THE CIRCUS: INSIDE THE WILDEST POLITICAL SHOW ON EARTH Returns to SHOWTIME

THE CIRCUS: INSIDE THE WILDEST POLITICAL SHOW ON EARTH returns this Sunday, September 22 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME, venturing behind the scenes of the unfolding 2020 campaign.

As Democrats wrestle with the best strategy to beat President Trump next year, co-hosts John Heilemann, Mark McKinnon, and Alex Wagner track the three leading candidates - former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts), and Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont) - as they crisscross the country. THE CIRCUS is on the ground in the critical early voting states of Iowa and South Carolina, as well as North Carolina, Texas, New York and Washington, D.C., as the battle plays out between the progressive and moderate wings of the party. On the Republican side, the show explores President Trump's re-election efforts as his campaign targets the Democratic stronghold of New Mexico. The hosts also speak with all three of Trump's GOP challengers - Mark Sanford, Joe Walsh and Bill Weld - about why they're taking on the president of their own party and how vulnerable they believe he is in 2020.

THE CIRCUS is produced by Left/Right for SHOWTIME. John Heilemann, Mark McKinnon, Alex Wagner, Banks Tarver, Ken Druckerman, Ted Bourne and Tom Johnson serve as executive producers.

John Heilemann is a co-founder of Recount Media and editor-in-chief of The Recount, a new video platform for short-form political news, analysis, and commentary. Heilemann is national affairs analyst for NBC News and MSNBC - where he appears regularly on Morning Joe, Deadline: White House, The Last Word, and The 11th Hour - and co-author of the runaway New York Times bestsellers Game Change and Double Down, widely regarded as the definitive chronicles of the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections, respectively. Game Change was adapted into a movie of the same name, which went on to win five Emmy Awards, three Golden Globes, and a Peabody Award.

Mark McKinnon is a CNN political analyst, political advisor, reform advocate, media columnist and television producer. He was the chief media adviser to five successful presidential primary and general election campaigns and is co-founder of No Labels, an organization dedicated to bipartisanship, civil dialogue and political problem solving. McKinnon has worked for many causes, companies and candidates, including former President George W. Bush, the late Senator John McCain, late Governor Ann Richards and Bono.

Alex Wagner is a special correspondent for CBS News and a contributing editor at The Atlantic. She is also the author of the book Futureface: A Family Mystery, an Epic Quest and the Secret To Belonging, which examines questions about American identity and immigration in the 21st century. Previously, Wagner hosted the Emmy® nominated MSNBC political affairs program NOW with Alex Wagner. Before joining MSNBC, she was a reporter with the Huffington Post, investigating the intersection of business, politics and new technology. Prior to this, she served as the White House correspondent for Politics Daily and was the Editor-in-Chief of the award-winning FADER magazine.

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