the most consequential midterm elections of the 21st century. With momentum on its side, the Democratic party is hoping that big wins in November will lead to a dredging of the entire federal government – one that's continued an ICE surge with impunity, that's failed to stem a worsening affordability crisis, and that's started wars after promising to end them. As the countdown to the elections winds down, Symone and Eugene invite the one-and-only Rachel Maddow back into the groupchat to share their hope that the Democratic party will rise to the occasion and start cleani

On Saturday, September 26th, Symone and Eugene taped an episode of Clock It in front of a live audience as part of MS NOW’s Together in Texas event.  They spoke about the money pouring into races all over the country, and polling that shows Trump underwater and Republicans in suddenly competitive contests. But they pointed out that it’s not enough for Democrats to win back the House – or even the House and the Senate. Symone implored the audience to hold the people they elect to their promises. “It's not just enough to take power and not do jack-ish with it,” she said.  “This is why I think so

Last week, President Trump banned CNN, Politico, and MS NOW from the White House grounds. And this is just the latest in a long list of times Trump has taken up metaphorical arms against the press. Symone and Eugene get into why the president -- under water in the polls as Republican candidates start to distance themselves -- might have decided to ban our journalists 40 days before the midterms. And with November approaching, our hosts invite one of the rising stars of the primaries, Florida's surprise Democratic nominee, Angie Nixon, to the groupchat. Nixon called in from the campaign trail -

If you’re thinking why did Symone and Eugene invite a live streamer to Clock It – or what even is a live streamer – that’s fair, but stay with us. Because right wing media is trying to drag this live streamer into the center of the culture wars. And Democratic candidates -- some of them -- feel the need to take public stances on him. He says he’s become the new War on Christmas. So instead of talking about him, or about other people talking about him, Symone and Eugene decided they'd rather talk to him. “I'm simply one individual that is now being presented as, like, the main media figure of t

We are eight weeks away from the midterms. While Symone and Eugene are optimistic about the multiple paths Democrats have to victory, there is angst that the polls aren't as reliable as people might hope. To better understand how to forecast what will happen in all the pivotal races this November, they called upon MS NOW’s Director of Elections & Analytics Kabir Khanna to read the polling tea leaves -- and teach voters how to read them themselves. The hosts also explore the latest political discourse online, from derogatory language directed at Hakeem Jeffries to John Fetterman’s staffers leak

Following a whistleblower report that the White House is ignoring a court order to stop its attempts to manipulate mail-in-ballots, Eugene and Symone come to the conclusion that, “These norms ain’t working!” Then the duo is joined by best-selling author and “The Atlantic” staff writer Clint Smith to discuss the current assault on Black political power in the U.S., how racist iconography like Confederate statues help shape public policy, and how the triumphs of Black American resistance have become a source of inspiration around the globe. “ The most remarkable thing about all of it,” says Clin

The Democratic Party is overperforming and polling well all over the United States, but the candidates winning primaries look a little different than expected. And the map keeps changing. While the DNC struggles with debt, senatorial candidates like Angie Nixon in Florida and Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan beat very well-funded primary opponents. And they did so while supporting policies Americans for a long time have considered socialist. Symone and Eugene welcome friend of the show and fundraising-wizard Rufus Gifford to debate what makes a Democratic candidate viable, why donors are not giving

For a special live taping of Clock It, Symone and Eugene traveled down to the ATL to kiki in front a standing-room-only crowd of journalists at the National Association of Black Journalists annual convention. They enraptured the attendees talking about the role White House reporters should play. And they got into Trump ditching Air Force One – and all of the members of the media and the administration still on it – to jump on a decoy plane. As a special treat the hosts welcomed actress, activist, and media personality La La Anthony to the stage. The trio dove into La La’s ThreeSixty program, w

In the lead up to one of the most important midterm cycles of the last couple of decades, Symone and Eugene want to check the pulse of the voting bloc they argue is the most important in every election: Black voters. So they invite longtime strategist and pollster Terrance Woodbury to join the groupchat, who tells our hosts that if the political parties want to mobilize the youth, they need to stop "defending democracy." “ We can reform democracy, remake democracy,” said Woodbury. “But defend a system that has failed us is not something that was mobilizing.” Based on the intel he's gathering,

Progressives – some from the DSA, some not – continue picking up big nominations this primary season. Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed defeated Haley Stevens to become the Democratic nominee for Senate despite being outspent by at least $60 million. So, as the primary season approaches the finish line, the Democratic party is facing questions it’s been avoiding for a decade. Do general election voters want to be met in the middle? Or do they want fighters? And with three months to go before the midterms, Symone and Eugene debate whether the media apparatus and D.C. writ large should be preparing for

There are fewer than 100 days until the midterms commence in November. Republicans are reported to have amassed more than half a billion dollars more than Democrats to spend for midterm campaigns and as a result, all eyes are on Democratic Party Chair Ken Martin. Symone and Eugene debate whether or not the DNC is in trouble, how they'd grade Martin’s tenure as chairman, and if Symone herself would even consider taking his position. One thing is for sure, a race that Democrats need to win this year is Michigan, which is why our hosts discuss the secret influencer campaign supporting Haley Steve

On this special episode of Clock It, Eugene and Symone welcome the sage advice and enlivening presence of Jenifer Lewis to the groupchat. The iconic “Mother of Black Hollywood” talks about being diagnosed with bipolar disorder in her 30s, surviving a harrowing fall in Africa, and her political awakening that began during the AIDs epidemic. She shares her unfiltered thoughts on President Trump’s “twisted and sick” administration and why her life is “now 10 percent show business and 90 percent activism." While she has entertained the masses on Broadway, TV, and the big screen, Lewis says the peo

This week, Maryland Governor Wes Moore entered the groupchat. Fresh off the announcement that Maryland would hold a special session this August to focus on redistricting, the governor sounded the alarm on the attacks on our nation’s democratic principles. Republicans’ willingness to play dirty and change the voting power of minority communities is only making America poorer and morally bankrupt, according to Gov. Moore. “ I think that we have a real obligation,” he said, “to think about not just how do we correct for [President] Trump, but how do we actually build a society that's fair?”  Sign

From oyster farmer to progressive star to Democratic party pariah, Graham Platner has been on a bumpy ride. His campaign survived questionable Reddit posts, sexts outside his marriage and a Nazi tattoo, until this week's accusations of sexual assault hit the press. Symone and Eugene ask how all of these red flags could have been missed – or ignored – by the strategists behind his campaign. And they react to the photo of a Black woman on the D.C. Metro surrounded by the Patriot Front (or, “nasty little racists,” as Eugene calls them). “ These are fear tactics, people,” he adds. And to wrap up t

Despite feeling somewhat conflicted about the 4th of July and the semiquincentennial of the country this week, Eugene and Symone went looking for hope. They found it watching the crowds at Democratic politicians’ campaign stops. They heard it when reporters like MS NOW’s Maya Eaglin sent in tape from talking to people on the street. And they point to it in polling. Eighty-eight percent of the people Gallup spoke to in May said they can think of at least one reason to be optimistic about America right now. The most popular reason? People willing to stand up for what they believe is right. Our h

Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan’s book about the first 14 months of Trump’s second term is out, and Symone and Eugene have questions. Is someone recording in the Situation Room? Why does Vice President Vance come out looking so good in all these stories? Speaking of which, why is he being graded on a curve? They also talk about Eugene’s interview with Senate candidate James Talarico, who is handling attacks on his masculinity pretty well – but seems to have not anticipated them, which was probably a mistake. And then our hosts take up a question from a longtime listener to Clock It: people w

This week Symone and Eugene cover the Obama Presidential Center, UFC 250, the fact that tomatoes are up 32%, and, most importantly, Juneteenth. “Rights on paper are not the same as rights in practice,” says Symone, “and we are literally living that right now. Freedom requires government action. Freedom requires enforcement. Freedom requires people willing to defend the promise.” And when Symone and Eugene look at pop stars and Black athletes they find out who's willing, and unwilling, to defend their values. Ariana Grande, Jane Fonda, Tessa Thompson and Ayo Edebiri beg the question: Is your fa

Graham Platner’s redemption arc starts now, after he wins the Democratic senatorial nomination for Maine. And while the rest of the United States is celebrating Pride, a handful of southern (plus Utah) Republican lawmakers have made it a point to rebrand June to disassociate with the LGBTQ+ community. The NBA Finals continue to heat up, in the same week 2026 World Cup kicks off. This should be a time for soccer fans across the globe to bow down at the altar of soccer, but politics – as it so often does – has gotten in the way. The African referee of 2025 was not allowed to enter the U.S. despi

This week we were keeping tabs on a very long primary day with races all over the country, Jill Biden's book tour, the "Summer House" reunion taking over our feeds, and a battle for the soul of “60 Minutes.” Symone and Eugene cover all of it, and then kick off Pride Month by welcoming internet and TV sensation Kalen Allen to the groupchat. The trio get into Hollywood’s beliefs about the market for queer stories – we may never get a Black “Heated Rivalry,” for example – and Kalen’s beliefs about the responsibilities of public figures. "I look at my life, I look at Eugene, I'm like – we are our

Even though President Trump continues to see spiraling poll numbers, the wallets belonging to his inner circle continue to get fatter. But it’s not just the money. Trump and his staff are also consolidating power by taking an axe to voting rights, specifically in southern states and marginalized neighborhoods. Symone and Eugene try to wrap their minds around the financial corruption within the White House before debating whether the NAACP’s call for Black athletes, families, and boosters to boycott colleges in southern states is the appropriate method to fight back. Then, W. Kamau Bell joins t

It’s official. CBS has closed the doors of the Ed Sullivan Theater to “The Late Show” and Stephen Colbert. The show’s expiration is a sign of the times, when media executives capitulate to federal power in order to get mergers approved and paychecks delivered. Eugene and Dr. Symone Sanders Townsend (yes, Dr. Sanders Townsend) lament the twilight of comedy on TV and ask what moguls like Byron Allen will do with the airtime going up for grabs. And then the conversation turns to the cruel face of the Trump administration’s immigration detention campaign. Before they go, our hosts congregate with

The hantavirus is not the next COVID (at least that’s what we are being told…and hope). But Symone and Eugene wonder if they can trust the public health officials in the Trump administration. And a week after Tennessee and Alabama stripped Black voters of their ability to elect the local representatives of their choice, Eugene and Symone warn that Republicans in power are not done. Experts, like Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, would argue that attacks on Black political participation are nothing new. “If you're a racist white oligarch, and let's say you're stealing from white people and Black people, how

Usually at this time of the year fans of art and culture, like Symone and Eugene, are enjoying (or critiquing) the looks from the Met Gala's red carpet. But 2026 was different, because Jeff “Temu Lex Luthor” Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sánchez-Bezos, were the primary sponsors. Symone and Eugene are joined by Honey Magazine co-founder and Ebony Magazine former Editor-in-Chief Kierna Mayo to discuss why exactly the streets were upset with the cultural takeover by one of the world’s richest tycoons. And why they themselves are not ready to fault the Carter family for attending. Our hosts also cloc

AI – and coverage of it – is everywhere. But what is artificial intelligence, really, beyond the buzzword? Each week, in a special new miniseries - ‘The AI End Game’ - Chris Hayes is joined by preeminent experts on AI and its effects to help make sense of this revolutionary time in history. The series will feature in-depth conversations with experts, including: The Atlantic journalist Derek Thompson; professor at Wharton and New York Times bestselling author Ethan Mollick, professor of psychology at UC Berkeley and member of the Berkeley AI Research Group Alison Gopnik; former co-lead of the E

There’s a lot going on this week: the Supreme Court took the Voting Rights Act off of life support, James Comey was indicted again, this time for a picture of seashells, and tit for tat gerrymandering is kicking into high gear. All this while gas is up, diesel is up, and fertilizer is up. And we have to talk about the White House Correspondents Association dinner that ended early on Saturday night. Symone and Eugene unpack the chaotic moments with their MS NOW colleagues Jen Psaki and Ali Vitali, who were all in attendance. The quartet talks about what was going through their minds, how quickl

As the U.S. tries to strike a deal in the Middle East, Symone and Eugene wonder why in the WORLD Jared Kushner and JD Vance are leading negotiations. Kushner’s private equity deals in the Middle East – and the chaos around Vance’s aborted trip to Islamabad this week – have Symone and Eugene asking who’s really running the White House. We know who’s running The Baltimore Sun, though: the chairman of right-wing media behemoth Sinclair Broadcast Group, currently “investigating” Maryland governor Wes Moore. But there are bright spots on the horizon. Eugene’s former boss, Politico co-founder Robert

Trump is a lot of things: the 45th and 47th President of the United States, the former host of “The Apprentice,” a man whose businesses have filed for bankruptcy six times, the owner of more than a dozen golf courses. But he is most definitely not Jesus. For one, while Trump may want to be known as a peacebringer, he keeps starting fights. This week the ceasefire in Iran is holding, but on Sunday Trump turned his gaze to the Vatican and started beefing with America's first pope. The leaders of Archdioceses in Newark, Washington D.C., and Chicago told “60 Minutes” the war in Iran is “not a just

This week gas prices were dramatic, brand new Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin took to Fox News to walk back promises he made during his confirmation hearings just last month, and Trump (among other things) threatened journalists with jail time for protecting leakers. So Symone and Eugene ask Geoff Bennett, PBS anchor and author of “Black Out Loud: The Revolutionary History of Black Comedy from Vaudeville to '90s Sitcoms” to join the groupchat. Together they compile a list of ideas for distracting yourself – i.e. preserving your sanity – while the President of the United States

As the war in the Middle East continues and Americans take to the streets to protest, Symone and Eugene turn to a familiar figure to make sense of these strange times: "Auntie" Rachel Maddow. The trio ask if President Trump can distinguish reality from fantasy. Does he have a comprehension problem? Or is he emotionally lazy? But the thing is, Rachel Maddow doesn’t actually care what’s going on in his brain. “I am very disinterested in him as a person,” she says. “I know that Donald Trump wants to dismantle us as a constitutional republic. The most important thing is what the country is going t

Trump says he was the first person to think ICE agents would help with the interminable lines around the country. “That was like the paperclip,” he said, standing on a tarmac in West Palm Beach on Monday. “You know the story of the paperclip? 182 years ago, a man discovered the paperclip. It was so simple and everybody that looked at it [would] say, why didn't I think of that?” And Eugene points out that no one else thought of it because it’s a terrible idea. He and Symone also call the war in Iran “a choice,” and look at the small percentage of Americans (it’s 1%) that stands to benefit from

Symone and Eugene observe the fallout of war in the Middle East, which has widened to include Iran’s soccer team, the price of gas all over the world, and the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center. Then Sam Sanders joins to talk about Oscars wins and merger losses. He argues that we’ll remember last weekend’s Academy Awards – when interesting movies like “Sinners” and “One Battle After Another” won big – as the end of an era. “The version of Hollywood that we are walking into will be much less likely to actually green light those kind of films,” says Sam. And he places the blame for

As the war in Iran extends into week two, the White House is turning the deadly fighting into a meme, while the president and Marco Rubio eye their next target: Cuba. And after being arrested for covering an ICE protest in Minnesota, Don Lemon comes on the show and gets real about his legal battle with the Department of Justice. The independent journalist and former CNN anchor has been called a “sleazebag” by the President of the United States. But he remains undeterred. He reminds us that the First Amendment is the “bedrock of our constitution,” and at the end of the day he believes he will h

"You don't talk to me for hope," she says. But we found a little bit. First, Ayman Mohyeldin stops by to break down how he’s watching the news out of Iran, and what he sees in the chaotic conclusion to the Democratic primary for a Senate seat in Texas. In our guest segment – the groupchat – Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and creator of “The 1619 Project” Nikole Hannah-Jones warns us that we have entered a second Nadir, a period when progress toward democracy is being rolled back. And returning to an era of Civil Rights enforcement is not a short-term struggle. But, she says, in the words of

Trump’s 2026 State of the Union was … one for the record books. Literally. In the longest State of the Union address in history – something the president is no doubt proud of – Trump continued to declare that America is  bigger, better, richer, hotter, and stronger than ever before. Marc Lamont Hill joins Symone and Eugene to discuss how that could be possible when the price of beef, orange juice, and rent is up, and when Americans are looking down the barrel at losing their voting rights. Symone and Eugene also apologize to Vini Jr. – on others’ behalf – ask how FBI Director Kash Patel ration

Why is Donald Trump so angry? Because former President Barack Obama is cool and he’s not – at least according to journalist Jemele Hill. Jemele joins Symone and Eugene to chat about Obama’s reception at the NBA All-Star Game, why Stephen A. Smith is proof that the age of the celebrity president isn’t going anywhere, and why the Olympics are turning out to be an embarrassing moment for America. And they pay their respects to Civil Rights icon Reverend Jesse Jackson, whose call-and-response adaptation of the poem “I Am Somebody” can serve as a reminder for all of us. Sign up for MS NOW Premium o

In the inaugural episode of “MS NOW Presents: Clock It,” Symone Sanders Townsend and Eugene Daniels share the latest coming out of the Texas Senate race, chat about how Jeff Bezos had enough pocket change for the “Melania” documentary but not enough for the journalists and readers of The Washington Post, and they kiki about how the Benito Bowl was a love letter to ALL of the Americas. Plus, President Fitzgerald Grant III (aka Tony Goldwyn) stops by, along with Tony-winning actor Myles Frost. They talk about their new play “Chez Joey,” why artists need community (just like the rest of us), and

Symone Sanders Townsend and Eugene Daniels were once at odds as White House staffer and White House reporter. Now they’re friends and colleagues–each co-hosting their own shows at MS NOW. But their off-air conversations are where the real action is. Their new show, “MS NOW Presents: Clock It” is an invitation to their groupchat, the liveliest—and most informative—out there. Whether it’s ICE getting dispatched to the Super Bowl because Bad Bunny’s doing the halftime show, or Nicolás Maduro’s Nike Tech fit, or Michael B. Jordan’s sole Oscar nomination despite playing three roles in Sinners, ther