The Toxic Manosphere Is Souring On Donald Trump -- And Threatens 'Consequences'
Andrew Tate, Tristan Tate and Justin Waller
One of the biggest reasons President Donald Trump won back the White House in 2024 is starting to fracture.
Some of the “manosphere” influencers who helped deliver young men to Trump—from Sneako and Myron Gaines to Joe Rogan and Theo Von—are openly breaking with the president over the Iran war, immigration raids, the Epstein files, and Trump’s refusal to intervene on behalf of Andrew and Tristan Tate.
The manosphere is a sprawling ecosystem focused on masculinity, entrepreneurship, fitness, gambling, and anti-woke grievance politics. Rather than treating Trump like a politician, the manosphere has portrayed him as the champion of a broader cultural revolt against feminism, academia, the media, and “the establishment.”
And it worked.
In 2020, Joe Biden won 60 percent of voters ages 18 to 29. Four years later, Kamala Harris won just 54 percent, with young men accounting for most of the shift.
These influencers didn’t just preach to existing conservatives; they helped normalize support for Trump among millions of young men who got their news from podcasts and social media rather than traditional media outlets. That’s why their growing disillusionment with Trump matters.
The most immediate flashpoint is the arrest of the Tate brothers on sex crime charges in the United Kingdom. The Trump administration had previously pressured Romanian authorities to allow them to leave Romania while facing criminal charges there.
But now the administration seems to have little interest in publicly defending them, despite their reported ties to Trump’s son, Barron Trump.
The Tate brothers’ attorney, Joseph McBride, responded by threatening political consequences.
“Andrew Tate was a material participant in ensuring President Trump’s victory,” he told Vanity Fair. “And if Trump doesn’t support him, and if the next people who are going to be running for office potentially are just like, yeah, down the river he goes, that young cohort of people will break with the Republican Party in the next election.”
But McBride was even more blunt about it on Instagram.
“AOC will be the next President without the Manosphere and Andrew Tate,” he wrote.
Don’t threaten us with a good time.
And the Tates aren’t the only manosphere personalities turning on Trump.
If you haven’t watched Netflix’s Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere, I highly recommend it. The documentary follows several of the most prominent manosphere influencers—Harrison Sullivan (HSTikkyTokky), Nicolas Kenn De Balinthazy (Sneako), Amrou Fudl (Myron Gaines), Justin Waller, and Ed Matthews.
Theroux embeds himself in their world, attending podcasts and livestreams and visiting their homes and public appearances—all while letting them explain their worldview in their own words. It can be uncomfortable viewing, as these self-described alpha males constantly test Theroux, trying to dominate conversations or bait him into arguments while both sides film the encounters for their respective audiences.
The misogyny and antisemitism run thick. It’s disgusting.
But what makes the documentary so effective is that Theroux almost never argues with them. Instead, he asks obvious follow-up questions and lets the contradictions expose themselves.
For example, when Myron Gaines insists that his wealth and status entitle him to multiple wives, Theroux asks his girlfriend how she feels about that arrangement. Gaines immediately starts fumbling, qualifying his position and trying to regain control of the conversation. The swagger evaporates.
Again and again, Theroux reveals that behind the carefully cultivated alpha-male image are deeply insecure performers.
And some of these men were among Trump’s loudest allies.
Sneako campaigned for Trump on social media and later attended Trump’s inauguration.
Justin Waller cultivated close ties to Trump’s orbit, frequently posting from Mar-a-Lago, sharing photos with the Trump family, and boasting in the documentary about dinners at the club as proof of his proximity to power. He’s also business partners with the Tate brothers, who wisely declined to appear in the documentary.
Meanwhile, Myron Gaines, co-host of the hugely influential—and thoroughly repulsive—“Fresh & Fit” podcast, relentlessly promoted Trump to his millions of followers, portraying him as the ideal embodiment of masculinity and opposition to political correctness.
But today, that enthusiasm has dissipated.
Sneako, who boasts in the documentary that he’s been a Trump supporter since 2015, is now calling for Trump’s impeachment.
“Trump should be impeached. I agree,” Sneako recently said. “Trump needs to be kicked out of office right now. It’s been a complete disaster. He’s shown that he’s not equipped for this war.”
He continued, “He doesn’t know what’s going on. He’s senile. He’s lying. He’s just blazing the media, then changing his mind. Begging for money. Wanting troops on the ground. If he’s not impeached, then we are a failure as a country. The majority of Americans want us to lose this war.”
Myron Gaines has similarly blasted Trump’s handling of Iran, calling it “an epic fuckup.”
During a debate with right-wing conspiracy theorist and convicted felon Dinesh D’Souza, Gaines argued, “I think that we’re losing this conflict from multiple different angles. I think we’re losing it diplomatically, I think we’re losing it economically.”
He’s also demanding that Trump intervene on behalf of the Tate brothers.
Theo Von has also voiced frustrations with Trump, as has Andrew Schulz.
Justin Waller, however, remains loyal to Trump. Though his business isn’t politics—it’s selling wealth, status, and access.
This all comes as Joe Rogan has also been distancing himself from Trump over immigration raids, the Epstein Files, Trump’s war in Iran, and even culture war nonsense like the crying over the diverse casting in “The Odyssey.”
None of this makes the manosphere a force for good. These people are the worst of the worst, and they continue to radicalize millions of young men with misogyny, antisemitism, conspiracy theories, and a worldview built on resentment and imagined persecution.
But if the manosphere ditches electoral politics and doesn’t elect any more Donald Trumps, that is a victory in itself.
Markos Moulitsas is founder and editor of the blogging website Daily Kos and author of three books.
Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos
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- Welcome to America! Trump names ‘manosphere’ troll as tourism envoy | Trump administration | The Guardian ›
- Some 'manosphere' podcasters who backed Trump are turning from him : The NPR Politics Podcast ›
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- Full article: ‘You’re a warrior, right?’: the manosphere, podcasts, and the strongman politics of Donald Trump in the 2024 United States Presidential election ›
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