Fox News Collapses On Air as Trump Loses All Control

Summary

The MeidasTouch Podcast

Episode: Fox News Collapses On Air as Trump Loses All Control

Date: August 28, 2025
Hosts: Ben, Brett, and Jordy Meiselas

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Overview

In this episode, the MeidasTouch brothers dive deep into the recent on-air fiascoes and inflammatory rhetoric coming from Fox News, while Donald Trump's grip on the American political narrative visibly weakens. The brothers highlight the collapse of right-wing media coherence, Fox News’s obsession with “culture war” non-issues, the dangerous scapegoating of marginalized groups, and the MAGA Republicans’ continued gaslighting of the American public. They blend sharp analysis with signature banter, exposing Fox’s contradictions and offering passionate calls for genuine common-sense reform.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Fox News’ On-Air Collapse and Contradictions

• The show opens with the brothers mocking Fox News for “glitching” live—especially as figures like Sean Hannity misrepresent the use of the National Guard (02:01).
• [02:33] Sean Hannity tries to link a Minneapolis shooting to Trump’s militarized law-and-order agenda, while apparently embarrassing B-roll plays:

  “...sending in the National Guard troop, for example, to clean up crime in D.C.”—while the Guard are shown “picking up trash and visiting tourist attractions.”

• The hosts highlight how Fox’s live footage undercuts its pundits’ narratives (“the National Guard isn’t fighting crime, they’re collecting litter in D.C.”).

2. Deflections from Gun Reform & Victim Blaming

• The brothers underscore Fox News' resistance to gun reform, despite 85% of Americans supporting common sense measures (03:46).
• They call out Fox personalities for shifting blame or scapegoating Democrats and marginalized groups, instead of addressing gun violence rationally.
• [03:23] Jesse Waters:

  “Yet Congress... blamed President Trump... January 6th. Yet they're not going to hold ...Tim Waltz and ...New York, Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles responsible for using their positions to provide cover ...to allow these people to go out and do these things.”

• The podcast criticizes these false equivalencies, noting the absurdity of comparing Trump’s role in January 6th to mayors dealing with urban gun violence.

3. Fox’s Transphobic Attacks and Culture War Diversions

• The episode spotlights Jesse Waters’ bigoted comments about the trans community:
  [04:35] Jesse Waters:

  “I don’t hate anyone who thinks they’re trans. I feel sorry for them. But statistically, the trans population has been prone to violence. That’s not villainizing, that’s reality.”

• The hosts slam these remarks as classic scapegoating, and lambast Fox’s “obsessions” with the Cracker Barrel logo and irrelevant pop culture grievances.
• Commentary urges a focus on real issues: healthcare, education, and living wages—instead of “Sydney Sweeney’s jeans or Cracker Barrel.”

4. “Common Sense” Solutions Gone Wild

• The brothers ridicule Sean Hannity’s call for a military-style presence in schools (armed guards, metal detectors, sniper perches):
  [05:46] Sean Hannity:

  “Every school in the country should have a metal detector... with armed guards... retired military... tax incentives for volunteers… If they put in enough hours, how about no estate tax if they pass away?”

• They argue that Hannity's prescription for ending school shootings is both dystopian and impractical—dodging the root issue: gun access.

5. MAGA Rhetoric, Victimhood, and the Never-Ending Culture War

• The podcast mocks the MAGA mentality on Fox: blaming liberals for everything, glamorizing cultural regression, and pining for reversed social progress.
• [09:12] Jesse Waters lists off lost “icons” like Aunt Jemima and the Redskins, complaining about “what they took from us”—symbolizing the right-wing’s culture war priorities.

  "If we had just put our foot down years ago... We’d still be smoking on planes. Think about the great things we could still be doing if we had just said no."

• The hosts lampoon the pettiness of these laments, contrasting them to urgent national challenges.

6. Fox’s Predatory Business Model

• The episode exposes Fox News as an exploitative business—selling gold, reverse mortgages, and “Relief Factor” to an aging audience. [15:16] Jesse Waters:

  "Cracker Barrel’s for old people. It's like trying to sell reverse mortgages to young people or gold... That's why people will be watching Fox until they die."

• They point out the cynical targeting of vulnerable demographics with fear-based advertising.

7. Faux Populism & Attacks on Democratic Cities

• The brothers emphasize the pattern of MAGA officials scapegoating blue cities rather than standing up to actual threats (like Vladimir Putin), branding such attacks as a form of “punching down.”
• The “solution” to urban issues presented by Sean Duffy—literally “taking back” Union Station and “driving out” homelessness—illustrates the lack of substantive plans (13:54).

8. Exposing Hypocrisy on Police Funding

• Mike Nellis’s exchange on Fox News exposes the “defund the police” hypocrisy: [17:36] Mike Nellis:

  “...Donald Trump’s budget that he signed by the Republicans... cut community police funding by $2 billion... Donald Trump isn’t interested in [increasing policing].”

• When challenged, Jesse Waters immediately tries to change the subject, underscoring how Fox avoids inconvenient facts.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [04:50] Progressive Commentator:
  “Stop bullying the trans community. Stop talking about weird things like Cracker Barrel or Sydney Sweeney’s jeans. Let’s just be normal and focus on issues.”

• [07:14] Progressive Commentator:
  “As long as you have these sicko MAGAs... who gaslight and behave like sociopaths on their propaganda network, this is going to continue.”

• [16:19] Progressive Commentator:
  “MAGAs view life as always about suffering, and they want more suffering. They view their own success as relative to the suffering of others.”

• [17:16] Jesse Waters:
  “But DC is so safe, the Guard doesn’t have any criminals left to chase. They’re picking up litter...”

• [17:36] Mike Nellis:
  “Donald Trump’s budget... cut community police funding by $2 billion... so don’t talk about cutting. Donald Trump is the one who funded—defunded the police.”

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Key Timestamps

• 02:01 – Fox News “glitches”; Hannity justifies military action, misusing B-roll
• 03:23-04:35 – Waters, Ingraham, and other pundits deflect from gun reform, smear Democratic officials and marginalized groups
• 04:35 – Transphobic rhetoric by Jesse Waters
• 05:46 – Hannity lays out “common sense” (militarized) school safety plan
• 09:12 – Waters laments lost racist branding/cultural icons
• 12:29 – Hannity complains about “intolerant” New York, says he’s now “loved” in Florida
• 13:54 – Duffy plans to “seize” Union Station to “drive out” homelessness
• 15:16 – Waters and hosts openly describe Fox’s aging target audience
• 17:36 – Mike Nellis exposes the police funding hypocrisy live on Fox

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Conclusion

This episode unravels the right-wing media machine’s increasingly desperate—sometimes laughable, often cruel—attempts to redirect public attention away from real issues like gun violence and inequality, using a mix of scapegoating, manufactured outrage, and celebrity victimhood. The brothers reaffirm their call for democracy, common sense, and standing up for the most vulnerable, while skewering the empty culture war distractions clogging our national discourse.

Transcript

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[Jesse Waters]

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[Jesse Waters]

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[Progressive Commentator]

Fox News was collapsing and glitching on air. You had Sean Hannity trying to say that the shooting that took place in Minneapolis justifies Donald Trump sending the National Guard to invade cities and states across the country. Specifically blue cities and states. But as he's talking about this, they're showing video of the national guard in Washington D.C. picking up trash the floor and visiting tourist attractions, which is what's taking place right now. Here, play this clip.

[Sean Hannity]

But this horrific act of violence during the first week of school only underscores the need for more law and order and safety and security all around the country. This is something that we have been debating for weeks, something that President Trump now has put in the forefront of his agenda over the past several weeks, with a lot of opposition on the left, sending in the National Guard troop, for example, to clean up crime in.

[Progressive Commentator]

D.C. and then in a very despicable moment, Laura Ingraham, who's always despicable, she has this guest on who says that why would Congress blame Donald Trump for the January 6th insurrection? Yet we're not going to blame Governor Walz in New York and Chicago for these shootings. What the hell are you talking about, sicko? Here, play this clip.

[Jesse Waters]

Yet Congress stood around and watched and blamed President Trump for using his position on January 6th. Yet they're not going to hold Jacob Fry, Tampon, Tim Waltz and all of their contemporaries in New York, Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles responsible for using their positions to provide cover and to allow these people to go out and do these things.

[Progressive Commentator]

And folks, 85% of Americans want common sense gun reform. We don't think that weapons of war should get in the hands of freaking sickos and disturbed and mentally ill and dangerous criminals and terrorists like the people who engage in these heinous acts. And it is about making sure we get guns off the street. It's also about mental health as well. But MAGA Republicans want more weapons of war, then they defund mental health. That's an important point. They defund mental health across the country. They take away grants and they help cause the problems. And here you have Jesse Waters saying that people who are trans, he feels sorry for. It's not that I hate them. I feel sorry for them. Here, play this clip.

[Jesse Waters]

I don't hate anyone who thinks they're trans. I feel sorry for them. But statistically, the trans population has been prone to violence. That's not villainizing, that's reality. And if you can't recognize reality, you're in danger.

[Progressive Commentator]

And again, stop bullying the trans community. Stop talking about weird things like Cracker Barrel or Sydney Sweeney's jeans. Let's just be normal and let's focus on issues. Let's get weapons of war off the street. Let's focus on making healthcare free and affordable for everyone and education the same and helping people get jobs with dignity where they can afford homes and afford rent and not live paycheck to paycheck in the richest country in the history of the world. Like, what are we talking about here? This coverage by Fox is so utterly disturbed and it's really embodied here by Sean Hannity who goes this is all preventable. You know what you need to do? Metal detectors, military. At school you put the military, you do metal detectors, you control the perimeters, you got people on the rooftop, snipers constantly. What are you talking about? Just get weapons of war off the street. It's obvious what needs to be done. Play this clip.

[Sean Hannity]

And here's the saddest part. School shootings are preventable and simple, basic common sense actions can mitigate these tragedies. If we have the desire to stop school shootings, this is the first thing you should do. Every school in the country should have a metal detector. You have them at airports, you have them when you're around elected politicians by the way they have armed guards around them. You have to control the entry of kids and the perimeter around every school. And by the way, the way I would do it, I, I would hire retired military trained law enforcement, retired with concealed carries. They should be in every school in the country along with metal detectors, along with a secure perimeter. Now for these people that you hire you could even do it and not pay them. What do you mean Hannity? Everyone's going to work for free. No, offer them tax incentives if they are willing to volunteer a certain number of hours a week. I believe these common sense practices would help mitigate these horrific shootings for probably put an end to it. And by the way that means they paid no local taxes, no state taxes, no federal taxes and if they put in enough hours, how about no estate tax if they pass away and they get to do what they want with the money that they've already paid taxes on. And you know the left's rush to immediately blame Republicans, race to blame guns for every tragedy. It's sad but it's empathetic but it's predictable.

[Progressive Commentator]

And as long as you have these sicko magas, these vile humans in positions of power who gaslight and behave like sociopaths on their propaganda network like this, this is going to continue to be perpetuated. Take a look right here as you've got MAGA Republican congressmember Donald, here's what he says on Laura Ingraham here, play this clip.

[Jesse Waters]

Congressman, liberals kind of rushed in to make their commentary. I guess everyone has a political view and a cultural view of this. But your friend Jen Psaki posted on X when kids are getting shot at in their pews at a Catholic school mass and your crime plan is to have National Guard put mulch down around D.C. maybe you should rethink your strategy. Setting aside the fact that that's a run on sentence and a non sequitur. What's your point about that?

[Progressive Commentator]

Jen Psaki is a hack trying to make a political point. The reality is the tragedy that occurred today in Minneapolis is once again where the Democrats are ignoring some of the serious mental health challenges affecting young people in the United States, especially around gender identity, this transgender movement that they have fully gotten behind. And here he is again. Play this clip and I will tell you once again, this is not about guns. This is about mental health issues that the radical left refuses to acknowledge comes from their crazy ideology which is damaging so many children in the United States who are now becoming young adults. And then they go into again. This is what magas. This is what Republicans are mad about. As Hemet Mehta says, sometimes I think about what upsets progressive and it's big societal issues that hurt the most vulnerable among us. Then I see what upsets conservatives and it's always dumb shit that they probably blow out of proportion because they have no real problems like this.

[Jesse Waters]

Play this clip, leave it alone or.

[Commercial Narrator]

Just hear what I want my values and have that be reflected.

[Jesse Waters]

We had just put our foot down years ago. Think about what we could have saved. Aunt Jemima, the Indian lady in the Land o Lakes Butter, the Redskins, the Cleveland Indians. I could go on for days. Look what they took from us. Emily Never again. Never again. And I'm trying to think about all the things that we should have done like this years ago. If we had put our foot down in the 80s, we'd still be smoking on planes. Think about the great things we could still be doing if we had just said no. A hard no.

[Podcast Host]

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[Progressive Commentator]

And then you have Jesse Waters saying, and I deserve the credit for Cracker Barrel changing their logo back to have the old white man on the logo. They went so woke. What do you mean they went woke? Who's even thinking about the Cracker Barrel logo? What are you talking about? There are so many issues. We've got ice disappearing human beings off the street of the United States, throwing them into concentration camps. We've got a disastrous trade war against the world as Donald Trump's tariffs are crushing our country. We've got Donald Trump seizing control of private businesses. We've got people getting kicked off of Medicaid. 17 million Americans losing their health care, and this is what they're talking about. Play this clip.

[Jesse Waters]

No. And I'm not giving Trump credit for this. I'm giving Fox credit. We covered this story for a week and he watched it for a week and then he basically, you know, hit the winning shot. Okay, Mr. President, nice job. But come on, it was. It was all us.

[Progressive Commentator]

And here Sean Hannity whining at. I left New York because people don't like me in New York. Here, play this clip.

[Sean Hannity]

Here's my question. Because, look, I'm perfectly fine with Mamdani winning. You want to know why? Because it's not going to impact my life. I left New York. You know why I left New York? High taxes, quality of life, crime. I had a hard time going to a restaurant in New York City because people would stare at me and hated me and they had daggers in their eyes. You know what? I'm loved down here in Florida. Now. I don't know why New Yorkers are so intolerant, but that was my life in New York. So I left. And wait a minute, Sean, I thought you left because of Brian Cashman and.

[Jesse Waters]

The Yankees not being able to get together.

[Sean Hannity]

No, I like Brian Cashman, actually. I think he's a pretty good guy.

[Progressive Commentator]

Then you have Sean Duffy, MAGA Republican. He got, this guy got, he's the Secretary of the Department of Transportation. He got famous from the Real World Road Rules Challenge. Like all these fools are like reality tv, like wackos. And Sean Duffy says, we're going to go to Union Station, we're going to seize it, we're going to take control of Union Station. Here, play this clip.

[Commercial Narrator]

What can people expect the changes to be?

[Jesse Waters]

So first off, DOT owns Union Station and we've had a lot of partners that we've subleased to or we've leased to.

[Progressive Commentator]

We're going to take it back and.

[Sean Hannity]

We'Re going to drive out the homelessness.

[Jesse Waters]

We'Re going to drive out the crime and we are going to, I think, bring in more retailers, I think more customers. It'll be better revenue. And again, this is our capital city. It should be beautiful. And the President wants a beautiful capital. I want a beautiful capital. And so this plan is going to make Union Station represent the President's vision of what America can and should look like.

[Progressive Commentator]

I mean, these are all like weak, mostly weak men. But these are weak people. They can't stand up to Vladimir Putin. So what do they do? They go and they attack democratic states, they attack blue states and blue cities and marginalized communities. Cuz that makes them feel tough. Cuz they're weak people. If they were strong people, they would stand up to Vladimir Putin, they would stand up to Kim Jong Un. They would actually stand up for a robust and strong American foreign policy and they would stand up for people and the most vulnerable among us. Not bad. Punch down. Play this clip of Jesse Waters saying that. Look, when it comes to Fox, we prey on our audience. We are predators on Fox. This is what he says. We're, we're predators. We sell reverse mortgages to old people and gold to old people. We can't sell them to young people. He says he's saying it in his own words what their fricking scam is. Here, play this clip.

[Jesse Waters]

But it's like they tried to make it younger, but cracker barrels for old people. It's like trying to sell reverse mortgages to young people or gold or Relief.

[Progressive Commentator]

Factor or My pillow or all the.

[Jesse Waters]

Things we sell on Fox. You just have to keep your audience happy with what they're used to. That's why people will be watching Fox until they die.

[Progressive Commentator]

Then you have Dana Perino, one of the Fox hosts, saying that she's not all that excited about Cracker Barrel. It's not as big as their budget as going after Budweiser or Bud Light. Play this clip.

[Commercial Narrator]

Yes.

[Jesse Waters]

I have not been able to get extra excited about this. You can ask my America's Newsroom producer. It's been a tough one for me. I don't think it's like Bud Light. Okay. With Bud Light, you had the vice president of marketing trashing their customers. You had a whole corporate equality index that had to be checked off. And you had Dylan Mulvaney. They took a redesign of a logo and people have lost their minds.

[Progressive Commentator]

And I think Winsome Sears, the MAGA Republican candidate for governor of Virginia, this kind of sums up how MAGAs view the world where she's like, life is bad. Life hits you hard. You come out of the womb screaming. And that's how things are going to be for them. Life is always about suffering, and they want more suffering. So they view their own success as. As relative to the suffering of others versus how do we lift each other up out of suffering? Here, play this clip.

[Jesse Waters]

You know, life is going to hit you hard, and you have to be prepared for it. You come out of the womb screaming. That ought to be an indication of how things are going to be.

[Progressive Commentator]

Then you have Jesse Waters trying to spin the fact that you have the National Guard cleaning up trash now and saying D.C. so safe that the National Guard just gets to clean up trash.

[Jesse Waters]

But DC Is so safe, the Guard doesn't have any criminals left to chase. They're picking up litter, cleaning up the park so Stephen Miller can take his wife on a romantic stroll under the moonlight.

[Progressive Commentator]

And then finally you have Mike Nellis, who's been doing a really good job on. He goes on Jesse Waters and he just spits facts. Watch what happens.

[Jesse Waters]

Let's play it strays, but go ahead. No, because I'm willing to support. I'm happy to support having more police on the streets of Chicago to help keep us safe. The problem is in Donald Trump's budget that he signed by the Republicans. He cut community police funding by $2 billion, which means there'll be fewer police on the streets. Mike, you guys. So Donald Trump isn't interested in that. So don't talk about cutting. No, Donald Trump is the one who funded. Defunded the police. Everybody knows the Democrats defunded. Did Donald Trump sign the Republican budget, Jesse? All over the country, Mike, I don't have time to debate that. But, but I respect that you are from Chicago and you want to be safe. And you don't want to see a tank when you see the White Sox lose. And that's okay. That's okay. I want to. First of all, I'm a cunt fan before I'm a White Sox fan. Okay, good. Well, that's.

[Progressive Commentator]

There you have it folks. Let me know what you think. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 6 million subscribers and we'll keep exposing the propaganda here on the Midas Touch Network.

[Podcast Host]

Thanks for watching. Be sure to add the Midas Touch podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcast for new updates every single day.

[Jesse Waters]

This is one of the most spectacular venues with all kinds of character and hospitality scenery. These people in this Kas Valley, they.

[Sean Hannity]

Love when you come to see what.

[Jesse Waters]

They have to offer. I'm JJ Harris Nebur, Rodeo Clown and.

[Progressive Commentator]

I want to invite you to the rodeo.

[Jesse Waters]

Come hang out with with us in Ellensburg. Great rodeo, great time.

[Progressive Commentator]

Two performances on Saturday.

[Jesse Waters]

One is the Extreme Bulls of the Year event.

[Progressive Commentator]

Do not miss the Ellensburg Rodeo August 29th through September 1st.

[Jesse Waters]

We'll see you there.

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