Over the weekend, I went to Washington, D.C., and met with all the right-wing influencers and content creators who made President Donald Trump's 2024 victory possible. they were anywhere.
The 2024 election was an influencer election, and the inauguration was no exception. This weekend saw dozens of parties and balls held before and after the inauguration, as well as the big event itself. Theo Von was sitting in front of Jake and Logan Paul under the Capitol Rotunda (well, until the podcaster's chair fell over). Ben Shapiro, Matt Walsh, and Brett Cooper walked the red carpet at Turning Point USA and posed for selfies with fans. HouseInhave Newsletter writer Jessick Reid Kraus caught up with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the Make America Healthy Again Ball on Monday night.
In August, I published a guide to the Republican and Democratic influencers who will shape the 2024 election. Influencers and content creators remain important, and they will continue to inform and guide policy decisions for years to come.
Welcome to Trump 2.0. There, the creators have not only the audience's ear, but also the president's ear. Here are some things to watch over the next four years.
podcasters and streamers
The 2024 election served as a springboard for podcasters to enter the political world. Most of the shows Trump continued to appear on were geared toward the manosphere, a loose network of creators who spread misogynistic, racist, and pro-male ideologies online. This includes people such as Joe Rogan, Andrew Schultz, Brother Paul, Adin Roththey shared Trump's interview with their millions of fans. There is also a second branch, made up of creators who have branded it as the intellectual wing of the modern Republican Party. Ben Shapiro, Dave Rubin, Lex Fridman. Fridman's YouTube podcast reaches millions of viewers each week. Shapiro's show is one of the most popular shows on Spotify.
These podcasters have amplified Trump and his policies with little, if any, backlash. They are likely to be key in rallying support for the Trump administration's decision.
I spoke briefly with Shapiro on Sunday night and asked him about the future of the Republican Party and podcasting. “The force continues to grow,” he said. “Legacy media has completely collapsed. We are focused on expansion, but there are many other brands that need expansion, not just ours. It comes at a very fertile time for the podcast industry. I think it will be.”
meme page
DC Draino, Typical Liberals, RagingAmericans, Snowflaketears are some of the biggest pro MAGA meme pages on Instagram. Together, these accounts have more than 6 million followers. They serve as a conduit between Republican leadership priorities and platforms like X and Instagram.
Think of their accounts as news aggregators for people who might not otherwise consume news.
organizer
Democrats worked with influencers last election cycle, but no PAC or campaign organized them as effectively and efficiently as the right. Thanks to Turning Point USA and its leaders. charlie kirkMany of the Republican Party's most popular creators meet at least several times a year at organizational summits and trainings. That infrastructure will further expand over the next four years, according to interviews with top right-wing organizers. The organizers themselves have become noteworthy influencers.
I wrote about the influencer party (and victory lap) that took place during Inauguration Weekend. CJ Pearson and raquel debono. Pearson is a conservative creator with over 500,000 X followers and co-chairs the Republican National Committee's Youth Advisory Committee. He has played a key role in the party's influencer recruitment and is planning additional training with organizations such as the Heritage Foundation.
