United States
United Kingdom
Canada
Australia
New Zealand
IrelandSimon Marks sees an anti-AI message in Trump's midterm defeat
His LBC discussion with James O'Brien moves beyond the congressional results to tech billionaires, data centres and the prospect of investigations.
LBC
Story of Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 1,190,299 views a day, 23 times a normal first day on this channel (50,880).
Has America just rejected Trumpism? | Simon Marks
Things we can learn from the video
Press to jump
- 0:10Marks reports Democratic control of both chambers and describes the scale of Trump's defeat.
- 2:30James Talarico's victory over Ken Paxton anchors the discussion of Democratic gains in Texas.
- 4:15Marks interprets the result as voters checking presidential power after other institutions failed to do so.
- 7:15His answer to the title includes voter pushback against tech billionaires, data centres and unchecked AI development.
- 9:35Marks expects congressional investigations to scrutinise administration figures and criticises institutions he says previously bowed to Trump.
"It's like a spell breaking, isn't it?" James O'Brien asks Simon Marks as they take in Democrats' capture of both chambers of Congress. Reporting from Washington, Marks argues that the result is more than a rejection of Donald Trump: he sees voters pushing back against the power of technology billionaires, too.
The LBC discussion drew roughly 890,000 views in its first 14 hours, already far beyond the channel's usual first-day audience for a regular video.
Marks begins with the electoral map, including James Talarico's Senate victory over Ken Paxton in Texas. But his answer to the title's question, "Has America just rejected Trumpism? | Simon Marks", extends beyond party labels. He presents the election as a democratic corrective after other institutions failed to constrain the president.
At the centre of that argument is the relationship between political power and technological change. "This is a major element of pushback by the American electorate towards AI, towards data centers," Marks says. He connects that interpretation to opposition to Elon Musk and unchecked AI development, rather than treating the result solely as a conventional midterm setback.
The conversation forms part of a wider burst of interest in LBC's post-election coverage. Marks also joins Tom Swarbrick in "Republicans begin to turn on President Trump", a separate fast-starting discussion that brings in former Trump advisory board member Jenna Ellis.
With O'Brien, Marks turns from the verdict to its consequences: he expects congressional investigations to put administration figures under scrutiny, arguing that the new majorities will bring checks that were previously missing.
A Democratic politician and educator who is the US senator-elect from Texas. He has served in the Texas House of Representatives since 2018.
More on Wikipedia ›Texas's attorney general since 2015 and the Republican nominee for the state's US Senate seat in 2026.
More on Wikipedia ›Published on Trari
Where next?
Is this your channel?For the channel's owners and team: a ready picture and text for your audience
Share the story with your audience. Everything is ready:
For an Instagram story or a WhatsApp status
For a community post or your channel's description
- Channel
- LBC
- Subscribers
- 1,550,000 ▲ 10,000 this week
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 14,592,858
- Channel views, pace per day
- 4,575,727 (on a normal day: 1,954,599)
- Video published
- November 4, 2026
- Video views so far
- 891,052 (less than a day online)
- Video views, pace per day
- 1,190,299
The numbers
The discussion had already drawn far more views than LBC's usual full first day. Several other post-election uploads also attracted unusually large audiences.
💡 Test your knowledge
Which river runs alongside Washington, DC, where Simon Marks is reporting?
Washington, DC sits on the Potomac River.