Bonus Podcast - Presidential Debate - 1st Showdown Between Harris and Trump

For this episode Pete and I go through 12 of the craziest and most disturbing clips from Fox from 2025. We both mock and imitate Fox News personalities along with high ranking Trump administration officials. It’s a laughing to keep from crying experience. 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

wanted to do a quick update on the newsletter I wrote last month “A Thanksgiving Primer to Help You Deal With your Fox Loving Relatives.”I had to wait until December 18 to get the updated CPI report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The agency delayed it eight days due to the government shutdown. It was also based on a partial gathering of data which is problematic for several reasons.This is an updated version of the Thanksgiving primer! 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 on Fox News it became more apparent that the MAGA Titanic is gliding straight into an iceberg and the only passengers with lifeboats aren’t even on the ship - they are hovering above it in climate-controlled spacecraft fueled by the cuts to U.S. foreign aid meant for starving children.Meanwhile their glorious leader tells them that the impending disaster is a Democratic hoax designed by his enemies to make him and the greatest political movement in the history of this country look bad.By the end of the month nearly 24 million Americans will see sharp rises in their healthcare premiums, while the cost groceries, electricity, insurance, and housing continue to rise.About 7-8 million Americans enrolled in the SAVE student loan income repayment plan will also face higher monthly payments. Credit card balances have increased along with unemployment while the wannabe king promises everything will work out in two weeks, the next quarter or sometime next year.As Trump’s poll numbers plummeted and Democrats won elections all over the country Fox News continued to churn out the propaganda and spin. 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 the microscopic cracks of doubt in the Trump administration evolved into deep fissures on Fox News. Several on-air personalities openly plead with their glorious leader that he needed to change his messaging on the affordability crisis quickly or the country could be headed for a blue wave tsunami.Just a year ago these same overpaid mouthpieces of the Trump propaganda machine celebrated his win and thanked their viewers for voting for him.Now they cannot hide their panic. Trump is trying to lie to the American public by calling the affordability crisis a Democratic hoax.In many ways Fox News created their own monster. By putting all of the blame on Biden for inflation Fox reinforced the idea that a president can guide an economy like a sailboat. 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

The folks at Fox News thought they were going to have an easy time with holiday programming last week with stories about pajama wearing travelers, Thanksgiving leftover tips and pre-taped shows filled with recycled segments. In between the holiday fluff the network put most of its focus on segments bashing Democrats, worshiping President Trump and what it called the “Seditious Six.”By mid-day Wednesday the on-air talent at Fox News immediately pivoted to cover a targeted domestic terrorist attack on National Guard troops in Washington D.C.Nearly every talking head at the network immediately blamed Democratic lawmakers for the violence even though there was no evidence that the shooter, an Afghan national, was motivated by left of center politics.Fox News was so lazy in its coverage of the tragedy that the network included a pre-taped episode of The Five for Thanksgiving that made no mention of the attack. That evening it re-aired The Patriot Awards, a Fox Nation special, in place of its regularly scheduled primetime lineup.I was expecting at least episodes of Fox News Live, the breaking news show for the network but the Fox stuck to its original plan for the holiday and decided to only air episodes that included live news coverage mid-day and late night on Thanksgiving. 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 hosts twisted themselves into knots to justify Trump’s conflicting actions and statements regarding the Epstein files, New York City’s mayor-elect, and the affordability crisis.No one at the network seemed the least bit concerned that Trump gave the Saudi crown prince a lavish welcome despite his countries relationship with the terrorists who killed nearly 3,000 Americans during the September 11th attacks or the Saudi leader’s personal involvement with the murder and dismemberment of a U.S.- based journalist.Fox also downplayed the results of its own poll that showed Trump’s approval ratings plummeting with more Americans frustrated with how he is handling the U.S. economy.Folks at the network know their primary objective is to support the glorious leader and keep loyal viewers tuned into the nonstop outrage fantasy machine that is Fox News. If that means praising a man they have called a dangerous communist for months so be it. 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

For many Americans the winter holidays can be a treacherous field of emotional land mines triggered by family members who want to lecture them about politics. Say one wrong word and a loved one who is dedicating their lives to consuming as much Fox News as possible might promote a false story they saw on the Murdoch owned propaganda machine.Facts, hyperlinks to solid primary sources and exhaustive investigative reporting won’t help someone who is deeply entrenched in the disinformation pipeline. Trying to correct someone fully committed to the MAGA movement using evidence won’t work.Using words such as brainwashed, cult, propaganda and even lies won’t help you de-radicalize a friend or relative who is obsessed with the thrills of being constantly outraged and angered by a sophisticated media company that has poisoned minds in this country for nearly three decades.What you can do is arm yourself with knowledge, facts and sources that will help keep you calm cool and collected. I don’t encourage fighting with relatives who might have emotional outbursts over their devotion to their glorious leader.A true believer will only free themselves of the MAGA movement when they grow tired of it. It can a long and arduous process before they see the light.I don’t think this newsletter will convince anyone lost to the MAGA cult but it can prevent others from being dragged into it and at least you know you have solid primary sources so you can show anyone what is actually happening with the U.S. economy.I can’t get to everything as this newsletter would be hundreds of pages but I will go over some of his more egregious lies and misstatements. 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 minimized the blue wave of Democratic wins across the country to a ripple of stale water in a plastic kiddie pool. According to the folks at Fox Americans still loved and adored the glorious leader, Democrats were expected to win anyway and the Republican Party ran a bunch of poor candidates.The only thing the network conceded was that Trump could improve his messaging on the economy. The term ‘referendum’ appeared 20 times in the transcripts from last week. Each example was some form of “this election was not a referendum on Trump.”As Martha MacCallum put it on the night of the election, “It’s the economy, stupid, ends up being the simple story of a lot of elections.”Jesse Watters responded by lying about inflation while Brian Kilmeade claimed Trump just needed more time to let his policies in the One Big Beautiful Bill work their magic for the U.S. economy.Laura Ingraham barely kept it together as she predicted the fall of New York City under the Marxist, socialist, communist takeover of the charming millennial Muslim Zorhan Mamdani. 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

The past week on Fox was wonky - the network spent most of its focus praising Trump during his visit to Asia and promoting Turning Point USA, the nonprofit co-created by the late Charlie Kirk. The network also trashed the Democratic Party while it aggressively promoted Republican gubernatorial candidates in Virginia and New Jersey.The only topic worth debunking was the network’s misrepresentation of the SNAP program (Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program) that helps feed nearly 42 million Americans.Since Trump’s political resurrection Fox News has promoted the president and the Republican Party as champions for working class Americans. Trump is portrayed as a warrior for lower income Americans who are struggling with outsourced jobs, shuttered factories, lower wages and ever-increasing costs for just about everything.During his last campaign for president Trump promised to lower prices on groceries, housing, healthcare, electricity and gasoline. He emotionally whipped up his crowds like a preacher promising that his divine powers would make all their problems go away.He alone could fix it. So far most of his base still believes that the magic will happen and Fox News is more than happy to feed their delusions. 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 covers Fox & Friends, The Five, Special Report with Bret Baier, and then all of the primetime shows with an extra hour of election night coverage. It did NOT go well for Republican candidates in several races. 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