Podcast Summary: The MeidasTouch Podcast
Episode: Fox News Has Mental Breakdown on Air as Trump Collapse Starts
Date: September 10, 2025
Hosts: Ben, Brett, and Jordy Meiselas
Episode Overview
This episode dives deeply into the chaotic reactions of Fox News and right-wing media figures to a string of bad news for Donald Trump. With Trump’s approval rating plunging, especially in Texas, the hosts highlight how Fox and MAGA-aligned pundits are grappling—sometimes absurdly—with his waning influence and escalating scandals. The episode blends sharp political analysis, direct audio clips, and the brothers’ trademark comedic banter, exposing the increasingly unhinged rhetoric on conservative media and its implications for American democracy.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Trump’s Collapse in the Polls Causes Fox News “Meltdown”
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[01:55] Ron Filipkowski introduces the central theme: Trump’s approval drops to 43% in Texas (net -7)—an unprecedented low for a Republican in a traditionally red state (TPP/YouGov poll).
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[02:15] Big takeaway: Democrats are overperforming in special elections—by +13 on average, with Virginia’s Walkinshaw as a standout (+16 over Democrat baseline).
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Fox News, realizing their usual spin isn’t working, scrambles in “damage-control” on air.
Ron Filipkowski [01:57]: “State regime media known as Fox News had like a mental breakdown live on air yesterday ... Fox realizes that its propaganda is not working.”
2. Bizarre Fox News Remedies: Central Planning & Price Fixing
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[03:27] On Jesse Watters’ show, he and Kayleigh McEnany float the idea of Trump summoning CEOs to “fix” prices—a socialist-like concept, ironically pushed on right-wing media.
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Watters implies corporate America should lower prices to boost Trump’s popularity, conflating political survival with economic manipulation.
Conservative Analyst [03:27]: “Can’t Trump just bring in some corporate executives and ... have them fix the prices ... so people can like Donald Trump right now?”
Ron Filipkowski [03:58]: “Listen to what Jesse Watters describes—central planning of the private sector to help their dear leader.”
3. Conspiracy Theories & Trump–Epstein Connections
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[04:41] MAGA Congressmember Van Orden claims a Trump-signed birthday card located in Jeffrey Epstein's files is a forgery, spinning a far-fetched narrative about a 20-year plot by the Epstein estate.
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The hosts dissect the progressively wilder lies: body doubles, collusion with the Wall Street Journal, and secret codes in birthday greetings.
Ron Filipkowski [05:35]: “It’s more insidious than stupid ... the Trump regime thinks what they’re doing now is better than what’s in the files. That’s how you know how damaging the files are.”
4. Authoritarian Rhetoric: “Disappearing People”
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[07:32] Audio clip features Jesse Watters nonchalantly endorsing the idea of “disappearing people” in the context of border policy, echoing totalitarian logic.
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Ron Filipkowski draws direct comparisons to historical fascism.
Conservative Analyst [07:32]: “So what? Yeah, they’re disappearing from the country. Exactly ... make these people, poof, disappear.”
Ron Filipkowski [07:44]: “This is like the stuff you would see in, like, Nazi Germany.”
5. Pushback from Within: Rand Paul Challenges Fox Doctrine
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[07:44] Rand Paul, uncharacteristically, objects to Fox News pundits advocating for blowing up suspected drug boats, raising practical and moral objections.
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He notes the lack of due process and the fact that dealing cocaine isn’t subject to summary execution.
Ron Filipkowski [07:44]: “Who gives the Trump regime the authority to be judge, jury and executioner to kill people?”
6. “Creepy” Culture War Commentary
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[10:28] Highlights from Charlie Kirk arguing that “young women who support Kamala want careerism and loneliness,” suggesting marriage and having children as cures for mental health crises among liberal women.
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Laura Ingraham and guests double down, with undertones of misogyny and pronatalism.
Charlie Kirk [11:39]: “Having children is more important than having a good career. ... There is a window where you primarily should pursue marriage and having children.”
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[14:03] Senator Kennedy makes overtly sexist, dog-whistle-laden remarks about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s appearance and ethnicity.
Sen. Kennedy [14:34]: “She’s young, she’s liberal, she’s attractive, she’s ethnic.”
7. Culture War Escalates: Podcasts & Populating the Nation
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[14:46] Laura Ingraham and Katie Miller (Stephen Miller’s wife) joke about conservatives repopulating America by having more children.
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The segment gets called out as “gross,” doubling as comedic banter and critique.
Laura Ingraham [15:09]: “You got to have more kids. We got the declining fertility. You got to make it up for the rest of us.”
8. Fox News Downplays Foreign Threats, Focuses on Trump’s Dinner
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[15:33] As Russia’s drones enter Polish airspace, Fox briefly mentions it but quickly pivots to Trump’s dinner outing—a clear example, the hosts say, of skewed priorities.
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Trump is booed both inside and outside Joe’s Seafood, but Fox continues to focus on crime reduction claims and spin his “visibility.”
Laura Ingraham [16:10]: “Fox News alert! Donald Trump is out on the town ... showing it’s safe to walk around the city after deploying the National Guard.”
9. Petty Insults & Clown Car Politics
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[16:43] Governor Newsom’s “couch boy” jab at JD Vance makes it onto the show, capturing the absurdity and personal animosity driving current political discourse.
Governor Newsom (via Ron Filipkowski) [16:43]: “Hey couch boy. I’m not mimicking Dozy Don. I’m mocking him. Only someone with a law degree from Chuck E. Cheese could be as dumb as you.”
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- “Fox realizes that its propaganda is not working.” — Ron Filipkowski [01:57]
- “Can’t Trump just bring in some corporate executives and ... have them fix the prices ... so people can like Donald Trump right now?” — Conservative Analyst [03:27]
- “It’s more insidious than stupid ... these people are dangerous ... they can literally see ... Trump shoot somebody on Fifth Avenue and they’re like, ‘Yep, but that’s not him, that’s his body double.’” — Ron Filipkowski [05:35]
- “So what? Yeah, they’re disappearing from the country. Exactly ... make these people, poof, disappear.” — Conservative Analyst [07:32]
- “Having children is more important than having a good career.” — Charlie Kirk [11:39]
- “She’s young, she’s liberal, she’s attractive, she’s ethnic.” — Sen. Kennedy [14:34]
- “Only someone with a law degree from Chuck E. Cheese could be as dumb as you.” — Governor Newsom (via Ron Filipkowski) [16:43]
Timeline of Important Segments
| Timestamp | Segment & Highlight | |-----------|---------------------| | 01:55 | Trump approval drops; Fox News on-air meltdown—Ron Filipkowski’s main analysis | | 03:27 | Jesse Watters proposes corporate central planning to rescue Trump | | 04:41 | MAGA conspiracy: the forged birthday card in Epstein’s files | | 07:32 | Waters pushes “disappearing people” rhetoric; authoritarian themes | | 07:44 | Rand Paul pushes back on Fox’s calls for extrajudicial violence | | 10:52 | Charlie Kirk and Laura Ingraham talk “loneliness epidemic,” push traditional roles | | 14:03 | Creepy remarks about Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and conservative fertility | | 15:33 | Russia drone attack on Poland mentioned, Fox pivots to Trump’s dinner outing | | 16:43 | Newsom’s “couch boy” jab at JD Vance, typifying the episode’s tone |
Summary & Tone
This episode captures a political moment of right-wing panic and disarray, delivered with biting humor and relentless fact-checking by the Meiselas brothers. It dissects Fox News’s resort to outlandish conspiracies, economic nonsense, misogyny, and distraction, all in response to the reality of Trump’s diminishing power and growing liabilities. The brothers’ fast-paced, caustic energy and incorporation of absurd soundbites bring urgent issues to life, highlighting just how irrational and dangerous contemporary right-wing media rhetoric can be.
Listeners are left with both a sense of bemusement at the on-air meltdowns and sober reflection on the threat such rhetoric poses to American democracy.