Fox News Panics as Trump Crushes GOP Midterm Chances

26 Aug 2026 · 24 min · 13 chapters

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In short

The episode argues Fox News is panicking about Donald Trump’s impact on GOP midterm chances, highlighting election polling, culture-war distractions, and economic/geopolitical fallout.

Guest backgrounds

It references Fox hosts Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity, Dana Perino, Jesse Waters, and others, plus guests “Ned,” “Michael,” and “Scott/Ben/Ashley” discussing markets/food. It also features commentary on Abdul El-Sayed (Michigan Senate candidate) and Jamie Harrison (former DNC chair).

Key claims

Republicans face losses in Senate/House; Trump’s approval is low (33%) versus Canada’s Mark Carney (75%); Trump’s Canada trade fight is harmful; Fox overfocuses on WNBA/trans issues; Trump’s Iran-related failures could contribute to a global food crisis.

Notable examples

Iowa/Arkansas/Texas/Michigan/Ohio; tariffs/renaming lakes; Enes Kanter Freedom at WNBA; JP Morgan logistics-driven food crisis; Abdul El-Sayed’s circumcision remarks; California ballot harvesting accusations.

Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.

Chapters

Tap a time to open that second in VO

Fox News in Crisis Mode

0:30 to 0:43

The podcast discusses Fox News' panic over potential GOP losses in the midterms.

“In business, the best days are when priorities stay on track.”

Fox News in Crisis Mode

1:18 to 1:46

The podcast discusses Fox News' panic over potential GOP losses in the midterms.

“But I still want to look sharp and feel confident.”

Fox News in Crisis Mode

3:00 to 4:00

The podcast discusses Fox News' panic over potential GOP losses in the midterms.

“But I do think Ned's right that there's some of these states like Kansas and Mississippi that are going to sneak up on Iowa.”

Polling and Predictions for Midterms

4:00 to 6:00

A look at polling data and predictions regarding the upcoming midterms.

“And I think this is one thing that, you know, we're 10 weeks out from today from the midterms.”

Trump's Approval Ratings and Policies

6:00 to 7:40

Examine the impact of Trump's policies on his approval ratings and the GOP.

“He's like one of the most popular leaders right now in the history of Canada.”

Distractions in Media Coverage

7:40 to 9:30

Discussion on media distractions and the portrayal of issues by Fox News.

“And by the way, I have a t-shirt that says it's still the Gulf of Mexico.”

Global Food Crisis Predictions

9:30 to 11:40

Exploring predictions from JP Morgan about a potential global food crisis.

“because of Trump's catastrophic war in Iran and his other international failures.”

Jesse Waters and Controversial Statements

11:40 to 14:00

Analyzing Jesse Waters' controversial remarks and the surrounding narrative.

“He's one of state regime media, Fox's biggest propagandists.”

Discussion on Media Obsessions

14:00 to 15:00

Exploring how media conversations often focus on personal topics instead of significant issues.

“In this case, I thought the interview was fine.”

Real Issues vs. Media Distractions

15:00 to 17:08

Highlighting the contrast between real societal issues and the media's focus on sensational topics.

“I'm being elected to be the Senator of Michigan and I'm trying to focus on the issues that people in Michigan are facing and you want to talk about like WNBA.”
Show all 13 chapters

Political Discourse Deterioration

17:08 to 19:04

Discussion on the decline of meaningful political conversations in mainstream media.

“But you know they don't wanna talk about what's happening in real life, because that's an acknowledgement of what I shared with you at the beginning, that Donald Trump's policies have been absolutely catastrophic.”

Critique of Political Guests

19:04 to 21:09

Debating the appropriateness of political guests on media shows and their relevance to current topics.

“And then he starts to ask Jamie Harrison all of these questions.”

Ballot Harvesting and Election Laws

21:09 to 22:21

Examining the legality of ballot harvesting in California and its implications for elections.

“I would hope for us to go better in the future.”
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Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

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2:20Ben Meiselas:State regime media, which calls itself Fox News, was in crisis mode, and they are predicting massive losses for MAGA Republicans in the midterms. Even state regime media, Fox, could not hide it. You have Laura Ingraham, one of the biggest MAGA Trump propagandists. She says, we are in a lot of trouble, folks. There are a number of states that Republicans better get their act together. We're talking about losing Iowa folks. Yep. State regime media in panic mode on live TV. Let's play this clip. But I do think Ned's right that there's some of these states like Kansas and Mississippi that are going to sneak up on Iowa.

3:07Yes. Yeah. I think there are a number of states that Republicans better get, get better get their act together. Iowa is one of them. Ned, Michael, both of you. Thank you.

3:15Ben Meiselas:Then one of the guests on this Laura Ingraham propaganda show says Republicans are whistling past the graveyard, Laura. We think we're going to do fine. We aren't. We're going to get wiped out in some of these seats that people think are safe Senate seats. Democrats are surging ahead. By the way, did you all see the latest polling in Arkansas where the Democratic candidate is leading Tom Cotton. Democrats can flip Arkansas blue, Texas blue, Michigan can stay blue. You've got Ohio going back to blue. I can name every other state, but you get the point right there. This is North Carolina, Florida.

3:56Ben Meiselas:I can keep on going, but let's play this clip. And I think this is one thing that, you know, we're 10 weeks out from today from the midterms. I think Republicans are kind of whistling past the graveyard on some of these Senate seats that they thought were safe, whether it's South Carolina, whether it's Alaska, whether it's Iowa, whether it's Nebraska, Ohio. We got to kick it into gear over these next 10 weeks, or we're looking at not only losing the House, but losing the Senate as well. How many times have you and I talked about this, Ned, where it's like, I mean, Paxton in Texas, I don't even see him campaigning at all.

4:28Is he campaigning? Like, I haven't seen much of his campaign. I mean, I guess he's hoping Trump and Elon must save him, but he better get going in Texas. This is the thing that concerns me. I think there's a great deal of apathy with some of the candidates. But what concerns me even more, Laura, there's real apathy in the grassroots. I think some people are thinking we gave Republicans all the power in 24 House, Senate, White House. It really didn't follow through in some of these promises. The Senate's thumbing their nose at the base over the Save America Act. Gas is 410 a gallon. You know, they're not seeing a lot of things that they voted for.

5:00The Iran war is killing us. and we're 10 weeks out. And the problem that we have is that Trump's base is mid to low prop. It's tough to get them out in a non-presidential year. So not only are we suffering on the issues, we're suffering on just a basic turnout. And they're really low propensity voters, which means it's going to be hard to get them to the polls November 3rd unless we give them a real compelling cause to. Yeah, how about not having socialism? That's a compelling reason. And we don't want the border to reopen because we just deported the highest number of illegal aliens in the history of the Trump administration this past month, the 50 ,000.

5:33That's not bad.

5:35Ben Meiselas:And then on state regime media Fox, they're like, what the hell is Donald Trump doing with Canada? They're like, Trump's approval is 33 % and getting lower. Prime Minister Carney's approval is 75%. Donald Trump can rant and rave like a lunatic and claim that Prime Minister Carney's not popular in Canada. Prime Minister Carney is beloved in Canada. He's like one of the most popular leaders right now in the history of Canada. Donald Trump has the lowest approval at this point since Nixon, and Nixon resigned. And so the state regime media Fox hosts here are saying Trump's got big, big issues. And this trade war against Canada, the stupidest thing he could possibly do.

6:22Ben Meiselas:Here, play this clip. President went to True Social saying I would never interfere with Canadians speaking French. In fact, I have never even thought of doing such a stupid thing. This lie was made up by a weak and ineffective prime minister in an attempt to gain political support. At what point is it that Canada's politics are preventing this, Leslie? And that despite the fact that Chris says it's a stepping on politically his own foot, that this is the president pushing back on unfair practices. Well, look, if we're going to look at some of the things we don't like, whether it is, you know, the craziness with China, you know, when it comes to Canada or even just smaller things like Netflix penalties.

6:59You can do this without renaming lakes and you can do this without imposing tariffs, which do hurt not just the Canadian consumer, the American consumer. But, you know, Mark Carney has a 75 percent approval rate. Donald Trump is a 33 percent approval rate. And what you said about tourism, Florida, they're now going into their third quarter down in tourism. And that's a red state. Right. But if you talk and try to stop taking my talking points, I was going to talk about Maine. I was going to talk about Michigan. Let's talk about Iowa. 30 percent of its exports are to Canada. They're our number one trading partner.

7:32They're an ally with the fires. Afghanistan, the list goes on. They've been there and have helped us. we shouldn't be having this type of fight. You can have a conversation without doing this. And by the way, I have a t-shirt that says it's still the Gulf of Mexico. I guess I got to get one for the lake now.

7:46Ben Meiselas:Maybe so. Maybe so. All right. Then state regime media had a guest on who pushed back forcefully against the weird state regime media distraction operation where they talk about that former NBA player Ennis Cantor Freedom, who showed up at the WNBA match. And he's like, I'm a woman, everybody. And he started like mocking the women WNBA players. And he's made himself like the central figure in this like bizarre narrative. I'm protecting women. I'm protecting women by going into the WNBA stadium and mocking the women players and behaving like an absolute psychopath. I mean, what the hell are you doing?

8:28Ben Meiselas:But I'll tell you what, this guest on State Regime Media Fox said it better than me. Play this clip. Why are we intellectualizing or trying to intellectualize this publicity stunt? It's pathetic. It's ridiculous. What are these guys even trying to do? I really don't get it. They're trying to call out. They're trying to play by the WNBA's role. Come on, guys. It's exposing the nonsense. It's silly. If we have a policy that you can't say what a woman is, but you have two men that are pushing back against that, and they're the ones that are being silly? No, it's exhausting. If they wanted this guy, whatever his name is, wants to be Big Willie, he should support and fight for bigger salaries for female athletes and for the coaches.

9:08Ben Meiselas:So I don't get there. What's actually exhausting for a lot of people is men taking over women's sports. And then in yet another stunning moment on state regime media Fox, they revealed that JP Morgan is predicting that as a result of Donald Trump's failed policies, the United States and the rest of the world could be thrust into a global food crisis because of Trump's catastrophic war in Iran and his other international failures. Play this clip. What about another concern? Corn, soybean, wheat conditions are all deteriorating. And JP Morgan is warning of a potential global food crisis. Could this be the beginning of that, Scott?

9:52Well, they say it is. I mean, they will make the argument that we're already starting that um we've had some trouble this year with our crops mother nature has not been uh complying as well it's not a disaster by any means but it's just not what we thought we were going to be getting but the real key here for the first time in a long time uh ashley is the fact that we've got a problem with logistics so weather is taking a back seat logistics around the world has slowed up i mean we've heard about the straits of warm moves but we've got another issue in the black sea and the sea of azov with the kirch straits um we've got problems there with wheat and And all both of them have problems with fertilizer.

10:28And when we don't put down as much fertilizer, guess what happens to yields? So this is a cascading event. So this is a logistics issue. It's a weather issue, geopolitical issue. And they're all kind of stacking up, unfortunately, for the perfect storm where J.B. Morgan sees food inflation at five percent next year. So that's not good. That could be a problem if we get any real big hiccups with Mother Nature.

10:50Ben Meiselas:And if you're saying, Ben, can it get any weirder than this? Am I in the Twilight Zone watching this video? I'll say, actually, he then had Jesse Waters saying Abdul Al-Sayed is a compelling individual, a guy's guy. He said, I like him. Meanwhile, Al-Sayed's opponent, Rogers, is too scared to show up on state regime media Fox. Here, play this clip. In this case, I thought the interview was fine. He was, thought it was compelling. He's a confident guy, kind of a guy's guy, but I don't trust him. You know, I like him. I don't want to like him. I like him for some stupid reason, but he's not right for Michigan.

11:34Ben Meiselas:And Jesse Waters throughout the evening. Again, Jesse Waters is a vile human being. He's one of state regime media, Fox's biggest propagandists. His mom's a Touch fan, though. Shout out to her. But Jesse, and she knows that this is some bizarre act by her son, Jesse Waters, but he's making a lot of money doing the act, I suppose. And then, remember, she warned him the first day, and she's like, Jesse, don't be a propagandist conspirator. I know she's watching this video. She watches the videos all the time. Anyway, Jesse's like, I actually like Abdul. Here, play this clip. I actually like Abdul.

12:09I probably shouldn't like him, but I do. I think he'd be a terrible senator and he's a little bit of a lunatic, but at least he's not your typical stiff. Hakeem talked to Kushner because he wanted to help the country. Abdul talked to me because he wanted to help Michigan and himself. And we all learned something, that I'm circumcised. I'm pretty sure everyone has had that moment where the car starts making a noise. It definitely wasn't making yesterday. And immediately you start to think, so how much is this going to cost me? I'm in the car constantly, including with my family. The idea of getting stranded somewhere and then getting slammed with a huge repair bill is not exactly appealing.

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13:58Ben Meiselas:more from jesse waters over here saying uh i guess because of my interview with abdul al-sayed everybody knows that i'm circumcised right now here play this clip plus everything well i guess everybody now knows i'm circumcised nothing left to say i guess i'm writing that down you know usually you look at the headlines and if your headline is all about your penis, usually you've done something very wrong. In this case, I thought the interview was fine. And you may recall that you had Jesse Waters bringing up genital mutilation and bringing up, you know, all these Fox hosts continue just to talk about like penises and vaginas like all the time.

14:43Ben Meiselas:And they like misconstrue the issue. That's how they kind of phrase everything. and so Abdul El-Sayed is like, okay, you want to talk about like circumcision? Like what the hell are you even talking about? Like Abdul El-Sayed's point is like, what are we even talking about here, okay? I'm being elected to be the Senator of Michigan and I'm trying to focus on the issues that people in Michigan are facing and you want to talk about like WNBA. You also want the government to be the genital police? You want government, like what are you saying? You want big government to make, to inspect people? I mean, what's the MAGA position here?

15:24Ben Meiselas:Here, play this clip. We've decided he's just weird. They say sex sells, but this guy seems just obsessed with it. Are you circumcised? Yeah, yeah, but I mean, that's a personal question, doctor. You probably should want to move on. You probably should want to move on. A circumcision's different than castration. Then Sean Hannity continues to, that was Hannity over there, more from Hannity over here, saying one of the issues that seems to be, that brings all the Democrats together is a dangerous obsession with trans kids. But do you see what the, I want you to see the state regime tactic here.

16:07Ben Meiselas:This is all they talk about on Fox. And then they bring on a guest and that's all they wanna talk about. And then if you push back a little bit, It's like, oh my God, why are you saying these things? Because this is all you talk about. If you watched Fox, all you would think the biggest issue is something about Ennis Cantor freedom and WNBA and Sophie Cunningham and that there are all these transgender women in the WNBA. There's zero. There's quite literally zero. There's never been a transgender woman in WNBA. And I'll tell you what there's a lot of right now in the United States, broke people.

16:44Ben Meiselas:I'll tell you what there's a lot of right now in the United States. People who are suffering right now, who can't afford gas, who can't afford diesel, who have lost their jobs, who can't afford rent, who can't afford a home, who have had their healthcare ripped away. That's what you wanna talk about, real things that are impacting the American people. So stop freaking bullying the transgender community. Just stop bullying the community. These are human beings, damn it. Stop making up fake issues. But you know they don't wanna talk about what's happening in real life, because that's an acknowledgement of what I shared with you at the beginning, that Donald Trump's policies have been absolutely catastrophic.

17:21Ben Meiselas:So here is Hannity though, let's play it. And tonight, one of the issues that seems to bring almost all Democrats together is a dangerous obsession with trans kids. And then more from Hannity talking about ding-a-lings or something. Here, play this clip. You know, when I started in this business, in my mid to late 20s. I never thought this would be talking about ding-a-lings. I just, it was unfathomable. It's kind of sick and getting sicker every day. And then Dana Perino's like, I do want Abdul El-Sayan to come on again. So we can really ask him more questions about windmills. And if he thinks Enes Kanter Freedom should play in the WNBA, she's not joking by the way this is she's being this is what they want to talk about there what they don't want to talk about is how most american people right now don't know how they're going to pay rent to that next month or they open up their fridge here and they go can i do is there anything going to be left in my fridge am i going to have to not go to the doctor how am i going to make my kid food for lunch.

18:35Ben Meiselas:And the government's taken away lunch from my kid. And they said that my kid's involved in waste fraud and abuse, and they've taken away programs that help my kid get lunch. Here, play this clip. It is going to be the Senate race to watch. I do hope that he comes back because Lake Michigan, I want to hear more about windmills on Lake Michigan. I want to hear about getting rid of the Second Amendment. And I want to know if he thinks Enes Cantor Freedom should play for the WNBA. And then you have this Will Kane show, and he brings on Jamie Harrison. And then he starts to ask Jamie Harrison all of these questions.

19:13Ben Meiselas:They want to ask like WNBA, and what do you think about the DSA? What do you think about Sophie Cunningham? What do you like, should transgender women be playing in the WNBA? Or what do you think about this? Oh, that's a good question. Shut up, no one cares about this stuff. Okay, you know what we do care about? Treating human beings with dignity, treating the transgender community in all different communities as human beings, damn it, because they are human beings. Empathetic, stop this weird obsession. All these MAGA Republicans wake up and they think about transgender people all the time. What do you think?

19:49Ben Meiselas:Why don't you mind your own business? Excuse my leg, why don't you mind your own business? And why don't you just, you know, Let's keep government out of it and focus on, you know, focus on you, focus on you and stop being so freaking mean. Here, play this clip. You invite somebody to come on your show to talk about the South Carolina Republican primary. And you don't even talk about the South Carolina Republican primary. This is the reason why you guys are disingenuous. No, there's no, there's no, there's no, there's no reason. Don't invite me to come on your show to talk about what? listen, don't invite me to come talk on your show about the South Carolina Republican primary.

20:30Jamie, you're tilting at windmills. Listen to me for a second. Listen to me for a second.

20:37Ben Meiselas:All right. I'm going to have to cut you off, Jamie, while I'm about to tell you. If my staff told you that we were talking. Jamie, you can't hear me while you're talking. If my staff told you we were to talk about the Senate in Republican, the Republican primary, then I apologize. I was under no pretense that I'd be talking to you today about a Republican primary. I don't know why I would book a former Democratic. All right, I'm gonna have to cut you off. We're talking at the same time. It does nobody's service, not you, not me, or not the audience. But I would never be interested in hearing from a former DNC chair.

21:09Thank you, Jamie Harrison. I appreciate the time. I would hope for us to go better in the future. I would never book the former head of the DNC to talk about a Republican primary. What expertise or insight could I possibly hope? But while the Democrat party goes through a fundamental

21:23Ben Meiselas:transformation, whether it's - Yeah, sorry, I cursed there over there for a second. And then finally, you have the MAGA Republican Senate candidate in California whining about, oh, they're going to ballot harvest in California. I'm going to lose because of the ballot harvesting. Dude, just again, just shut up. Stop whining. Just address the issues that people care about or are concerned about, you freaking loser. Here, play this clip. Exactly. I mean, look, she should have come here because listen to the language there in court, which was depositing absentee ballots not belonging to you. That's legal in California.

22:01It's called ballot harvesting. It's the law. It happens the whole time. It's well documented. You got unions running around collecting ballots in nursing homes. You saw it filmed on Skid Row. I mean, this is what they've done. And people call it cheating and all the rest of it. It's been legalized.

22:18Ben Meiselas:You have legalized cheating and corruption. Anyway, there you have it, folks. Let me know what you think. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 7 million subscribers. Sorry I cursed before. I don't usually know curse. This came out. Let's get to 7 million subscribers. Before you go, our book, WTF America, is available for pre-order now. It's the story of how we got here and how we fight our way back. To pre-order, scan the QR code or click the link in the description. Let's do this.

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MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on Fox News panicking on air that Trump has fully crushed the GOP chances in the midterms.

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