How did the Meiselas brothers launch MeidasTouch?
Executive summary
MeidasTouch was born in March 2020 when three brothers—Ben, Brett and Jordan (Jordy) Meiselas—stuck at home during the COVID lockdown turned political frustration into a digital operation that quickly produced viral anti‑Trump videos and then formalized as a Super PAC by mid‑May 2020 to scale its reach . The brothers leveraged distinct professional strengths—Ben’s legal and advocacy profile, Brett’s Emmy‑level video editing, and Jordy’s marketing know‑how—to move from short viral clips to a podcast‑centered media network that expanded into regular programming, partnerships and broader progressive organizing .
1. Origin in quarantine: frustration turned into a targeted media project
The spark for MeidasTouch came while the brothers were watching and reacting to then‑President Trump’s coronavirus briefings during early 2020; that frustration prompted Brett to start making viral videos and the three to coalesce around a single brand in March 2020 . Reporting in Rolling Stone and Wikipedia agree on the timeline and the catalyst: a quarantine‑era, digitally native start aimed specifically at countering Trump’s messaging and galvanizing an online resistance .
2. Division of labor: complementary skills made the launch surgical
From the outset the siblings parceled responsibilities along professional lines—Ben brought legal and advocacy credibility, Brett brought professional video production and editing experience, and Jordy handled marketing and audience growth—allowing rapid content production and distribution across platforms . Industry profiles and interviews highlight how that mix let them publish many short, shareable videos with a signature tone and visual style that amplified their early reach .
3. From meme‑stick to legal entity: registering as a Super PAC
Seeking to convert viral energy into political impact, the group registered MeidasTouch as a Super PAC in mid‑May 2020, signaling an intent to move beyond organic content into organized political spending and targeted ad buys during the 2020 election cycle . Rolling Stone reported that formal registration was part of a strategy to overcome perceived limits of purely digital activism, while contemporaneous records and later coverage track that transaction from content project to political committee .
4. Content strategy and rapid scaling: volume, cadence, and style
MeidasTouch built its audience through high‑cadence posting, mixing short viral clips, all‑caps branding, and long‑form podcast episodes; by the mid‑2020s that model evolved into a podcast‑first network producing frequent video content and daily updates, with the brothers hosting shows that also attracted mainstream guests . Trade and platform profiles describe a workflow where footage, group chats and quick editorial cycles produced frequent, platform‑tailored assets that maximized shareability .
5. Monetization, partnerships and mainstream lift
After proving reach, MeidasTouch expanded into monetized network operations—podcasts, merchandise, syndication and even a limited SiriusXM run—and built a broader crew of contributors and partnerships to professionalize output and revenue streams . Reporting indicates the brand transitioned from a grassroots PAC to a multimedia outlet that could compete for attention .
6. Controversies and political posture: partisan aims and scrutiny
From the start MeidasTouch defined itself as a pro‑democracy, anti‑Trump operation, and that explicit partisan objective opened them to both praise and critique; Rolling Stone documented questions about campaign finance and transparency even as it found no evidence the brothers were personally profiting from PAC funds . Wikipedia and other reporting record episodes of contested material and defamation allegations related to content affiliates, which the founders publicly addressed and contested .
7. Evolution into a media network and rebranding
What began as a short‑order Super PAC ultimately morphed into the MeidasTouch Network with regular podcasts, video programming and tens of contributors; filings and reporting show the group later refiled or renamed elements (including a reported renaming to Democracy Defense Action) as they shifted from pure political committee work to sustained media operations . Industry profiles and interviews emphasize the brothers’ conscious pivot from guerrilla content to a structured network that leverages their original viral tactics at scale .