See you in the new year
The Brand Brief 12.19.25: AOC, JD Vance, Ben Shapiro, Tucker Carlson, Erika Kirk, Brown University, Minnesota fraud, and the presidential walk of fame
Actionable media intel to keep you ahead: 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…
1,355 words | 6 minute read | Written to be skimmable (12+ hours of media covered in The Brand Brief)
What Matters: The last Brand Brief of 2025
New Media Voices: Brown University, AOC, and JD Vance
Leading FOX: Minnesota fraud and JD Vance
Trending and Pouncing: Shapiro and Tucker at AmFest
What the Right is Writing: Brown shooting, MIT murder
✍️ WHAT MATTERS AND WHERE WE’RE GOING…
Nathan’s quick take on where we’re headed…
This is the final Brand Brief of 2025! We’re excited for what’s ahead in 2026. A few year-end thank yous:
Carly Moran, who assembles this daily (read her own writings here)
Readers who shared thoughtful feedback and encouraged us to keep building (I’d love your thoughts here)
Everyone who brought friends and colleagues to sign up for The Brand Brief (add others to the list for FREE here before 2026)
We’ll be back January 5, 2026. Until then, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! - NRB
P.S. What’s driving the right today… fiery clips of Shapiro and Tucker at AmericaFest last night (see the Trending section below).
🎙️ NEW MEDIA VOICES
The Megyn Kelly Show - 12/18
Megyn and guest Glenn Greenwald, from Rumble, dismiss a poll showing AOC leading against J.D. Vance in 2028 as partisan
The DNC buried its 2024 election autopsy report, likely because it called Kamala Harris a weak candidate while she considers a 2028 run
Both Kelly and Greenwald express concern about the seemingly slow and incompetent investigation into the Brown University shooting
Coldplay kiss cam woman Kristen Kitt attempts to fix her image in new media interviews, claims she was separated from her husband
Jeanie, an older Target employee harassed for wearing a Charlie Kirk shirt, says she forgives the woman who filmed and harassed her
The Ben Shapiro Show - 12/18
Trump delivered a speech on affordability using charts to contrast price decreases with the Biden admin
Shapiro says Americans still feel the high costs because while expenses like mortgages have gone down, everyday expenses like groceries still need progress
Four House Republicans sided with Democrats to force a vote on extending Obamacare subsidies
In a poll showing AOC narrowly leading J.D. Vance in 2028, Shapiro says Vance must build his own coalitions outside of inheriting Trump’s
In a recent discussion among conservative about “heritage Americans” (lineage-based) and “creedal Americans” (ideals-based), Shapiro sides with creedalism
In other news, the admin continues Venezuela drug boat strikes, Dan Bongino resigns, and Mamdani has tapped an Al-Qaeda-defending attorney for a city hall position
C.J. Pearson’s Family Matters - 12/18
Guest Janiyah Thomas reflects on her experience as Trump’s Black media director
Pearson and Thomas discuss their shared backgrounds growing up in two-parent homes in the South, attending predominantly white schools
Both say they faced identity crises in their early years for “acting white,” saying it’s important to reject fitting into a box
They argue public schools emphasize stories of oppression while neglecting stories of empowerment, such as Black Wall Street or the Harlem Renaissance
The two uncover the reasons behind why black women are less likely to vote Republican than black men
The Matt Walsh Show - 12/18
Walsh heavily criticizes the incompetence of the Brown University shooting investigation as potentially malicious or a coverup
Walsh attributes the failure to DEI, highlighting the female university president and the Colombian immigrant police chief
Minnesota AG Keith Ellison is suing Kia and Hyundai for car thefts instead of punishing the thieves
Transgender Rep. Sarah McBride held an angry press conference after the House passed a bill banning transgender surgeries on minors
📺 LEADING FOX NEWS
A look inside the FOX editorial decision-making…
The Five
Investigators believe there is a clear tie between the Brown University and MIT professor shootings
Trump gave a rapid-fire 18 minute speech on affordability
Following a poll showing AOC winning against Vance in 2028, she says she’d “stomp him” in a presidential race
More than 200 House Democrats voted against criminalizing transgender sex operations for children
Trump reclassifies marijuana to Schedule III, allowing it to be used for medical purposes at the federal level
Trump installs biographical plaques on the presidential walk of fame, mocking his Democrat predecessors
FOX & Friends
Guest Deputy AG Todd Blanche says the Brown University and MIT shooting suspect was found dead by suicide in a NH storage facility
DHS Sec. Kristi Noem announces an end to the visa lottery program that brought the Portuguese shooter to the U.S.
Erika Kirk endorses VP Vance for president in 2028 in her AmericaFest kickoff speech
Up to half of the $18B in Minnesota social service programs may be stolen
U.S. approves $11B in arms sales to Taiwan
Trump wants Americans back on the moon by 2028
Trump’s approval rating on the economy has sunken by 6% since July
FOX Newsroom
A homeless man helped investigators find the Brown University shooter, suspect was classmates with the MIT professor he murdered
Retired NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and his family died in a plane crash, helped bring remote aid to Hurricane Helene victims a year ago
Erika Kirk endorses VP Vance in 2028, opens the AmericaFest conference
Guest Bernie Sanders advisor Faiz Shakir discusses how the DNC blocked the release of their 2024 election autopsy report, comments on AOC saying she would beat Vance in 2028
Guest Liz Collin says up to $9 billion in Minnesota social programs may have been used fraudulently
Trump is traveling to Rocky Mount, NC to announce deals to lower drug prices
New fed data shows inflation climbed by 21% under Biden
Guest NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya celebrates the crackdown on minors medical transitioning
Mamdani appointee Catherine Almonte Da Costa resigns following backlash over antisemetic tweets
Guest former Bush speechwriter Marc Thiessen responds to Michigan senate candidate Mallory McMorrow saying she’d throw beer at Justices Kavanaugh and Barrett
The WSJ reports an AI-operated vending machine lost thousands of dollars, giving away a PS5 for free and offering to order weapons
Research reveals swearing can help improve focus
🍿 TRENDING AND POUNCING
Tomorrow’s news today…
Shapiro calls out Tucker directly at AmFest [X, Yakoby], warns about the dangers to the conservative movement [X, Ali], and calls Candace Owens a retard [X, 911]
Tucker mocks Shapiro at AmFest [X, AFPost]
Six more have been charged in Minnesota after Somali building is raided…to the tune of $9B. [X, Daugherty]
Australian PM Albanese: “Hundreds of thousands of firearms will be collected & destroyed.” [X, End Wokeness]
In 2016, Zohran Mamdani’s director of appointments wrote, “It’s important that white people feel defeated.” [X, Schmitz]
🗞️ WHAT THE RIGHT IS WRITING
FOX News Digital
Suspect in Brown shooting, MIT murder found dead [FOX News]
Erika Kirk welcomes attendees to AmericaFest [FOX News]
Rob and Michele Reiner’s desperate fight to save their son ends in tragedy [FOX News]
Breitbart
DHS Suspends Diversity Visa Lottery After Brown U. Killer Identified as Portuguese Migrant [Breitbart]
Kennedy Center Board Votes Unanimously to Add Donald Trump’s Name [Breitbart]
Core Inflation Falls to Lowest Since Early 2021 [Breitbart]
Wall Street Journal Editorials
Trump Needs Rising Real Incomes [WSJ Ed]
Another U.S. Pinprick Strike at The Hague [WSJ Ed]
How Lina Khan Killed iRobot [WSJ Ed]
Wisconsin Concedes to Catholic Charities [WSJ Ed]
New York Post
Shootings at Brown University, MIT ‘cracked’ by homeless hero now ‘entitled’ to $50K reward: feds [NYP]
Rob Reiner’s son Nick’s ‘dark,’ never-before-seen Instagram page revealed [NYP]
Washington Free Beacon
Northwestern Says Its Qatar Campus Gives Middle Eastern Women a Quality Education. Nearly 40 Percent of Its 2020 Graduates Came From Elite Qatari Families. [WFB]
NEED HELP NAVIGATING CONSERVATIVE MEDIA?
On Brand Strategies would love to help you navigate the conservative media ecosystem. Learn more at OnBrandStrategies.com, or connect with Nathan (Nathan@OnBrandStrategies.com) and Carly (Carly@OnBrandStrategies.com).
