Trump gets Nightmare News as GOP Tanks... in Alaska

Summary

The MeidasTouch Podcast

Episode: Trump gets Nightmare News as GOP Tanks... in Alaska

Release Date: May 13, 2026
Hosts: Ben, Brett, and Jordy Meiselas
Special Guest: Bill Hill (Independent candidate for U.S. House, Alaska at-large)

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Episode Overview

In this episode, the Meiselas brothers dissect a wave of troubling developments for Donald Trump and the GOP in Alaska—traditionally a Republican stronghold now showing marked disapproval for Trump and his policies. As the 2026 midterms approach, the brothers spotlight Alaska’s shifting political landscape, controversial efforts to repeal ranked-choice voting, and the toll of Republican policies on everyday Alaskans. Special guest Bill Hill joins to share firsthand insight as an independent candidate locked in a neck-and-neck contest for Alaska's sole Congressional seat.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Trump’s Plummeting Poll Numbers in Red States

• [00:30] The brothers open with the bombshell: latest Economist polling data reveals Trump’s approval is at net -13 in Alaska—a dramatic downturn in a state once safely red.

• Trump’s dire polling isn’t confined to Alaska: the data show him at -19 in Texas, -16 in Iowa, and -21 in Pennsylvania.

  “Donald Trump is getting a rude awakening in Alaska. ...Alaska, which is generally thought of as a red state, Donald Trump has a net negative 13 approval.”
  — Ben Meiselas, [00:30]

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2. GOP Panic & Attack on Ranked-Choice Voting

• Trump appeals directly to Alaskans with a statement railing against “disastrous and very fraudulent ranked choice voting,” advocating for its repeal in 2026.

• Hosts highlight the hypocrisy: Republican efforts aim to change voting rules after losses, painting Trump’s move as anti-democratic.

  “If you can’t win with the current rules of the game, Donald Trump’s plan is just throw those rules out in the garbage.”
  — Ben Meiselas, [01:55]

• Mention of Nick Begich, current Republican Congressman, called out for his dismissive stance on inflation.

  “Begich said back in June of 2025, ‘Tariff-driven inflation hasn’t materialized…In fact, inflation is cooling.’ This is what MAGA Republicans think about the people of Alaska. People there are suffering.”
  — Ben Meiselas, [02:22]

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3. GOP Mobilization in Alaska: Scott Pressler’s Campaign

• Republican operative Scott Pressler appears in Anchorage, pushing for proof of citizenship and voter ID, undergirding GOP narratives of election fraud.

• Audio clip features an overt plea to Senator Lisa Murkowski on purported election “integrity.”

  “Please. ...With our elections not having proof of citizenship nor photo voter ID, we just want to make sure that one vote equals one ballot and that no vote is going to be diluted by a fraudulent or illegal alien.”
  — Scott Pressler, [03:10]

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4. Trump’s Record in Alaska & Environmental Concerns

• The hosts recall Trump’s controversial meeting with Putin in Alaska and mock his past confusion about Alaska’s statehood, painting him as out of touch.

• They condemn Trump’s plans to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, noting the impact on wildlife and indigenous communities.

  “We’re going to officially schedule an auction for the rights to drill in wildlife refuges in Alaska…the home of grizzly bears, polar bears, gray wolves, and 200 species of birds. And also a land that is sacred to indigenous peoples in the region.”
  — Ben Meiselas, [04:41]

• The hosts explain why Trump’s “drill our way out” strategy can’t shield Americans from global oil market instability, especially with the Strait of Hormuz closed.

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5. Special Guest: Bill Hill’s Perspective on Alaskan Hardships

Daily Struggles & Policy Critiques

• [06:09] Bill Hill paints a stark picture: skyrocketing fuel costs ($13+/gallon in remote communities), perilously high heating bills, and tangible impacts of Begich’s votes against healthcare and ACA tax credits.

  “Alaskan families, a large number of...have about an average of a $900 a month increase with the lack of passage of the ACA tax extensions...We need a change.”
  — Bill Hill, [06:20]

Disconnect Between GOP and Alaskans

• Hill accuses Begich of prioritizing special interests and failing to connect with constituents’ needs.

• He reveals his motivation—protecting the future for his children and grandchildren.

  “We need people who are going to be fighting for Alaskans every day in Congress. And that’s not what we have...So I jumped into this race because Alaskans need somebody who can really fight for them every single day.”
  — Bill Hill, [07:33]

On the Uniqueness of Alaska

• Hill underscores Alaska’s vastness and diversity, calling for Congressional representation that puts Alaskans’ needs before all else.

  “Alaska is such a unique state...I personally believe that someone who is in Congress should make every vote with the thought of what is best for Alaskans first, and everything else is secondary. And that’s what I intend to do.”
  — Bill Hill, [09:53]

Tangible Impacts: Heating Crisis

• Hill recounts a personal story of running out of heating fuel at home, a symptom of deteriorating logistical systems and high costs.

  “I had to go home because we were out of heating fuel at my house, and there was no heating fuel available in our community for purchase. …There’s real fear and ability for us to be able to sustain our lives.”
  — Bill Hill, [10:51]

Hill’s Background and Vision

• Lifelong Alaskan, Athabaskan, former educator, commercial fisher, construction worker, small business owner, and deeply connected to the state through his family.

  “I’m concerned about our nation. I’m concerned about Alaska’s representation in Congress and I think we need a real change...We need a change that really improves lives for Alaskans.”
  — Bill Hill, [11:56]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Alaska, which is generally thought of as a red state, Donald Trump has a net negative 13 approval.” — Ben Meiselas, [00:30]
• “If you can’t win with the current rules of the game, Donald Trump’s plan is just throw those rules out in the garbage.” — Ben Meiselas, [01:55]
• “We’re really getting crunched hard...some of our communities, it’s probably more than $13 a gallon for gas and diesel heating fuel.” — Bill Hill, [06:25]
• “We have somebody who’s there to sidle up to power and special interests and big money.” — Bill Hill, [07:47]
• “Not only are we seeing really high prices, but we’re also seeing real instability in the systems that deliver the goods that Alaskans need.” — Bill Hill, [10:53]
• “I grew up in a real bush frontier lifestyle. If you think about chopping wood and packing water, no electricity, no telephone, no TVs, running dog teams, you know, that was the lifestyle.” — Bill Hill, [11:56]

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Important Timestamps

• [00:30] – Trump’s historic unpopularity in Alaska and other red states
• [01:55] – Trump's statement on repealing ranked-choice voting
• [03:10] – Scott Pressler’s Alaska “election integrity” campaign clip
• [04:41] – Environmental threat: Trump moves to auction wildlife refuge drilling
• [06:09] – Bill Hill’s assessment: Alaskans are hurting from GOP policies
• [07:33] – Bill Hill explains his campaign motives and Begich’s disconnect
• [10:51] – Personal account: Bill Hill’s own heating fuel crisis
• [11:56] – Bill Hill shares his background and plea for change

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Conclusion

This episode spotlights Alaska as a critical frontline in the 2026 elections, with Trump and the GOP flailing as grassroots dissent and tangible hardships mount for Alaskans. The Meiselas brothers, with their incisive wit and strong pro-democracy stance, give voice to the state’s discontent and amplify independent challenger Bill Hill’s call for genuine, people-first representation.

For more on Bill Hill’s campaign: billhillforalaskans.com
Stay engaged: Subscribe to MeidasTouch and their Substack for ad-free episodes and political coverage.

Transcript

[A]

I'm Kiana and I leveled up my business with Shopify. Once I figured out that Shopify was a thing, I never turned back. I can create a site with my eyes closed. Shopify thinks ahead of us, you know, and it thinks about the customer more than anything. Every day I'm thinking about some other new business, but Shopify is doing it to me because it's so easy to use. It's like, I can't stop. I'm addicted. Start your free [e-mail] Donald Trump is

[B]

getting a Rude awakening in Alaska. That's right. The latest Economist poll shows that Donald Trump's approval In Alaska is negative 13. Alaska, which is generally thought of as a red state, Donald Trump has a net negative 13 approval. They're also in the latest Economist polling, Donald Trump is negative 19 in Texas, negative 16 in Iowa, negative 21 in Pennsylvania. Now Donald Trump is throwing a tantru right now as Republicans may lose big ground in Alaska in the upcoming elections. Here's what Donald Trump just posted. The wonderful people of Alaska desperately want to restore free, fair and honest elections in their great state and get rid of their disastrous and very fraudulent ranked choice voting and accordingly will vote to repeal ranked choice voting in the November 3, 2026 election. I want to congratulate the many hardworking American First Patriots in Alask, including my friends Governor Mark Dunleavy, Senator Dan Sullivan, Congressmember Nick Begich, and Alaska GOP Chair Carmelo Warfield, who are working tirelessly to restore true democracy to Alaska elections. If you can't win with the current rules of the game, Donald Trump's plan is just throw those rules out in the garbage. You know, interestingly, Donald Trump mentioned somebody by the name of Nick Begich right there who's part of this Alaska political family that just perennially has people run for office there and then destroys the people's lives in Alaska. Right. I'll give you a quote right now from Begich. Begich said back in June of 2025, tariff driven inflation hasn't materialized, he says, and everything is going great. In fact, inflation is cooling. Begich said. This is what MAGA Republicans think about the people of Alaska. People there are suffering. There's a reason why Donald Trump is net negative 13. Now, Donald Trump has sent his biggest campaign recruiter and his top campaign guy is a guy by the name of Scott Pressler. And so Trump sent this guy out to Alaska who's there right now trying to get rid of ranked choice voting. And he's also out there trying to Register Republicans to vote. Here's the message that the Republicans, Republicans are bringing to Alaska as they're clearly panicking with the latest poll numbers. Play this clip.

[C]

Hey, everybody, this is Scott Pressler. I'm here with Jenny Beth Martin. We are in Anchorage, Alaska, with a very respectful and peaceful message to our Republican Senator, Lisa Murkowski. Please. With our elections not having proof of citizenship nor photo voter id, we just want to make sure that one vote equals one ballot and that no vote is going to be diluted by a fraudulent or illegal alien.

[B]

Now, we should also remember that Alaska was the location where Donald Trump brought Vladimir Putin and then Donald Trump and Putin, you know, collusion in plain view in Alaska. Then Donald Trump was acting as though Alaska was part of Russia. Remember, Donald Trump's like, well, I'm going to get back to the USA after this meeting. Dude, you're in Alaska. That is the usa. Here's just a quick reminder of Donald Trump and Putin in Alaska. A very shameful day in American history indeed. I'll show you this clip right here. Now, it should also be noted that Donald Trump is scheduling a drilling auction in an Alaska wildlife refuge. That's how Donald Trump believes that with this catastrophic war in Iran, how he says this is going to make America so much stronger and make gas prices go down. We're going to officially schedule an auction for the rights to drill in wildlife refuges in Alaska, in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. That's where drilling will take place. The home of grizzly bears, polar bears, gray wolves, and 200 species of birds. And also a land that is sacred to indigenous peoples in the region. That's Donald Trump's plan right there. And it doesn't address the fact that with the Strait of Hormuz closed, oil is an international commodity. And so the price of crude, whether it's WTI or Brent, is deeply impacted by what's going on in the Strait of Hormuz. You can't drill your way out of this problem. That's just not the way the international oil markets work. So I want to bring in Bill Hill, an independent. He's running very close neck and neck with Begich for this Congress seat. It's the Alaska at large Congress seat. There is a primary coming up in the next few months, and then they're going to have the general election. And Bill Hill is surging in the polls as Donald Trump is crashing in the polls. So let's bring in Bill Hill. Great to see you, Bill. I got a lot of questions for you about this race. About Alaska. But, you know, maybe you can just tell me from the outset, how are the people of Alaska? What's going on right now in the great state of Alaska?

[D]

Oh, yeah. I mean, Alaskans are hurting. You name it. You know, we're seeing the price of everything increase here. And Begich has just voted against our best interests over and over again. You want to talk about health care and Medicare, he's voted against those things. Alaskan families, a large number of Alaskan families have about an average of A$900 a month increase with the lack of passage of the ACA tax extensions. And I know my family couldn't absorb that kind of an increase. So Alaskans are hurting and then you throw on top of it this war that's just driving the price of fuel up. A lot of our communities are off the road system and you can only get to them by flying there with a small plane. Some of the communities are actually running out of fuel and the price of that fuel is extremely high. Some of our communities, it's probably more than $13 a gallon for gas and diesel heating fuel. So we're really getting crunched hard and the hard working Alaska, Alaska is a hard working place. But man, it's tougher and tougher to make ends meet even if you're a hard working Alaskan and especially with the votes that Begich has done, it's just really putting the crunch on us and we need a change.

[E]

Bill, talk to us about this selection, how important it is, who else is in this race and when you're traveling

[B]

Alaska, what are you hearing?

[D]

I'm hearing a lot of disappointment with Begich and his term in office, his first term in office. I'm hearing that he just doesn't connect with the Alaskan people. He doesn't represent them well and he's really not connecting with Alaskans. Me getting into the race, it's really about, you know, this is personal for me. I've, I have four children, seven grandchildren. Whoa. Sorry about that. And you know, I'm really worried about the fact that our state is a place where it's going to be very difficult for them to work hard and build good lives. And we need people who are going to be fighting for Alaskans every day in Congress. And that's not what we have. We have somebody who's there to sidle up to power and special interests and big money. And so I jumped into this race because Alaskans need somebody who can really fight for them every single day. The hard working Alaskans are just getting Left behind by what's happening right now. There is a Democrat in the race as well. He's a pastor out of Anchorage. His name is Matt Schultz. And I think my campaign is just doing everything it can to show that we have the strength to beat Nick Baggage and his millions of dollars.

[B]

You know, Bill, sometimes we talk about

[E]

Donald Trump's policies, and they're so outrageous sometimes that we have a time to. We almost talk about it as parody. You know, he's doing the Golden Ballroom reflecting pool, triumphal arches, or, you know, on one day, Donald Trump is saying, you know, we have a deal, then there's no deal, and he's having fake negotiations in his mind. And, you know, it creates a level of, you know, mockery. And, you know, how crazy is this? And there is that component. But what I sensed in your voice there, and as I sense in your campaign, is that there is pain being felt in Alaska right now. And this is a state that you love. It's a state that so many people have such great pride in. And you think about your children and your grandchildren, and you think about their futures and what that could look like. And under Begich and Trump, it's really grim and it's really dark. And that's what I sensed in your voice right there.

[D]

Absolutely. And, you know, Alaska is such a unique state. I mean, and it's so massive. You know, we have over 200 communities that can only reach by air by small plane. If you cut Alaska in half, Texas would be the third largest state in the Union. And so it's very. It's a very big, very diverse state with these very remote communities, and then we have some large urban centers. So serving the state of Alaska means you need to be able to represent just this amazing variety of people, because Alaska has one seat, and currently Nick Begich holds it, and he's not doing a good job for Alaskans. And I personally believe that someone who is in Congress should make every vote with the thought of what is best for Alaskans first, and everything else is secondary. And that's what I intend to do.

[E]

Tell me, as you walk around Alaska, as you drive around and as you meet people, you know, lots of people

[B]

there, obviously talk to us about what

[E]

you're hearing, you know, from them.

[D]

People. People are just concerned. I was back home last weekend for a couple days. I've actually, I've only been home for about two weeks, since January when we launched this. But I had to go home because we were out of heating fuel at my house, and there was no heating fuel available in our community for purchase. So I had to transfer heating fuel from our business to our home in order to make sure that we had heat and hot water. Not only are we seeing really high prices, but we're also seeing real instability in the systems that deliver the goods that Alaskans need. Alaskans are hurting. You know, you hear it around the state. There's real fear and ability for us to be able to sustain our lives. And there's a real disappointment in what's going on in our government. We feel like the government and the politics have left the working people behind and you're just hearing it more and more every day.

[B]

Tell us before we go a little bit about your background, why you decided

[E]

to run and where can people learn

[B]

more about the campaign.

[E]

Bill and any final words you want to tell our nearly 7 million subscribers?

[D]

Great. Well, my name is Bill Hill. I'm a lifelong Alaskan, dent and Athabaskan. I grew up in a real bush frontier lifestyle. If you think about chopping wood and packing water, no electricity, no telephone, no TVs, running dog teams, you know, that was the lifestyle. I have spent my entire life commercial fishing since the age of 8. I've been a 25 year educator in our state as a teacher, principal and superintendent. I've been a construction worker and I'm a small business owner with my wife, most importantly the father of four, grandfather of seven. I'm concerned about our nation. I'm concerned about Alaska's representation in Congress and I think we need a real change. We need a change that really improves lives for Alaskans. You can contact my campaign or see more about what we're about and how we can truly represent all Alaskans and the hard working Alaskans by going to Bill hillforalaskans.com we'd appreciate it if you'd take a look at our race, take a look at what we're about and show how we can tip this seat away from the Republicans and regain it for the American and the Alaskan people.

[B]

Bill Hill, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate you. Everybody hit subscribe here. Let's get to 7 million subscribers and

[E]

check back in though.

[B]

We want to hear more updates on the campaign.

[D]

Absolute pleasure. Thank you so much for the invite and I look forward to speaking to you in the future.

[B]

Everybody hit subscribe. Want to stay plugged in? Become a subscriber to our [e-mail]. you'll get daily recaps from Ron Filipkowski ad free episodes of our podcast and more exclusive content only [e-mail].