Changes coming
The Brand Brief 5.29.26: Blue Origin, Zohran Mamdani, James Talarico, Jill Biden, Jeff Bezos, Brandon Johnson, and Jaxson Dart
Actionable media intel: The Brand Brief delivers a daily snapshot of the conservative media ecosystem - FOX News, podcasts, and more. | Brought to you by On Brand Strategies | Written by Carly Moran and Nathan Brand
📣 Driving the Conversation…
1,489 words | 6 minute read | Written to be skimmable (11+ hours of media covered in The Brand Brief)
What Matters: Big things coming to The Brand Brief
New Media Voices: Big blue cities
Leading FOX: Jill Biden and Blue Origin
Trending: Jaxson Dart and Spencer Pratt
What the Right is Writing: CIA and Trump accounts
✍️ WHAT MATTERS AND WHERE WE’RE GOING…
Nathan’s quick take on where we’re headed…
Happy Friday! Three quick Brand Brief updates:
Starting next week, no more Brand Brief newsletters on Mondays.
We are sad to see it go, but we will be cutting the FOX News’ America’s Newsroom section from the newsletter. It is often redundant of FOX & Friends and slows down this newsletter hitting your inbox.
We’ve teased it a few times now, but we’re excited for what’s ahead. More new media shows and more insight, all made easier for you. We’re still building, so stay tuned! - NRB
What do you think of The Brand Brief? Let us know.
🎙️ NEW MEDIA VOICES
The Ben Shapiro Show - 5/28
Shapiro shames AOC for wearing a hijab to an Eid event with NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, contrasts with feminists’ past condemnation of the practice
He points out how candidates like Graham Platner are pretending to be working class, while James Talarico is putting up a religious front
Former First Lady Jill Biden admits she thought Joe Biden was having a stroke, Shapiro says this contradicts her immediate post-debate praise
He laughs at NY Gov. Kathy Hochul failing to dunk on President Trump with a nonexistent 1993 Knicks championship reference
Shapiro disagrees with Pope Leo’s recent reflections on AI
The Matt Walsh Show - 5/28
Walsh argues that the media’s term “teen takeovers” deliberately obscures the reality of widespread, violent riots involving large groups of young black people across eastern U.S. cities
He contrasts today’s riots to what he describes as decades of urban violence that he says led to the creation of SWAT teams
Walsh criticizes mainstream outlets like the New York Times and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson for blaming social media instead of personal responsibility
He argues the root cause is fatherlessness, which constitutes 80% of urban black children
Walsh demands usage of the federal Anti-Riot Act, and prosecuting parents for contributing to delinquency
The Isabel Brown Show - 5/28
Brown says NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s plan to target irresponsible landlords by removing their ownership is intentionally ambiguous
She argues his policy is a part of a broader Marxist push to move from private market housing to government-controlled housing
Brown draws parallels to failed communist policies in the Soviet Union and Maoist China, describes it as a recycled path that does not solve the housing affordability crisis
The Brett Cooper Show - 5/28
Cooper describes struggling with Nashville’s changing character from a distinct Music City to being homogenized due to rapid growth and tourist caricaturization
She highlights soaring commercial property taxes, like a 45% median increase in Davidson County, forcing iconic local restaurants to close
Cooper says walkable neighborhoods are now crowded zones filled with private equity-backed chains like Lululemon and Sweetgreen, copied across Sunbelt cities like Austin, Dallas, and Houston
She says America must preserve unique city identities like Tokyo and Paris have, arguing private equity firms and social media algorithms have ruined distinct American regional cultures, reducing them to a cliche
📺 LEADING FOX NEWS
The Five
Antifa clashes with ICE agents at a Newark, NJ immigration facility
Former First Lady Jill Biden claims she thought Joe was having a stroke at the last presidential debate
Jimmy Kimmel decides to project, claims LA mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt is a narcissist looking for attention
Beto O’Rourke backs future fellow failed candidate James Talarico for Texas senator, “the best I’ve ever seen”
The panel debates whether it’s appropriate to go on a first date just for a free meal
FOX & Friends
Five people are injured after a fire at Penn Station
Spencer Pratt is closing the polling gap in the race for LA mayor
A Texas man has been charged for threatening to bomb a TPUSA event
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket exploded during a ground test, all are safe
Zohran Mamdani is the first to NYC mayor not attend the Israel Day Parade since its start in 1964
Jill Biden admits Joe was “slowing down” despite pushing for him to remain in the race, Democrat strategist Michael Larosa reacts
Protesters continue to clash with ICE in Newark, NJ
Federal officials have reopened the search for Lynette Hooker off the coast of the Bahamas
14-year-old Shrey Parikh wins the Scripps National Spelling Bee
President Trump weighs restarting nuclear talks, says “we have all the cards,” treasury issues new sanctions
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson visits the Vatican after a Memorial Day weekend of murders
Teddy Daniels, the Purple Heart veteran Graham Platner said deserved to die, speaks out with an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal
Trump Accounts officially launch on July 4th
Manhattanhenge returns, with beautiful views of the sun setting perfectly between skyscrapers
High school principal Brian Muller shares his reaction to his students pranking him by showing up at his house in the middle of the night
FOX Newsroom
A 60-day agreement is on the table for President Trump, Sen. Jim Banks reacts
Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket exploded on the launchpad, residents describe it as looking like the sun came up early
NJ Gov. Mikie Sherrill tries to blame the riots at the Newark immigration facility on ICE agents, while MA Gov. Maura Healey comes out against undercover license plates for agents
Former First Lady Jill Biden admits Joe was “slowing down”
MI Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wavers on whether she’d run in 2028
Ex-CIA officer David Rush has been accused of stealing $40M in gold bars, falsified some military and academic credentials
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani refuses to march in the Israel Day Parade, breaking a decades long tradition in protest
A judge blocks President Trump’s $1.8B anti-weaponization fund
Iowa GOP nominee Ashley Hinson speaks ahead of the Democrat Senate primary election
Spencer Pratt surges in LA mayoral polls
JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon says the government should play a role in regulating AI
The search continues for missing vacationing mother Lynette Hooker
🍿 TRENDING AND POUNCING
Tomorrow’s news today…
Talarico in 2021: “I oppose voter ID.” Add it to the ever-growing list. [X, Lensman]
While AOC was preaching “solidarity” in her hijab, the male-only crowd ignored her and spoke over her. [X, End Wokeness]
Jimmy Kimmel says Spencer Pratt shouldn’t win the LA mayoral election because he doesn’t believe in “climate change” after his house burned down. [X, Miller]
🗞️ WHAT THE RIGHT IS WRITING
FOX News Digital
US responds to reports that an American aircraft was shot down [FOX News]
Skeleton found near Nancy Guthrie’s home unearths new mystery [FOX News]
Iran’s uranium stockpile becomes the make-or-break issue [FOX News]
Breitbart
Dem Moulton: ‘No Other Option’ But ‘Negotiating America’s Unconditional Surrender to Iran’ [Breitbart]
Criminal Investigation into Trump Accuser E. Jean Carroll Starts [Breitbart]
Trump Cabinet: Administration Oversaw ‘Largest Drop in the Murder Rate Ever Recorded’ in 2025 [Breitbart]
U.S., Iran Reach Ceasefire Extension Deal Pending Trump’s Final Approval [Breitbart]
Wall Street Journal Editorials
Where the Iran Talks Stand Now [WSJ Ed]
The Academy Rethinks the SAT [WSJ Ed]
Britain’s Lost Generation of Workers [WSJ Ed]
Kathy Hochul’s Get-Past-November Budget [WSJ Ed]
New York Post
Why ex-CIA officer’s $40M gold bar scheme could point to a ‘large-scale cover-up’ [NYP]
Dems enraged by Jill Biden’s book as ex-first lady puts Joe’s disastrous Trump debate back in the news [NYP]
Kelsey Grammer hosts fireside chat with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent about ‘Trump Accounts’ [NYP]
Washington Free Beacon
Far-Left House Candidate Backed by AOC and Hasan Piker Said Corporate CEOs ‘Should Fry,’ Called for ‘Frequent and Swift’ Death Penalty for CEO ‘Gangs’ [WFB]
Washington Reporter
“The Working Families Tax Cuts are already paying off”: Acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling pitches Trump agenda to Florida businesses [Reporter]
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