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The Brand Brief 11.21.25: Mamdani to the White House, Jasmine Crockett, Diddy, Swalwell, Pelosi, and drug-traffickers
Actionable media intel to keep you ahead: The Brand Brief delivers a daily snapshot of the conservative media ecosystem - FOX News, new media podcasts, and more.
Brought to you by On Brand Strategies | Written by Carly Moran and Nathan Brand
📣 Driving the Conversation…
1,478 words | 6 minute read | Written to be skimmable (11+ hours of media covered)
What Matters: Viral moments incoming
New Media Voices: Epstein, midterm polling, and affordability
Leading FOX: Crockett and Mamdani
Trending and Pouncing: Protestors and Crockett
What the Right is Writing: DOJ, DOE, and NYC
✍️ WHAT MATTERS AND WHERE WE’RE GOING…
Nathan’s quick take on where we’re headed…
In a meeting poised to deliver viral moments and dominate the conversation through the weekend, Mamdani is set to meet Trump.
At 3:00 PM Friday, New York City’s Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani will walk into the White House to sit down with President Donald J. Trump.
No figure on the left has risen faster as a conservative media villain than Mamdani, and no one alive knows how to make better television than Trump. Their first encounter will not disappoint. Stay tuned. - NRB
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🎙️ NEW MEDIA VOICES
The Megyn Kelly Show - 11/20
The James Comey indictment faces procedural concerns, questions about vindictive prosecution
Kelly wonders if Michael Wolff is protected by the First Amendment against a defamation suit for accusing Trump of a “sham marriage”
The LAPD investigates music producer Jonathan Hay’s accusation against Sean “Diddy” Combs of sexual assault
Singer D4vd is now considered a suspect in the death of minor Celeste Rivas Hernandez, whose remains were found in his impounded Tesla
Guest Link Lauren praises Melania Trump’s grace during her visit to Camp Lejeune, criticizes Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s false claim that Jeffrey Epstein donated to the GOP
The Ben Shapiro Show - 11/20
Recent NPR/PBS/Marist polls show Democrats hold a 14-point advantage in the 2026 midterms
Shapiro argues this is due to low approval on affordability and the Epstein files, not on Trump’s foreign policy, which nets positive
The Epstein Files Transparency Act mandates the files be released within 30 days, implicates OpenAI board member Larry Summers
The September jobs report far exceeded expectations at 119,000 jobs added, while retail stocks like Target struggled to make returns
Rep. Cory Mills faces a potential censure for alleged domestic abuse, stolen valor, and financial fraud, while Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick stole $5 million in FEMA funds
In other news, Olivia Nuzzi’s affairs highlight issues with media integrity, Mamdani vows to block ICE deportations ahead of his Trump meeting
The Michael Knowles Show - 11/20
Knowles explains Democrat leadership failures have caused violence, like the Chicago man who lit a woman on fire on the train
Forbes confirms only 30% of 2025 college graduates have been able to find a job in their career field
Elon Musk claims AI will make a monetary system unnecessary, eliminate poverty and the need for jobs
Knowles agrees with a viewer’s comment that releasing more files won’t do anything, arrests need to start happening
While some polls show a Democrat advantage in the midterms, Gen Z is favoring Republicans according to Newsweek
CJ Pearson’s “Family Matters” - 11/20
Pearson applauds Nicki Minaj for risking getting canceled by speaking out against the genocide of Nigerian Christians
Guest Yemisi Egbewole and Pearson agree new media groups like Ben Shapiro, Shawn Ryan, and Pod Save America highlight issues the legacy media won’t touch
Egbewole, a moderate Democrat, says her party needs to acknowledge the rise in young people going to church, wonders if VP Vance’s interfaith marriage will benefit him in 2028
In the wake of Michelle Obama’s controversial book tour, Egbewole argues Barack Obama isn’t good at promoting other Democrats
CNN, other liberal media groups now promote Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene after she publicly condemned Trump
📺 LEADING FOX NEWS
A look inside the FOX editorial decision-making…
The Five
Rep. Jasmine Crockett falsely claims Jeffrey Epstein donated to the GOP, was a different Dr. Epstein who donated after he died
NYC mayor-elect Mamdani claims he will work with Trump on making NYC affordable
Rep. Nancy Pelosi claims she could have said “much worse” about Trump on Anderson Cooper 360
A woman in Chicago was set on fire on the L train by a repeated felon
FOX & Friends
The Chicago woman set on fire is in critical condition
As Mamdani visits the White House today, the House votes to condemn socialism
Rep. Eric Swalwell announces his run for California governor
TikTok releases wellness features, including rewards for low screen time and meditation tracks
Elon Musk predicts work will be optional thanks to AI
The National Transportation Safety Board confirms the crashed UPS plane had cracks in the engine mount
The jury has been decided in the Brian Walshe murder trial
Treasurer Scott Bessent confirmed Thursday affordability will be the primary goal of 2026, following successes in immigration policy this year
Trump speaks to a crowd of freed Israeli hostages at the White House
52 Catholic Nigerian students were abducted following previous attacks this week
In a Pew Research poll, only 67% of 12th graders say they want to get married, compared to 80% in 1993
370 illegal immigrants were arrested during Operation Charlotte’s Web
The U.S. military deploys assets to the Caribbean in the fight against drug trafficking
FOX Newsroom
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis explains from a New York Republican perspective what to expect from the Mamdani White House meeting
A repeat violent offender lights a Chicago woman on fire on the train, Mayor Brandon Johnson claims it’s an “isolated incident”
The National Transportation Safety Board says the Kentucky UPS plane had an engine separation before it crashed
The DNC takes out a loan following financial woes
Rep. Nancy Pelosi pushes back on Michelle Obama’s claim that America doesn’t want a woman president
Two weeks after a teen mysteriously died on a Carnival cruise, the mother refuses to testify against her stepson, a key suspect in the case
The White House escalates its military operation against Venezuela, sending its largest aircraft carrier to the Caribbean
Palantir offers a “meritocracy scholarship” encouraging talented teens to work for them instead of attending college
Trump responds to the Democrats’ video on disobeying military orders, says back in the day they would have been killed for treason
The Biden DOJ subpoenaed Rep. Jim Jordan’s phone record
Radio Free Asia, funded by cut government aid, sells their recording gear for pennies
Guest Mark Penn, a former Clinton advisor, talks about the House vote to condemn socialism while Mamdani visits the White House
Foster care-to-adoption participation has dropped by 24% since 2019
🍿 TRENDING AND POUNCING
Tomorrow’s news today: highlights from the conversation on the right and what conservatives are “pouncing” on…
Jasmine Crockett defends Democrats texting Epstein, suggests it is racist to criticize those texts [X, EndWokeness]
Lib protestors yelling “you’re not safe” at conservatives in DC [X, Brand]
98 Democrats refuse to denounce socialism on the House Floor. [X, Barrios]
Muslims in Dearborn, MI are threatening to shoot and kiII a Christian man. [X, Libs of TikTok]
Bill and Hillary Clinton have been told to appear for depositions in Jeffrey Epstein probe. [X, RNC Research]
Despite campaign promise, Mamdani has no plan to fund his free bus program [X, Tafoya]
🗞️ WHAT THE RIGHT IS WRITING
Leading FOX News Digital
Biden’s DOJ subpoenaed Jim Jordan’s phone records for more than two years [FOX News]
AOC sounds off on Trump-Mamdani meeting at White House [FOX News]
CDC makes reversal on vaccines and autism after years of debate [FOX News]
Top of Breitbart
The Last Education Secretary: Linda McMahon on Putting Herself Out of a Job [Breitbart]
Report: Bush Family Plotting Comeback to Retake GOP from Trump [Breitbart]
‘Globalize the Intifada’: Mob Besieges NYC Synagogue — Mamdani Era Begins [Breitbart]
JD Vance: Private Sector, Native-Born Citizens Are Driving Job Growth [Breitbart]
Wall Street Journal Editorials
Trump’s Texas Gerrymander Backfire [WSJ Ed]
The Jobs Report Is a Peek Through Economic Fog [WSJ Ed]
Trump Says Arms Are Going to Taiwan [WSJ Ed]
Railway Sabotage on a Polish Line to Ukraine [WSJ Ed]
DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT THE NEWS?
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Say hello by reaching out to Nathan (@NathanBrandWA on X or Nathan@OnBrandStrategies.com) and Carly (@realCarlyMoran on X or Carly@OnBrandStrategies.com).
