Who’s next?
The Brand Brief 12.10.25: Gavin Newsom, Netflix, Social media bans, Jasmine Crockett, Mike Johnson, Candace Owens, Warner Bros., ICE arrests, and a Royal Caribbean cruise
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…
1,562 words | 7 minute read | Written to be skimmable (12+ hours of media covered in The Brand Brief)
What Matters: Newsom’s consistent presence in 2025
New Media Voices: Pipe bombs, foreign policy, and Warner Bros. deal
Leading FOX: Erika Kirk, social media bans, drug boats, and ICE arrests
Trending and Pouncing: Johnson, Newsom, and Netflix
What the Right is Writing: Trump midterm messaging
✍️ WHAT MATTERS AND WHERE WE’RE GOING…
Nathan’s quick take on where we’re headed…
A new study of 2025 online political conversations found only two Democrats cutting through the noise: Gavin Newsom and Zohran Mamdani.
The Brand Brief readers won’t be surprised. These two have been daily fixtures. When reporters call me to talk 2028, I always note the same dynamic: Newsom runs circles around the Dem field in garnering headlines - especially, in the conservative media ecosystem. No one is close; Pritzker is a distant second.
I’ll save my full 2026 predictions for a later December edition, but I’m curious: which personality do you think will drive the ecosystem next year? - NRB
I would love to hear your feedback - survey here. Thank you!
🎙️ NEW MEDIA VOICES
The Megyn Kelly Show - 12/9
J6 pipe bombing suspect Brian Cole, Jr. was a My Little Pony fan and his grandmother says he has mental issues
Guest Stu Burguiere says Texas Senate candidate Rep. Jasmine Crockett is entertaining, but has no chance at winning
A New York Times profile highlights Kamala Harris’ vague vision for the Democrats combined with her narcissism over her historic status
Kelly and Burguiere agree that Piers Morgan’s interview with Nick Fuentes adds no value, better to ignore him than amplify his voice with criticism
Actor Zachary Levi promotes his film Not Without Hope, thanks HHS Sec. RFK, Jr. for investigating newborn Hep B shots, and his own “greylisting” in Hollywood
The Ben Shapiro Show - 12/9
As China attempts to hollow out their neighbors’ exports, Shapiro argues the U.S. should build closer alliances with Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, India, and Europe
Shapiro says withdrawing from other countries with tariffs boosts China’s powers by pushing these allies toward trading with them
He also argues we are too neutral toward Russia, especially considering the country’s alignment with China
Shapiro argues the U.S. could encourage European countries to increase defense spending in exchange for American energy exports
In order to win against China’s tech, Shapiro says the U.S. needs to pivot to increased chip and drone production to replace outdated systems
TimCast IRL - 12/9
Candace Owens’ latest conspiracy is that the U.S. military was involved in Charlie Kirk’s murder, Tim Pool calls this defamatory
Owens falsely claimed Pool survived a shooting by his own brother in 2022, Pool explains there were robbers in his house and his staff fired shots in defense
The panel questions whether Owens is acting this way out of evil, mental illness, grifting, or even an attempt to overwhelm lawsuits
The hosts say it’s distracting conservatives from real issues like housing affordability and winning midterm elections
Guest comedian Jamie Kennedy joins to talk about the slow shift toward normalcy within Hollywood
The Brett Cooper Show - 12/9
Paramount, led by David Ellison, has launched a $108 billion hostile bid to acquire the entire Warner Bros. against Netflix’s $82 billion offer
Paramount is backed by Middle Eastern funds as well as Jared Kushner’s private investment firm, vs. Netflix’s ties to Obama and Biden
Paramount is positioning itself as preserving the theatre experience, while the public critiques Netflix for releasing a movie about a trans coal miner
Cooper guesses both bids would face antitrust scrutiny from the DOJ and FTC under the Trump administration
Cooper argues Warner Bros. Discovery deal will be a loss for Americans with rising monopolization and less consumer choice
📺 LEADING FOX NEWS
A look inside the FOX editorial decision-making…
The Five
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles says Trump is going to campaign in the midterms “like it’s 2024 again”
In his interview with Politico, Trump says he’s inherited a “total mess” economically from Biden
Guest Erika Kirk shares Charlie’s posthumous book Stop, in the Name of God, which explains the importance of taking a weekly Sabbath
Rep. Jasmine Crockett claims she doesn’t need Trump voters in her race for Texas Senator
HHS Sec. RFK, Jr. and Transportation Sec. Sean Duffy team up to bring gyms and playgrounds to U.S. airports with a $1 billion package
Gen Z women are choosing their men based on their fashion choices
FOX anchor Dana Perino’s new book Purple State is about a Democrat campaign staffer who falls in love with a swing-district Republican man
FOX & Friends
As Trump looks to rewrite his affordability strategy for 2026, a Democrat wins the Miami mayor race for the first time in 30 years
Two New Jersey teens were arrested for threatening to kill DHS Sec. Kristi Noem’s top deputy and shoot ICE officers on sight
Charlie Kirk’s last book Stop, in the Name of God is about taking a weekly Sabbath away from your phone to meditate on God and family
As negotiations push forward, Trump encourages Ukraine to accept the peace deal as is
New footage shows Luigi Mangione giving officers a fake ID before his arrest
A family is suing Royal Caribbean cruise line for giving their family member 33 drinks before he died of drunkenness, stuffed in fridge
Australia introduces a first-of-its-kind youth social media ban this morning
The Trump admin is briefing members of Congress on the real story behind the controversial Venezuelan drug boat strike
More than 8,000 college student visas have been revoked this year due to national security concerns
New audio has been revealed from when a pilot attempted to crash an Alaskan Airlines flight by shutting off the engine mid-flight
Guests Sen. Joni Ernst and Daily Wire reporter Luke Rosiak call for an end to a Biden-era DEI program due to potential financial fraud
Guest Transportation Sec. Sean Duffy says his $1 billion airport upgrade package will fix breastfeeding spaces, and add gyms and playgrounds
FOX Newsroom
Guest Sen. Joe Manchin discusses Trump’s affordability rally in Pennsylvania last night
The Federal Reserve is expected to cut rates again following their final meeting today in 2025
Guest Sen. Katie Britt says the U.S. should consider a youth social media ban modeled after Australia’s, going into effect today
The number of high school students who identify as sexually active has dropped from 47% in 2013 to 32% in 2023, according to HHS data
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, running for Texas senator, claims she doesn’t need Trump supporters’ votes
New Jersey twins were arrested for threatening to kill DHS Assistant Sec. Tricia McLaughlin
New trial evidence shows the moment Luigi Mangione was caught in an Altoona, Pennsylvania McDonalds
The U.S. seizes Nvidia AI chips being illegally shipped to China
ICE broke into a Minneapolis illegal’s home for violently resisting arrest
Teacher’s union head Randi Weingarten, famous for keeping schools closed during Covid, now claims the effects “weren’t that bad”
Miami elects its first Democrat mayor in 30 years, signaling midterm concerns for the GOP
Speaker Mike Johnson says the Democrats’ proposed healthcare legislation is a wasteful extension of fraudulently-used subsidies
🍿 TRENDING AND POUNCING
Tomorrow’s news today…
Speaker Mike Johnson: Jasmine Crockett running for Senate is “one of the greatest things that’s happened to the Republican Party.” [X, Petersen]
Trailer released for Netflix transgender coal miner [X, Libby]
Gov. Newsom revealed to Ezra Klein that Charlie Kirk helped him have a whole new understanding of Christianity. [X, Silverio]
CNN has refused to have Stephen Miller on their network…They repeatedly slander him as a “Jewish Nazi” and “white supremacist,” then refuse to let him respond. [X, Daugherty]
Between 2021-2024, the foreign-born population accounted for over 60% of rental demand growth. [X, Daugherty]
🗞️ WHAT THE RIGHT IS WRITING
Leading FOX News Digital
Trump-backed candidate loses as Democrats score rare win in Miami race [FOX News]
Trump lists series of economic wins after calling Dem ‘affordability’ messaging a ‘hoax’ [FOX News]
US deploys fighter jets to Venezuelan Coast in closest approach yet [FOX News]
Top of Breitbart
Pastor Brunson Calls on Risch to Schedule Hearing for Trump Religious Freedom Ambassador [Breitbart]
Justice Jackson: Presidents Should Not Be Able to Fire Government Experts [Breitbart]
Teenage Afghan Illegal Migrants Convicted of Raping 15-Year-Old in England [Breitbart]
Susie Wiles: Trump Will Campaign for 2026 Midterms ‘Like It’s 2024 Again’ [Breitbart]
Wall Street Journal Editorials
A Climate Study Retraction for the Ages [WSJ Ed]
A Welcome Restraint on Mass Torts [WSJ Ed]
Potheads Head for the Emergency Room [WSJ Ed]
France’s Great Welfare Leap Backward [WSJ Ed]
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).
