Inside last night’s conservative media party
The Brand Brief 11.20.25: $100,000 Dao Prize, Dick Cheney, Jasmine Crockett, Joy Reid, Kara Swisher, Elissa Slotkin, and JD Vance
Actionable media intel to cut through the noise and keep you ahead: The Brand Brief delivers a daily snapshot of trending stories in 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…
1,748 words | 8 minute read | Written to be skimmable (11+ hours of media covered in The Brand Brief)
What Matters: The new establishment force
New Media Voices: Slotkin military resistance video
Leading FOX: Mamdani, jobs numbers, and Cheney’s funeral
Trending and Pouncing: JD Vance, Pelosi, and Joy Behar
What the Right is Writing: Epstein, Vance, and Cheney
✍️ WHAT MATTERS AND WHERE WE’RE GOING…
Nathan’s quick take on where we’re headed…
Hundreds of conservative and independent media figures gathered last night in Washington, DC for the third annual Dao Prize gala. For an ecosystem often fractured and scattered across the country, the National Journalism Center brought all of them together for a party MC’d by Vince Coglianese. More than twenty outlets were represented, including The Daily Wire, The Federalist, The Daily Caller, and Megyn Kelly’s network. The Dao Prize winners walked away with hardware and some serious cash prizes - The Federalist nabbed the $100,000 Dao Grand Prize (See the other winners here).
For decades, the legacy media have had their WHCD weekend, Pulitzer ceremonies, and their DC and NYC hobnobbing. Last night’s Dao Prize gala showed that the conservative media ecosystem is no longer an alternative. It’s an institutional force. - NRB
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🎙️ NEW MEDIA VOICES
The Megyn Kelly Show - 11/19
The Senate unanimously passes the Epstein files bill, where it heads to Trump’s desk
Former CIA member Sen. Elissa Slotkin heads a video urging U.S. military and intelligence agents to “resist illegal orders”
The amount of people who die per year of fentanyl overdoses is approximately 36 times the number of people who died in 9/11
Kelly calls out recent media flops by Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and journalists Kara Swisher and Katie Couric
Even Joy Reid now admits it’s wrong for biological men to use women’s locker rooms
Guests Andrew Kolvet and Blake Neff confirm TPUSA grows by 50 new chapters daily, discuss efforts to navigate disagreements on Israel
The Benny Show - 11/20
Trump plans to meet with Mamdani with the rise of socialist candidates and Islamic immigration
The September jobs report shows strong economic improvements
Guest Sen. Markwayne Mullin discusses construction sites, freeways, schools found empty in Charlotte, NC after ICE raids
Stephen Miller and Sec. of War Pete Hegseth respond to Sen. Elissa Slotkin’s video encouraging the military to disobey orders
Guest Scott Jennings discusses Rep. Jasmine Crockett claiming a GOP donor Dr. Jeffrey Epstein was the same Epstein as the sex offender, shares his new book A Revolution in Common Sense
Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick faces a federal indictment for stealing $5 million in FEMA funds for her congressional campaign
The Ben Shapiro Show - 11/19
The Council on American-Islamic Relations is exposed for funneling $1,000 payments to anti-Israel student protesters
New York mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood-backed CAIR organization, candidates who downplay 9/11
While hosting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Trump defends his ties to the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi
Democrats led by Sen. Elissa Slotkin release a video encouraging military officers to disobey illegal orders
While Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene accuses Trump of dividing MAGA, Shapiro argues her rhetoric and Nick Fuentes defenders are at fault
The stock market is at risk of an AI bubble pop, similar to the dot-com crash of 2000
The Matt Walsh Show - 11/19
Tucker Carlson exposes the FBI hid details about Thomas Crooks, including his nonbinary identity and violent YouTube comments
Walsh shares the concerns of others that the DOJ could delay the release of the Epstein files, shames those who have politicized the issue
Dearborn, Michigan Mayor Abdullah Hammoud says he disavows the “melting pot” assimilation idea, demands a “salad bowl” concept
Michelle Obama accuses white Americans of imposing their hair standards on black women, calling it exhausting
Journalist Olivia Nuzzi is exposed for her relationship with her sources, including RFK Jr., Keith Olbermann, and Mark Sanford
After Party with Emily Jashinsky - 11/19
Jashinsky and guest Matt Taibbi express concerns over potential redactions in the Epstein Files release coming next month
Rep. Stacy Plaskett narrowly avoids House censureship after getting exposed for texting Epstein for advice during a Cohen hearing
Clinton administration Treasurer Larry Summers had a close relationship with Epstein, courted a CCP official’s daughter
Jashinsky describes Sen. Elissa Slotkin’s video encouraging the military to resist Trump as propaganda
In other news, Trump will meet with Mamdani, Rep. Jasmine Crockett falsely claims Epstein donated to the GOP, and Kelsey Ballerini’s new song focuses on family
📺 LEADING FOX NEWS
A look inside the FOX editorial decision-making…
The Five
Journalist Kara Swisher claims Trump will die in office, to the applause of her audience
Hakeem Jeffries’ campaign firm solicited money from Jeffrey Epstein, describing him as “Brooklyn’s Barack”
Harvard professor and OpenAI board member Larry Summers resigns from both institutions after being found in the Epstein files
The House rejects censuring Rep. Plaskett after found texting Epstein during the Cohen hearing, while he was a convicted sex offender
Democrat legislators encourage servicemembers to “refuse illegal orders” in insurrection-esque viral video
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson compares Trump to the Confederacy
Harris campaigns for a Tennessee congressional candidate in a R+22 seat
Joy Reid admits she would be uncomfortable seeing a trans person in the women’s locker room
Canadian doctors at a Brazil climate summit dance to fight air pollution
FOX & Friends
Trump says he seeks to fight the affordability crisis during the Saudi Arabia economic summit
Mamdani plans to meet with Trump to discuss economics, crime
A Fox poll reveals voters now believe Democrats have a better chance at fixing affordability, lowering prices
A Carnival cruise surveillance video reveals a suspect with Anna Kepner, who was found dead the next morning under a bed
Gov. Abbott designates the Muslim Brotherhood, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as terror organizations
Chicago sees two violent attacks: arson on a train, and a mother and son attacked on the walk home from school
Sec. of War Pete Hegseth responds to the Democrats’ call to defy illegal orders
The NYPD chief promises to keep the city safe, even under Mamdani
The Goncalves family, parents of one of the Idaho 4, is suing Washington State University for ignoring Bryan Kohberger’s behavior
Guest Sen. Tom Cotton discusses Trump’s secondary plan against Putin, unauthorized drones in American airspace
The left-wing media criticizes Nicki Minaj for speaking out against Nigerian Christian persecution, claims she’s touting Trump conspiracies
Charlotte, NC residents protest recent ICE crackdown
FOX Newsroom
September jobs report data shows brighter results than expected, with 119,000 new jobs and a 4.4% unemployment rate
The USS Gerald Ford strike group arrives in the Caribbean to defend against drug cartels
Charlotte, NC residents report 30,000 students missing class, thousands missing work during ICE crackdown
Mamdani vows not to cooperate with ICE ahead of his meeting with Trump
The stepbrother of a Florida teen found dead on a Carnival cruise may be charged with murder
Trump considers additional sanctions on Russia, revising peace plan
A St. George, Utah housing contractor says local sanctions make it impossible to build quickly amidst housing affordability crisis
California teens destroy property, face the police in a TikTok “Door Kick Challenge”
Billionaire Bill Ackman blames social media for the declining birth rate
Soft-on-crime policies in Chicago result in a woman set on fire on the train, and a mother and son attacked walking home from school
NYC mayor-elect Mamdani plans on keeping the current NYPD commissioner
The Epstein files are set to be fully released by the DOJ within the next 30 days
Sec. of Transportation Sean Duffy introduces a new campaign to encourage civility while traveling
NASA releases images of the 31/ATLAS comet to confirm it’s not a UFO
Guest Gov. Abbott disparages the federal judge ruling the new Texas district maps unconstitutional, Islamic extremism, and illegal truckers
A viral video shows Democrat lawmakers encouraging the military and justice department to not obey “illegal orders,” giving no examples
Trump, VP Vance were not invited to VP Dick Cheney’s funeral today
🍿 TRENDING AND POUNCING
Tomorrow’s news today: highlights from the conversation on the right and what conservatives are “pouncing” on…
VP Vance: I’m glad the president got us away from the old Republican Party. [X, Daugherty]
Wichita State hides their trans services on their website [X, Libs of TikTok]
Nancy Pelosi says Trump has the “worst cabinet in history” [X, Daily Caller]
Democrats back to calling for Trump’s impeachment and removal [X, Daugherty]
A Washington library hosts a kid’s gender expression workshop [X, Libs of TikTok]
Joy Behar: “Isn’t it obvious that Trump was involved with Epstein?” [X, Townhall]
Chairwoman of the NC Democrat Party compares the people enforcing immigration law in Charlotte, NC to the KKK [X, Price]
🗞️ WHAT THE RIGHT IS WRITING
Leading FOX News Digital
Democrat indicted for allegedly stealing $5M of disaster relief funds [FOX News]
Jeffrey Epstein files to go public as Trump signs law releasing all records [FOX News]
Voters say White House is doing more harm than good to the economy [FOX News]
Top of Breitbart
Watch: Breitbart News Hosts Vance for Policy Discussion [Breitbart]
Bush Family Plotting Comeback to Retake GOP from Trump [Breitbart]
Several NATO Nations Scramble Jets as Russian Airstrike Kills At Least 20 [Breitbart]
Jasmine Crockett Badly Misfires Attacking Lee Zeldin over ‘Jeffrey Epstein’ [Breitbart]
Wall Street Journal Editorials
The FTC’s Meta Antitrust Implosion [WSJ Ed]
Mamdani’s Law-and-Order Police Chief [WSJ Ed]
Spanberger’s Premature Takeover of UVA [WSJ Ed]
A Courageous Stand on the Epstein Files [WSJ Ed]
DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT THE NEWS?
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