Who Cut Ukraine’s Starlink - Trump, Musk, Both, or a Glitch?

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Get ready to vote on today's daily poll question at smerconish.com.

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But first, Michael explains it for you right here.

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Welcome to The Smerconish Podcast from SiriusXM.

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For Independent Minds.

Michael Smerconish (0:29)

Hello, hello, hi gang. Today is Thursday. It's the 15th of October, 2026 A lot of voting yesterday and a very decisive result. Will the midterm election results cause the president to make significant changes to his cabinet and or his policies?

I gave you four choices. I said cabinet. I said policies. I said both. I said neither.

75.91% said neither. I said cabinet. I don't believe both. But both came in second position with 12.96% of the vote, followed by cabinet, followed by policies, again, of 32,481 who voted. So, widely anticipated that Republicans are about to take a shellacking in less than three weeks in the midterms. What will the president do in response? Your answer, nothing. Today's poll question, who cut Ukraine's Starlink service this week? Was it Trump? Was it Musk? Was it both? Or was it a glitch? Go vote at smerconish.com today.

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The Smerconish Podcast from SiriusXM.

Michael Smerconish (1:39)

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The Daily Poll Question at smerconish.com.

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A non-scientific social political question designed to spark broader discussions about current issues.

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Get ready to cast your ballot and leave a rating and review of this podcast on your favorite podcast app.

Michael Smerconish (2:46)

Can I say something special, meaning important to me today, as a thank you before I talk about today's poll question?

Yesterday, my daily newsletter passed a milestone. We now reach more than 150,000 subscribers every day. I say subscribers. It's free. Registrants is probably a better word to use. The better measure might be our open rate, which is more than double the industry average. So people don't just sign up, they actually read it. And let me say something else about those who register. Because we know this from having sampled the audience on a couple of occasions. You are engaged, you are educated, and you are earners. And I know from your email addresses, which I will always protect, that many of you hold positions of influence.

Several years ago, a summer intern from Dartmouth named Blake McGill suggested that I start a newsletter. At first I balked, and then it occurred to me that although I'm known as someone who talks for a living, I actually read for a living. How else would I know what I'm going to say when the mic's hot? And only so much of what I can read fits into a three-hour radio program, so the newsletter became a natural way for me to share my show prep with a wider audience. These are stories that are drawn from disparate sources. I think it matters that people get their information from a variety of outlets, not just one that reinforces what they already believe. And that's the purpose of the newsletter, media balance.

A quick word about how the sausage gets made.

All day long, I monitor the news. And when a story catches my eye, I send it to an Excel spreadsheet through a dedicated email address. Before bed, I trim the list. When I wake up in the wee hours of the morning, as I did this morning, I check what's developed overnight. I finalize the links. I also write my daily note for the newsletter, run it through AI for a spelling and grammar check. And then I hand everything off to Maya Baird, who's our managing editor. On Thursdays, like today, Olek O'Kontos is the guy. On weekends, it's Justin Chesney. But Maya is our primary overseer. And whoever has the watch then proofreads the headlines that I've written, writes a lead for each story, selects the images. Then they format the daily poll question that I've drafted, add a political cartoon from one of our prized illustrators, Jack Oman, Steve Breen, Rob Rogers, Eric Alley, link to the Ground News Blind Spot, and our daily YouTube video produced by the boys at Creative Outfit and sponsored by Parks Casino.