Jen Psaki was part of the pull at MS Now’s Together In Texas: We the People 2026 event on 26 September, when nearly 5,000 fans filled the University of Texas-Arlington arena in Texas. Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell were among the network figures cheered by the crowd, turning the annual gathering into a live measure of how far MS Now can travel beyond New York City.
Texas Crowd, National Test
Marcus Mabry, MS Now’s senior vice-president of content strategy, said the network wanted to be “bigger and bolder,” to “go to a story that really matters (and this is one of the most important stories of the season), and we wanted to keep growing our live events business,” and that “everything is bigger in Texas.” The event gave that strategy a concrete test: a crowd in Texas, not a familiar coastal setting, turning out in large numbers for a network fan gathering.
That move mattered because MS Now had hosted the annual fan event in New York City for the previous two years. Bringing it to Texas widened the map for a live audience while keeping the event tied to the network’s own talent and programming, rather than treating the stop as a one-off appearance.
Stephanie Ruhle In Texas
Stephanie Ruhle gave the crowd its most pointed moment when she said, “I will say, in the state of Texas, you might have a lot of neighbors that don’t vote like you, but it doesn’t mean they can’t tomorrow.” She also said, “I met so many people today whose eyes were filled with tears, and they said: ‘I’m the sole blue dot in Texas.’ How great that you are outstanding. How great that you are a special voice.”
Chris Hayes said viewers seem to be more “locked into the news” lately, and described “thousands and thousands of people here – in the middle of Texas.” He added that “it feels like another world … We’ve had the most intense stress test in the American constitutional republic in my lifetime, and I don’t think anything is determined yet, but it certainly feels better than a year and a half ago.”
Tarrant County And Next Month
The backdrop in Texas is not abstract. In 2024, Donald Trump and JD Vance carried Tarrant county by 42,125 votes, and Texas has not elected a Democrat to the US Senate in 37 years. Next month, James Talarico, 37, is set to go up against Ken Paxton, after Ken Paxton ousted John Cornyn in the Republican primary with Donald Trump’s backing.
For MS Now, the practical question is whether a crowd of nearly 5,000 in Texas becomes more than a one-night turnout. The network’s membership plan costs $7.99 per month or $79.99 annually, and its primetime lineup is averaging 1.3 million viewers this year, up 11% from 2025. If Texas is now part of the live-events map, the next test is whether attendees stay engaged after the arena lights go down.
