The MeidasTouch Podcast
Episode: Fox News Crashes on Air as Trump Faces Fatal Backlash
Date: November 22, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, the Meiselas brothers—Ben, Brett, and Jordy—deconstruct what they describe as Fox News’s chaotic, inconsistent, and desperate on-air spin as Donald Trump faces plummeting polling numbers and mounting political backlash. The episode revolves around Fox’s frantic attempts to manage the narrative around Trump’s failing popularity, economic problems under his administration, and increasingly wild defenses from right-wing pundits and Trump allies. The brothers use their trademark blend of sharp political critique, comedic banter, and relentless fact-checking to expose Fox’s confusion and contradictions.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Fox News In Disarray: Mixed Messaging on the Economy

• The hosts lampoon Fox’s inability to settle on a coherent defense of Trump amid dire polling and economic indicators, jumping erratically between talking points:
  • Affordability is "overrated":
    • Larry Kudlow (Fox Business) dismisses concerns over affordability.
      • (“I think affordability is just like such an overrated issue. It’s like so overrated.” – Larry Kudlow, [03:38])
  • Unemployment a crisis:
    • Others at Fox say rising unemployment under Trump is cause for panic.
      • (“The unemployment rate going up to what is a cycle high of 4.44%... is not good news.” – Fox guest, [04:01])
• Ben ridicules the contradiction:
  • “They’re not really sure how to position Donald Trump’s crash right now, so they go back and forth.”
    – Ben Meiselas ([05:39])

2. Blame Games and Bogus Excuses

• The "Schumer Shutdown":
  • Treasury Secretary Scott Besant attempts to pin economic woes on a so-called "Schumer shutdown," ignoring Republican and Trump responsibility.
  • Ben dismantles this talking point:
    • “No one called it the Schumer shutdown. Everybody knows that Trump controls all of the branches of government... as you covered up the Epstein files, we all know what you were doing then.”
      – Ben Meiselas ([07:33])

3. Gaslighting the Public

• Dismissing Lived Experiences:
  • Besant claims, “The one thing we’re not going to do is tell the American people they don’t know what they’re feeling,”
    which Ben mocks as yet another reversal from their usual narrative ([08:14]).
• False Boasts About Jobs:
  • National Economic Advisor Kevin Hassett says, “Factory jobs are picking up,”
    despite reports to the contrary ([09:46]).
  • Ben: “They’re literally telling people what they want to hear, but it’s a lie. And people know it’s a lie.” ([09:51])

4. Tariffs: Cause Problems, Then “Solve” Them

• Fox Spins Trump Tariff Reversal:
  • Ben and the brothers highlight the hypocrisy of Trump officials now lifting tariffs on products like coffee and bananas, which they imposed:
    • “Now they want us to applaud them for removing the tariffs on the things we warned them would make things more expensive.” – Ben Meiselas ([12:16])
• Howard Lutnick’s Spin:
  • Lutnick claims, “What you’re going to watch is the President’s going to focus on the small things that touch the American’s pocketbook and he’s going to bring them all down...” ([13:49])
  • Ben calls out the damage to Brazil relations as an example of arbitrary, self-defeating Trump trade policy.

5. Magical Thinking: Next Year Will Fix Everything

• Wild Economic Promises:
  • Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick insists, “The factories are going to come online... job numbers in the second half of next year are going to blow you away... the golden age Donald Trump talks about...” ([14:57])
  • And further: “You’re going to see 6% GDP growth under this president... numbers nobody’s ever thought possible.” ([15:50])
  • Ben skewers this as classic scammer rhetoric: “This is the common tactic of a scammer and a con artist. Right? Your wealth is right around the corner... Just wait.” ([16:20])

6. Foreign Policy and Energy Spin

• Winking at War for Oil:
  • Treasury Secretary Besant not-so-subtly suggests that new conflicts could lower oil prices, linking it to affordability:
    “If something happens with Venezuela, wink, wink, wink... maybe oil prices will go down.” ([16:55])
• Military Actions as Political Cover:
  • The hosts call out Tom Cotton’s bizarre defense of U.S. military action in the Caribbean, who claims there were no war crimes because “CNN would have already been on the ground and interviewed all their families and told their story...” ([19:53])

7. Republican Corruption & Hypocrisy

• Rick Scott’s Medicaid/Medicare Fraud Past:
  • Fox puts Rick Scott front and center in Senate GOP health care messaging, ignoring his notorious history running a company found guilty of massive fraud.
  • When grilled about a Senate provision giving GOP Senators $500K payouts, Scott feigns ignorance and pivots:
    “Most of us didn’t know that it was in there... I don’t need to make money off of government.” ([18:52])

8. Bizarre Trump Anecdotes

• Cologne-Gate:
  • Caroline Levitt, on a NY Post podcast (Fox’s “sister” company), shares that Trump has an odd Oval Office ritual:
    • “What Donald Trump does when world leaders show up... he sprays them with cologne and perfume and he sniffs them... If he likes you, he sniffs you. And you just have to let him do it.” – Caroline Levitt ([21:00])
  • The brothers are left speechless: “Wow, wow, wow, wow. What do you even make of that?” ([21:24])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Ben Meiselas, on Fox’s confusion:
  • “They’re not really sure how to position Donald Trump’s crash right now, so they go back and forth.” ([05:39])
• Scott Besant’s tone-deaf defense:
  • “The one thing we’re not going to do is tell the American people they don’t know how they’re feeling...” ([08:14])
• Howard Lutnick’s wild predictions:
  • “The factories are going to come online. You are going to see job numbers in the second half of next year that are going to blow you away.” ([14:57])
• Caroline Levitt on Trump’s ritual:
  • “He sprays a spray and a perfume... he’s just showing off his wonderful sense. He’s very generous.” ([21:19])

Important Timestamps for Reference

| Timestamp | Segment / Topic | |-----------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:38 | Larry Kudlow: “Affordability is greatly overrated” | | 04:01 | Discussion of rising unemployment under Trump | | 07:33 | Ben on Fox’s “Schumer shutdown” blame game | | 08:14 | Treasury Secretary: “Not going to tell the American people...” | | 09:46 | Kevin Hassett: “Factory jobs are picking up” | | 12:16 | Lutnick on lifting tariffs, Fox’s credibility issues | | 14:57 | Lutnick’s overhyped jobs and economic claims | | 16:55 | Besant: Oil prices may drop if Venezuela “something happens” | | 18:52 | Rick Scott on $500K Senate provisions | | 19:53 | Tom Cotton: “CNN would have interviewed the families...” | | 21:00 | Caroline Levitt: Trump’s “sniff and perfume” ritual with world leaders |

Tone and Style

Throughout the episode, the Meiselas brothers maintain a snarky, energetic, and unflinchingly critical tone, leavened by their brotherly banter and moments of outright disbelief at the increasingly strange and desperate rationalizations from Trump allies and right-wing media figures. The podcast plays bite-sized audio clips from Fox News and spin-off outlets, then breaks them down with both humor and incisive analysis.

Summary

This episode serves as a sharply argued, entertaining, and scathing audit of Fox News’s fractured attempts to cushion Trump’s image despite continued bad news and erratic policy failures. By dissecting on-air contradictions, inflated promises, veiled threats, and even downright absurd stories coming from Fox and Trump world (perfume-spraying rituals?), the Meiselas brothers spotlight the mounting chaos within right-wing media and challenge their narratives with facts and pointed humor.

Recommended for: Anyone seeking an unvarnished yet witty breakdown of the latest in U.S. political media spin, especially from a pro-democracy perspective.