MAGA media empire collapsing — just in time for the midterms: report

The right-wing media ecosystem that has spent years building up President Donald Trump’s image and promoting his causes is now splintering, according to a new report.

Many of the most prominent right-wing personalities have seen their platforms shrivel up, according to an analysis by The New York Times published on Friday.

Podcaster Benny Johnson has lost millions of YouTube views since Trump’s re-election high, while Dan Bongino’s livestream audience has shrunk by roughly half since he briefly left broadcasting to serve as FBI deputy director before resigning months later. Ben Shapiro’s YouTube numbers cratered from 27 million weekly views in 2024 to about 4 million, and his outlet The Daily Wire has seen web traffic collapse by half. Nick Fuentes, architect of the neo-Nazi “Groyper” movement, admitted in an email last year, “It seems that everyone in the space is experiencing a drop-off in views from 2025.”

One of the very few exceptions who has managed to buck the trend is Candace Owens, a far-right influencer who has maintained relevance by seizing on a string of conspiracy theories — including many about fellow influencers on the right, like the murder of Charlie Kirk supposedly being a covert operation by shadowy world-spanning forces.

Experts say the shake-up stems partly from Republicans controlling Washington, making it harder to stoke the outrage that fueled these creators’ rise, along with new competition from apolitical influencers pulling audiences toward gaming and lifestyle content. A growing split between pro- and anti-Trump voices on the right — supercharged by backlash to Trump’s war with Iran — has only deepened the fractures, with once-loyal figures like Fuentes turning openly critical of the president.

Media watchdogs warn the splintering couldn’t come at a worse time for Republicans, who’ve relied on a unified influencer army to drive turnout each election cycle. With the midterms looming, GOP strategists may soon find out whether a fractured MAGA media machine can still deliver votes.

Ryan Broderick, who runs the Garbage Day newsletter covering online culture, bluntly said, “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” — a danger sign for the GOP in the midterms.