The following is an edited transcript excerpt from The Michael Knowles Show.

* * *

The Democrats have admitted what their strategy is for the midterm elections and Republicans need to pay attention because it’s a pretty scary one.

Abigail Spanberger, Virginia’s new governor, is the personification of the Democrats’ strategy for the 2026 midterm elections and for the 2028 presidential election. Spanberger ran as a “moderate” for governor of Virginia. Now, five seconds later, she’s coming out decrying President Trump’s immigration policy as “horrifying,” saying:

In what we’ve seen recently, the really, I think, horrifying thing is that now, under the new administration or the Trump administration, where every cross into the United States is considered a criminal act.

Credit: @mmmarkuson/X.com

That is an amazing statement from a governor — of any party.

That’s not a specific policy of the Trump administration. That is a matter of federal law passed by Congress. It has been federal law for many decades now. It’s there in the meaning of the word illegal. When an illegal alien does the thing that distinguishes him as an illegal alien, that is, in fact, illegal — not just because President Trump says so, but because federal law says so.

So, when she says she is horrified by President Trump actually applying the law, she’s admitting she’s horrified by the law.

How did Spanberger get elected? She ran as a moderate.

So, are the Democrats going to moderate their policies, or are they just going to lie to get through the elections?

Here’s what Andy Beshear, governor of Kentucky, has to say:

Media’s current ‘moderate’ darling Andy Beshear points to Spanberger’s campaign as evidence that Democrats can win running to the center.

What Andy fails to mention is that since she was elected, Spanberger has been full throttle on every far-left agenda item imaginable. https://t.co/J3k6xKC0pB pic.twitter.com/tBg7LRdqtm

— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) February 15, 2026

Credit: @WesternLensman/X.com

Jake Tapper: How do you respond to a Democratic voter who might say, “I like you. I like your track record in a red state or red commonwealth, but you’re too soft-spoken?”

Gov. Beshear: “Well, first, yes, that message is working. Look at Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill, who ran great campaigns in races that should have been structurally difficult, and they both won by double digits. They are the DGA, and our candidates are winning everywhere. For me, I believe that the American people want stability, that Donald Trump is exhausting. Many Americans feel like the pendulum swung too far during the Biden administration and has swung way too far during the Trump administration, and what they want is an America where they can wake up every morning and not be worried about its future.”

America wants stability. In other words, moderation. 

The pendulum swung not only too far under the Trump administration, but he says probably the pendulum swung a little too far under the Biden administration. 

The Left went a little too far Left. In other words, we need moderation.

Moderation, moderation, moderation.

WATCH: The Michael Knowles Show on DailyWire+

Who do we look to? We look at Abigail Spanberger in Virginia. And what did Spanberger do? She ran as a moderate and then, we don’t need to speculate on what she will do — we now know what she did the minute she got into office — she pulled ICE cooperation from her state.

The minute she gets into office, she says Virginia will no longer cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.

The minute she gets into office, she says we’re going to reduce the mandatory minimums for certain heinous, violent crimes.

The minute she gets into office, she backs a constitutional right to late-term abortion — not first-trimester abortion, which is evil in itself, but third-trimester abortion. She then doubles down on the radical LGBT agenda and supports voting rights for felons.

Abigail Spanberger, in office, is as Left as any left-wing politician in the country. The only thing that distinguishes her, the only reason Andy Beshear pointed to her, is because she lied and ran as a moderate. And that’s what they’re going to do in the midterms.

So it’s up to us — Conservatives, normal people, centrists, Republicans — to expose that lie and really push them.

For example, when they say, “Actually, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton deported more people than Donald Trump,” we say, “Oh, so you’re saying deportations are good? You want to deport more people?” They will quickly backtrack and say, “Well, I … I … I never meant …”

The contrivance that the Democrats are trying to put forward is that we’re all just kind of moderate. The goal is to sound like Andy Beshear and Abigail Spanberger on the campaign trail.

The chief strategy for Democrats heading into ’26 and then into ’28 is to hide all of it by running as moderates.

Eight skiers caught in an avalanche near Lake Tahoe in California were confirmed dead and a ninth skier is presumed dead after a rescue team braved harsh conditions to search the area for any survivors, Nevada County, California, Sheriff Shannan Moon said on Wednesday.

The tragic update comes after rescuers found six survivors near Truckee, California, and brought them to safety following one of the deadliest avalanches in U.S. history. Fifteen, including four guides and 11 clients, were on their way back from a three-day backcountry excursion to Castle Peak in the Sierra Nevada mountains when they were caught in an avalanche the size of a football field on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Authorities initially said there were 16 total skiers, but they later said that one person who was planning on going on the trip backed out at the last minute.

Authorities will attempt to recover the bodies of the deceased skiers when the weather calms down and allows for safer travel.

“Due to the ongoing challenges of the weather, the avalanche conditions, the effort remains ongoing, as well as our search for the remaining skier,” Moon said.

Boreal Mountain Ski Resort said that roughly 30 inches of snow came down in the area within 24 hours between Monday and Tuesday. Search teams made up of around 50 people braved a blinding snow storm during their rescue operation and were forced to ditch their snow cat vehicles for skis when they got within two miles of the avalanche site to avoid causing another avalanche. Up to 18 inches of snow is expected for the area on Thursday and Friday, which could push the authorities’ timeline for recovering the bodies back even further. One of the deceased skiers was the spouse of a person on the rescue team, authorities said.

The group of skiers were part of a guided tour that included nine women and six men. Five of the survivors were clients of the guide company, Blackbird Mountain Guides, and one survivor was a guide. Blackbird Mountain Guides has faced scrutiny over its decision to move ahead with the backcountry ski trip despite the forecast for harsh weather and the avalanche risk. Sheriff Moon said during a press conference on Wednesday that she talked to the guide company about its decision.

The area near Truckee is one of the most popular destinations for skiers and is known for its beautiful scenery and heavy snowfall.

“The backcountry, it’s beautiful. There’s not a lot of people out there, and that’s where a lot of people like to recreate,” Sheriff Moon said. “I myself like to recreate in that area, but Mother Nature, it doesn’t seem to matter, no matter how prepared you are, no matter how experienced you are.”