Over the weekend, I went to DC to meet with all of the right-wing influencers and content creators who made President Donald Trump’s 2024 win possible. They were everywhere.
The 2024 election was the influencer election and inauguration was no different: There were dozens of pre- and post-inaugural parties and balls this weekend, as well as the big event itself. Theo Von sat in front of Jake and Logan Paul under the Capitol rotunda (well, until the podcaster’s chair collapsed). Ben Shapiro, Matt Walsh, and Brett Cooper walked the Turning Point USA red carpet and posed for selfies with fans. Jessic Reed Kraus, writer of the HouseInhabit newsletter, hung out with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the Make America Healthy Again ball Monday night.
In August, I published a guide on the Republican and Democratic influencers shaping the 2024 election. The influencers and content creators still matter, and they will be communicating and guiding policy decisions for years to come.
Welcome to Trump 2.0, where these creators have the ears not only of their audiences but of the president as well. Here are some of the ones to keep an eye on over the next four years.
The Podcasters and Streamers
The 2024 election was the breakout cycle for podcasters in politics. Most of the shows Trump went on catered to the manosphere, a loose network of creators who push misogynistic, racist, and pro-male ideology online. This includes people like Joe Rogan, Andrew Schulz, the Paul brothers, and Adin Ross, who shared their Trump interviews with millions and millions of their fans. There’s a second branch too, made up of creators who have branded themselves as the intellectual wing of the modern Republican party, like Ben Shapiro, Dave Rubin, and Lex Fridman. Fridman’s YouTube podcast reaches millions of viewers every week. Shapiro’s show is one of the most popular ones on Spotify.
These podcasters have amplified Trump and his agenda with very little, if any, pushback. They will likely be key in rallying support for Trump administration decisions.
I spoke briefly with Shapiro on Sunday night, asking what comes next for the GOP and podcasting. “The power continues to grow,” he said. “Legacy media’s completely blown itself out. We’re focused on expanding, not only our brand, but there’s so many other brands that need expansion, I think that it’s gonna be a very rich time for the podcast industry.”
The Meme Pages
DC Draino, the Typical Liberal, RagingAmericans, and Snowflaketears are some of the largest pro-MAGA meme pages on Instagram. Combined, these accounts have over 6 million followers. They act as conduit between GOP leadership priorities and platforms like X and Instagram.
Think of their accounts as news aggregators for people who otherwise may not be consuming it.
The Organizers
While the Democrats worked with influencers over the last election cycle too, no PAC or campaign organized them as effectively and efficiently as the right. Because of Turning Point USA and its leader, Charlie Kirk, many of the GOP’s most popular creators see each other at least a few times a year at the organization’s summits and trainings. According to interviews with some of the right’s top organizers, that infrastructure is only going to grow over the next four years. The organizers themselves have also become influencers to watch.
I wrote about an influencer party (and victory lap) hosted over Inauguration weekend that was put on by CJ Pearson and Raquel Debono. Pearson, a conservative creator with more than 500,000 X followers, cochairs the Republican National Committee’s youth advisory council. He’s played a key role in the party’s adoption of influencers and is planning additional trainings with organizations like the Heritage Foundation.
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