Megyn Kelly endorses Donald Trump at Pennsylvania rally on November 4, 2024
With the midterms so close they’re effectively “happening now,” the “MAGA media machine” that carried President Donald Trump into office is falling apart. According to a new report by the New York Times released Friday, while they were once united in their support for Trump, “right-wing influencers are embroiled in feuds and losing viewers, creating a problem for Republicans in the midterm elections.”
“The vote is in November, but the heart of the midterms is happening now,” said Ryan Broderick, the founder of Garbage Day, a newsletter about online culture and influence. “A lot of the propaganda that they’re pushing out just isn’t really connecting the way it would have even three or four years ago.”
As the Times details, much of that “propaganda” used to come via an army of online influencers, like Benny Johnson, Dan Bongino, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens, Ben Shapiro, and more, the majority of whom have seen their audiences shrink dramatically over the course of Trump’s second term. Per the Times, “The shifts add to a growing body of evidence that suggests the audience for pro-Trump content has fallen from its heights and, for some creators, has reached new lows. Views are dropping for many of Mr. Trump’s greatest allies, while some figures on the right who have taken to criticizing Mr. Trump are showing uneven gains.”
This situation has threatened the media messaging ecosystem that the Republican Party depends on. According to the Times, of the dozen leading MAGA content creators analyzed, “Only a few saw their audiences grow since Mr. Trump’s inauguration, while many more have seen their viewerships decline. Some creators, like Ms. Owens drew new audiences by posting about a broader range of topics.”
Experts attribute the shift to a number of factors, “including the difficulty in stoking political outrage while Republicans control Washington, along with a quieter midterm season. All content creators are also subject to the whims of algorithms, like on X, which can change without explanation and impact their reach. A fresh generation of influencers, such as Clavicular and the YouTube creator Asmongold, have also siphoned away viewers by speaking about politics alongside other topics like gaming and relationships.”
“It seems that everyone in the space is experiencing a drop-off in views from 2025,” wrote Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist influencer who was once an avid Trump supporter but has become deeply critical of the president. “Seems as though 2025 was the anomaly either due to organic interest or potentially artificial boosting.”
In fact, after a period of declining viewership, both Fuentes and Owens have seen their audiences grow more recently as they’ve begun criticizing Trump. According to the Times, “The success of disaffected Trump supporters like Mr. Fuentes and Ms. Owens suggests they will play a larger role in the future of right-wing content online.”
Reprinted with permission from AlterNet
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