MAGA influencers claim victory, with big tech companies picking up the tab

At the TikTok-sponsored Power 30 party, conservative creators bowed down to their new sponsors, dancing to Top 40 hits for hours in Make America Great Again hats with TikTok-branded ear protectors stretched over them. At another TikTok-sponsored party at Capital One Arena on Saturday night, conservative creators received company merchandise, such as a Koozie with a drawing of Trump dancing or earmuffs in the company’s signature pink and blue. (Behind the scenes Tik Tok He seems to be in a state of turmoil. The app had gone offline on Saturday night before the supposed ban, however Came back Sunday It pushed a notification assuring its users that Trump would save the app once he took office).

“One of the best parts of my job is spending time with our creators on YouTube, because they really set the culture,” YouTube CEO Neil Mohan said in a statement following the company’s creator event on Sunday. “They are trying new ideas in the media landscape, and it was amazing to have a front-row seat last year.”

At the Influencer Awards on Sunday, Trump campaign adviser Alex Brusewitz, the architect of the winning influencer and Internet-focused strategy, received an award honoring his digital contributions. Years before joining the Trump team, Brozowitz ran the political media agency X Strategies, working with young online political candidates like Matt Gaetz. In 2022 published Winning the social media war: How conservatives can fight back, reclaim the narrative, and turn the tide against the leftIt is a book that instructs Republicans on how to use social media for electoral gain.

“Social media has created a whole new battle front for us,” Brosewitz wrote in 2022. We have to resist, we will make them listen, and we will reopen the market.”

Bruesewitz opined that potential podcasts should convey Trump’s message to voters who haven’t already heard it. Podcasts played a major role in electing Trump, providing him with huge audiences of what Bruisowitz described as “middle- and low-propensity male voters.” In an interview with WIRED after the election. It was these voters, who Prusiewicz said do not typically consume mainstream media, who secured the victory.

Others agreed: Shapiro told WIRED on Sunday that the podcast “gave a window into the health of the candidates.”

According to Pearson, the dominance of conservative influencers this year is just the beginning.

Over the summer, Pearson hosted an event with the Heritage Foundation to train more than two dozen conservative creatives on how to communicate their politics to voters online. The event was attended by Savannah Chrisley, Sean Mike Kelly, and Emily Saves America, some of whom graduated from the Turning Point USA Ambassador Program.

Since 2019, Turning Point has been recruiting and training At least 400 are conservative influencers In what is essentially an incubator. Some of the most popular influencers on the right have come out of Turning Point, including Alex Clark, Benny Johnson, and Candace Owens. Training typically takes place at summits held around the country where Turning Point leaders, such as Charlie Kirk and Tyler Boyer, Teach attendees how to publish. Once an influencer joins Turning Point’s influencer program, the organization’s PR team Actively promote them For producers on networks like Fox News. They are invited to special events where speakers (including Trump and Tucker Carlson) give speeches and allow content creators to connect and collaborate to grow their audiences.