Live with Juliet Jeske Decoding FOX NEWS

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Last week as part of the midterm elections Democrats gained House and Senate seats in states they haven’t won in decades. Although some states are still counting votes in a few races at the time that I’m writing this on Thursday morning November 11, 2026 Democrats will control an estimated 259 seats in the House and 55 seats in the Senate.So far Democrats flipped Senate seats in Maine, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Mississippi, Iowa, Kansas and Texas.On the night of the election Sandra Smith proudly displayed data from the Fox News Voter Poll that was created in collaboration with five other TV news networks and The Associated Press.The survey included samples of 100,000 registered voters across all 50 states. Most of the data showed that President Trump was deeply unpopular and that most voters blamed his policies for the high price of gasoline and groceries among other common expenses.Instead of recalibrating its approach towards an unpopular president and his political party Fox News decided to double down on its glorious leader.The network blamed weak candidates and poor messaging for the overwhelming losses. This is even as Fox News has seen a dramatic drop in ratings in the past few months.The president still has a base of devoted followers who will keep tuning in to their favorite propaganda network to get their daily fix of Trump worship.I suspect Fox News will only lose its enthusiasm for President Trump when a replacement emerges from the 2028 presidential primaries.The network knows how to pivot its energy to bash and demonize Democrats which should keep its most devoted fans happy. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you Harshi Peiris, Ph.D., The Snarky Correspondent, LeftieProf, A Girl With MS and a Dream, PJ Schuster, and many others for tuning into my live video with Jim Acosta and George Conway! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

This podcast is based off of a Twitter thread I created and posted today. I condensed each hour of Fox News election night coverage into a video approx. 2-3 minutes long. Fox News started its coverage at 6 PM ET and ended the evening at 1 AM ET. The network had no idea what was coming. This is a journey of pure bliss! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Last week it became extremely obvious that the Republican Party is not going to have a good night on November 3rd.Fox & Friends producers seemed to give up completely as their shows last week were much messier than usual. Instead of spending an extended period of time on any one segment the morning show hosts would jump around from topic to topic every minute or so.The Five produced segment after segment bashing Democrats and obsessing about President Barack Obama’s Cheesecake Factory joke about Trump’s White House renovations.Jesse Watters Primetime sacrificed two solid hours of its programming to live coverage of Trump’s rallies. Watters also spent a lot of time on stories about UFO’s, and various programs planned by SpaceX and NASA.Segments on all three shows I analyzed last week were thinly veiled Republican candidate endorsements. Abdul El-Sayed remained the network’s favorite sinister villain while potentially tight races in Iowa and Kansas were given very little attention.There is a slim possibility that the science of polling has collapsed and the Republicans could keep control of the House and Senate. I didn’t see much hope on the president’s personal propaganda network.Last week I held on for dear life trying to keep up with Trump’s ever-changing schedule that included epically long rallies and random press gaggles.One of the most surreal moments of Trump’s second term came when he decided to hold a press conference during the middle of a Halloween celebration at Mar-a-Lago. He dressed up as himself for the holiday which seemed appropriate for a malignant narcissist.Since the election is tonight I will keep this newsletter as brief as possible. I will be appearing in the Lincoln Square election night coverage on Substack tonight at 11:00 p.m. ET. I should also have a bonus podcast dedicated to the midterms as soon as I can churn it out. Thank you for your support. Trump 2.0 has been extraordinarily exhausting. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

When Donald J. Trump first starred on The Apprentice, over twenty years ago, the show was a surprise hit. The creative team managed to make its narcissistic, petty and cruel host likable.The show’s creator, Mark Burnett, also made viewers forget that Donald J. Trump was the same man who had a slew of business failures throughout his career including six bankruptcies involving failed casinos and the Plaza Hotel.Although The Apprentice managed to garner huge ratings when it first debuted it lost about 60% of its audience within two years. The creative team tried to revive the series by creating The Celebrity Apprentice which briefly gave it a boost that quickly dwindled.Eventually things got so bad that producers cobbled together The Celebrity Apprentice All Stars where they brought back popular celebrity contestants in the hopes, they could revive the glory days of the first few seasons. It didn’t work.Reality television is much cheaper to produce than other types of traditional programming which is one reason NBC may have kept the show running as long as it did.Much like the final seasons of his reality show Trump seems to be in the death throes of his MAGA glory days. The ratings for Fox News, his personal propaganda network, have also taken a hit.Although Fox News still dominates cable news its ratings are down 28% since the same time last year. In the past decade no other network besides Fox News has seen this big of a decline the month before the midterm elections.Fox News is especially doing poorly with the demographic most coveted by advertisers viewers aged 25-54.At this point it appears obvious that Fox News is trying to figure out a way to untangle itself from the MAGA cult without losing even more viewers.The network almost seems to be holding its breath and bracing itself for what will likely be a disastrous outcome for the Republican Party in the midterm elections. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Months ago, I decided to go through all 117 Trump campaign rallies from 2023-2024. Each event is about 90 minutes long, so it’s been quite an undertaking. I’ve only gotten through 72.I wanted to see patterns in how he spun his exaggerations and lies to send his followers down the MAGA rabbit hole. Although Trump is a natural salesman in many ways, he’s had so many business failures that it’s astounding that he was able to transfix about one-third of this country.After failing to sell steaks, bottled water, vodka, supplements, mortgages, cologne, shuttle flights, a board game and a gambling experience at luxurious casinos Trump finally found his magical elixir for the masses - xenophobia.The hatred of immigrants, foreigners or anyone who is seen as different was the ultimate Trump product.Just as fascist leaders have scapegoated marginal groups in the past Donald J. Trump took aim at the most vulnerable.He created a mythology that included world leaders purposefully trafficking hardened criminals past our borders to sow chaos and unrest.Every social ill in the United States was caused by immigrants - high housing costs, unemployment, violent crime and the disintegration of what Trump called the American dream.The only solution was to seal off the border, expel the outsiders and attack trade partners with punitive tariffs. Transgender folks were also thrown on the pyre of hatred.As more Americans are souring on Trump Fox News is falling back on his old tactics. In the last few weeks before the midterm elections the network has ramped up hatred and fear towards Somali Americans and Muslims.Xenophobia is old hat for Fox News. The network has enthusiastically trashed and smeared immigrants for years. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

As Trump travels across the country to give speeches in mostly deeply red states his propaganda machine is running out of ideas.The network has tried every way possible to lift the president’s sagging poll numbers and boost Republican candidates in the midterm elections.It’s not working. Most polls continue to favor Democrats even in races that Republicans would have won easily four years ago.Since there is no imposing migrant caravan headed towards the southern border Fox News had to get creative.The network shifted its focus to Europe. Fox News hosts declared that student protests in France were a sign of future riots in the United States.Fox News also told its viewers that the controversial arrest of a teenager over hate speech laws in the U.K. could lead to the erosion of the First Amendment.None of this made any sense but the network needed to whip up its viewers into a frenzy of xenophobic and racial hatred without alienating Black and Latino voters who might vote for Republicans.Fox News went back to an old target - Muslim Americans. Jesse Watters implied that their culture and religion were fundamentally un-American.The network also scapegoated the Somali American community, which also happens to be mostly Muslim, as the primary source of the decay and rot in suburban Midwestern America.The Black and Latino population in the United States is significantly larger than the Muslim community which only makes up about 1% of the total U.S. population. There is a significant Muslim population in Texas though so Fox News risks alienating folks in what could be a razor thin election for the U.S. Senate in that state.I have no doubt the day after the midterm elections that Fox News will go right back to focusing on urban crime and immigrants from Central and South America. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Last week Fox News continued to scramble to come up with content that would keep its viewers’ eyes on the screen while it avoided unpleasant news for Donald J. Trump and the Republican Party.The latest jobs report was dismal, the president’s approval ratings hit a record low and polling for Republican candidates continued to drop.The Network tried to distract its audience with segments about National Pumpkin Spice Day, Fat Bear Week, salacious criminal trials and the body cam footage from the arrest of Luigi Mangione.Fox News hosts also made excuses for President Trump and problematic candidates like Ken Paxton. More Fox News hosts joined Laura Ingraham and Brian Kilmeade in their outspoken criticism of the war with Iran.More than one Fox News host also begrudgingly brought up the outrage surrounding the Epstein files, a topic the network has ignored for several months. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Normally at this point in an election year Fox News includes segments with photogenic and well-spoken voters who say glowing things about President Trump and the Republican Party.Fox News normally loves to welcome a bunch of hand-selected folks from various backgrounds to sit in neat rows on the Fox & Friends set and share their thoughts about an upcoming election.There’s always a couple of moderate Democrats thrown into the mix for good measure but never anyone who might cause an outburst or stage a protest in the middle of the segment.Everyone is pre-screened and well known by the network as Fox News tends to reuse the same ‘undecided voters’ and ‘independents’ in segments for multiple election cycles.According to my research the last voter panel I captured was back in May when an independent voter, who had been featured in several segments over the course of the past few years, said she was unhappy with how Trump had handled inflation.Another missing element for this midterm cycle are the cheery early-morning diner segments from across the country.In the run-up to the 2024 election Fox even included segments in Black barbershops where Lawrence Jones spoke to enthusiastic Trump supporters who had obviously been interviewed and invited to participate before appearing on air.So far in this election cycle the voter panels and diner segments have been replaced with professional pundits, Republican strategists, pollsters, cabinet members and elected officials who toe the party line.I suspect the network doesn’t trust how even pre-screened human beings might react on live television if they were asked about the state of the country right now.Last week Fox News tried to hype up Trump’s appearance at the U.N. General Assembly, and Xi Jinping’s trip to Washington. The network also continued to promote data centers and artificial intelligence.Most polls show American voters strongly dislike data centers and have little interest in foreign policy.For this week’s newsletter I’ve collected the best examples of the network’s desperate attempts to sell a failing presidency to disillusioned voters who just wanted cheaper gas and groceries. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe