They won their primaries on one message. Now it’s disappearing. Let’s go Off Script
Off Script isn’t about chasing the next headline.
It’s about understanding the one we already have.
In This Episode
- The primary messaging got them to the midterms. But now, some candidates are quietly rewriting it. Trump references are disappearing. Progressive priorities are being pushed aside. We talk to Senior Politics Reporter Azi Paybarah who tracked what changed — and what disappeared.
- Plus, the jokes are real. The comedians telling them? Not so much. AI is stealing the material — and sometimes the audience along with it. Digital Influence Reporter Rosie Thomas spoke with comedians whose jokes have been lifted.
- And haven’t booked those holiday flights yet? This year could cost you a lot more. We break down why fares are soaring — and how long you have to lock in a better deal.
What Matters
First, What Matters: a story that caught our attention this week — and why we think it deserves yours.
After primary wins, candidates for Congress scrub Trump and progressive views from sites
Primary season is over. And for some candidates, so is part of he message that got them through it.
With the midterms closing in, Republicans who once put their Trump credentials front and center are quietly scrubbing them from campaign websites.
Some Democrats are making their own pivot, putting costs and kitchen-table issues ahead of some of the progressive messaging they emphasized during the primaries.
Our senior politics reporter, Azi Paybarah, tracked the before-and-after. We asked him what changed — and why.
Conversation highlights:
CHRISTIAN BRYANT: One of the things that I noticed in looking at your reporting is some of these changes are really subtle, right? It’s removing an endorsement, it’s changing a picture. What sort of trends have you seen across both parties with candidates, you know, refashioning their messaging as they’re heading into the midterms?
AZI PAYBARAH: What is kind of interesting is that Republicans seem to be backing away from Donald Trump after very happily embracing him during their primaries. And a couple of Democrats, not all, but a couple of Democrats who are running in Republican-friendly seats or Republican-friendly states, they too are de-emphasizing how much they’re running against Trump because the idea of partisanship is wearing on some voters, especially when you think about kitchen table issues. The cost of eggs, the cost of gasoline, you know, paychecks not rising and inflation. With those issues so front and center for so many voters and in so much public opinion polling, it’s clear candidates on both sides of the aisle see an incentive to re-jigger and adjust their messaging.
BRYANT: Midterms are gonna be the real litmus test as to whether these strategies are really working for these candidates. What have you heard about how this could affect the outcome in November?
PAYBARAH: There’s a lot of time between now and November. What these changes are signaling is that the people who care most about getting elected — the candidates — are seeing something in their internal data, or they’re picking up on something that’s telling them it’s their best chance to win.
Is to either talk about Trump or not talk about him, depending on which side of the aisle you’re on. And it’s to focus on issues that are going to grab voters’ attention. Corruption, Congress being more effective, high prices of everyday goods. If those candidates are seeing that, then Trump’s call to pretend like he’s on the ballot may not work for Republicans the way that he thinks.
Read Azi’s full story here >
Now to You
There’s no shortage of opinions online, but what’s hard to find is answers.
This is Now To You, where we take your questions, comments and hot takes — and dig for the facts.
After our Wednesday story on Trump’s new voluntary AI safety agreement, @BrianBorawski on YouTube had a pretty straightforward question:
STRAIGHT ARROW: We do know what the companies are promising: internal safety controls, outside audits and oversight from their own boards.
What the agreement doesn’t require is just as important. Companies don’t have to publicly release those audits, identify who’s auditing them or disclose what those auditors find. And there are no penalties if they don’t follow through.
Trump calls the agreement “morally binding.” Whether that provides enough transparency is still very much up for debate.
Inside the Story
Ok, let’s go Inside the Story.
You can read the stories on Straight Arrow, but this is where we go a step further, getting at the details that didn’t fit, the questions that came up and the reporting that shaped the story.
Have you heard the one about AI stealing real comedians’ work?
A comedian writes a great joke.
Then an AI-generated woman starts telling it — and getting the views instead.
That’s happening to real comedians, who are finding their material lifted by fake online performers — sometimes to build huge followings and drive people to adult content.
Straight Arrow Digital Influence Reporter Rosie Thomas tracked down the real comedians behind some of those stolen jokes. We asked her what they told her… and what happens when an AI knockoff gets the audience instead.
Conversation highlights:
CHRISTIAN BRYANT: I want you to kind of paint a picture for our listeners. I’m going to be very careful about describing the execution of this theft, but I mean give our listeners a bit of a debrief on what it is that you’re seeing in these videos. I invite them to look, but there’s something very specific about the videos.
ROSIE THOMAS: All of the jokes are about dating or specifically dating men, and they’re all jokes from women because the bot, the AI character, is a woman and also she’s an advert for a deep fake fan view, which is kind of like an OnlyFans. So, in many ways, these stolen jokes are being used to advertise like a paid porn site, which is not, I don’t think, the original intention of the comedians when they’re posting them.
BRYANT: This was a reveal in your piece that I was kind of surprised to see. I thought that it was getting to, I don’t know, like a betting site or something. How unusual is this in the realm of comedy and joke theft?
THOMAS: So, I mean, it’s, I suppose, novel in that we’ve only recently entered a period when the technology became available to do this specifically for comedians, and, obviously, an era in which comedians have to post content online all the time in order to become famous enough to sell tickets. So it’s a new thing.
Read Rosie’s full story here >
Also Worth Your Time
Want more to read?
Here’s what didn’t make the cut on Unbiased Updates this week — but we think it’s Also Worth Your Time.
Trump bans Canadian alcohol imports as trade war escalates
The latest round of the U.S.-Canada trade war is hitting everything from motorcycles and molasses to a whole lot of booze.
Trump has now banned nearly $1 billion worth of Canadian imports. Alcohol is by far the biggest hit. Beer, wine, whiskey, vodka, rum and brandy are all on the list.
The American Action Forum estimates that alcohol accounts for nearly $9 of every $10 worth of goods affected by the ban. It’s a counterstrike after some Canadian provinces pulled U.S.-made alcohol from their shelves in response to Trump’s tariffs.
And this fight may not be over.
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney hasn’t ruled out another response. But Trump said he still expects the two countries to eventually reach what he calls a “fair deal.”
Holiday travelers face highest airfares in a decade
If you haven’t booked your holiday flights yet, your wallet may not be thankful.
Holiday airfares are at their highest levels in a decade, with the Iran war driving up jet fuel costs and airlines passing some of that cost on to you.
For Thanksgiving, the average domestic round-trip ticket is now $402 — $95 more than last year.
Christmas? Even worse. The average round-trip fare is about $452 — up $85 from last year.
And if you’re thinking you’ll just wait this out, this probably isn’t the year. Hopper says fares are expected to climb as the holidays approach, so your best bet is to book before Halloween.
Here’s the Kicker
Feeling overwhelmed by this week’s headlines? We’ve got a good way for you to head into the end of the week.
Researchers find strongest DNA evidence yet in 200-year-old Jefferson-Hemings case
A 200-year-old family mystery, apparently solved by DNA and a little bit of hair.
Researchers said they now have their strongest genetic evidence yet that Thomas Jefferson fathered at least one child with Sally Hemings, the enslaved woman in his household at Monticello.
The investigation started with a strand of hair found inside Jefferson’s Bible. A great clue, except it turned out not to be his.
So researchers tested other hair linked to Jefferson, including a lock cut from his deathbed, and compared the DNA with living descendants. Their conclusion: a 99.96% chance Jefferson fathered at least one of Hemings’ children.
And that mystery hair from the Bible? They say it belonged to a woman in Jefferson’s family.
… Whose? That mystery survives.
Ok, that’s it for us week. Thanks for listening (and reading!)
We’ll see you back here next week.
-The Unbiased Updates team