MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle was mocked for her over the top reaction as she celebrated an anti-Trump podcast dethroning Joe Rogan in the charts.
MeidasTouch, a left leaning podcast hosted by brothers Ben, Brett and Jordy Meiselas, soared to the top of the charts this month with 56 million downloads and plays, according to Podscribe.
During her program The 11th Hour, Ruhle seemed delighted by the update, saying: ‘The left leaning podcast MeidasTouch has just done the unthinkable!
‘These three guys, specifically, they are not your touchy-eely progressives, though, like three brothers from Long Island,’ she added.
Ruhle questioned whether their success signaled a ‘political shift’, noting ‘they’re not policy guys. They’re anti-Trump guys. They crank it out all day, every day.
‘People often say that Democrats don’t know how to hit. These guys are hitters.’
Critics were quick to mock Ruhle and her celebration, noting that it is ‘easy to get to the top, but harder to stay there.’
Rogan has ruled the podcast charts consistently for years and conducted an interview with Trump during the presidential election campaign which was heralded as a huge factor in luring young males across to the MAGA movement.
‘Give me a break,’ one critic said. ‘This is less a seismic media shift and more a desperate cheerleading session for your lefty echo chamber, and it’s laughably delusional.
‘Rogan’s built a sprawling, messy, global juggernaut with millions of listeners across the spectrum, from conspiracy buffs to curious normies, while MeidasTouch is basically a niche fan club for diehard Democrats who already nod along to every MSNBC segment.’
Another added: ‘I’ve never heard of it, nor do I know one single person who has ever listened to the MeidasTouch.’
Ruhle’s guest Joel Payne said the success of the MeidasTouch podcast could be a turning point for Democrats as they lick their wounds and look toward the next election.
He said it could pave the way for Democrats to capitalize on modern news-telling markets and for ‘the non-conservative ecosystem catching up to where the kind of Rogan Right has been.’
‘These are folks who’ve been grinding and working. And my suspicion is they probably were going to get to this point anyway. But it does, I think, signal where where groups and where organizations and where candidates on the Democratic side are going to focus a lot of their effort going forward.
‘You’ve got to dominate this space. That’s where conversation is. That’s where a lot of people get their news, is on YouTube. Online.
‘You have to be present there. You have to have messengers that are fearless and that know how to talk to these folks comfortably. And messy conversations that are often complicated.’
Rogan responded to the news he’d been ousted via his podcast’s X page, sharing a clip of Ruhle’s response.
‘Who?’ he joked.
Speaking just last week about whether he envisions ever having a ‘rival’ on the left, Rogan said: ‘It’s not going to work unless that person’s authentic.’
