Most of the leading right-wing online influencers in the US have experienced a drop in viewership since the 2024 peak, which could be a problem for the Republican Party ahead of the midterm elections, The New York Times reports.
The journalists analysed the performance of 12 right-wing content creators such as Tucker Carlson, Matt Walsh, Candice Owens, Ben Shapiro, and Charlie Kirk (whose accounts have been picked up by Turning Point USA staff after his death). The study covered their podcast metrics as well as views on YouTube, X, and Rumble.
The New York Times found that only a few of these influencers have seen audience growth since Trump’s inauguration, while most experienced a drop in views. Experts attributed this to the difficulty of stoking political outrage while Republicans control Washington, platform algorithms changing, and the emergence of a new generation of influencers who combine politics with other topics.
Meanwhile, the rift between pro- and anti-Trump right-wing influencers has grown deeper following the start of the war with Iran. For example, Ben Shapiro, who is supportive of Trump and the war, lost about 60,000 YouTube subscribers between April and June 2026. His YouTube views have dropped to about four million per week from 27 million in 2024, according to Chaotic Era.
Moreover, traffic to The Daily Wire, which he founded, has also fallen by half compared to last year, as per The Righting. At the same time, Shapiro’s podcast has maintained a relatively stable audience. According to Podchaser, it has been released about 50% more often this year than last, allowing the total number of downloads to grow.
In contrast, some right-wing critics of Trump have shown a spike in audience. For example, Nicolas Fuentes increased his average weekly views from about one million in 2024 to eight million. Still, he reported in a comment to The New York Times that there had been a drop for everyone in his niche lately.
Candice Owens has also seen audience growth following the death of Charlie Kirk, to which she responded by stoking conspiracy theories about the murder.
The New York Times remarks that these changes could pose an issue for Republican candidates ahead of the midterms, which are set to take place this autumn, as those candidates previously relied on the coordinated support of right-wing content creators.
“The vote is in November, but the heart of the midterms is happening now. 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,” said Garbage Day founder Ryan Broderick.
The New York Times reached out to all of the influencers featured in for comment. Most did not respond, while several pointed out audience growth on other platforms. For example, Candice Owens attributed the dip in views to maternity leave, and a representative for Matt Walsh and Ben Shapiro said that their views on TikTok and Instagram were growing.
On 16 June 2025, the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism released its annual Digital News Report, based on an online survey of nearly 100,000 respondents from 48 countries, including the United States. According to the report, Americans increasingly rely on podcasts for news as opposed to traditional media. The study noted that the risk of traditional American media being displaced by online celebrities and digital content creators was growing.