How MAGA’s Playbook Went From Joe Rogan to Candace Owens
The women of the right are adorable, approachable, and ready to dismantle your rights.
In the 2024 presidential election conservatives reaped the rewards of a decade of investing in the bro-universe. Joe Rogan and an ecosystem of bro-casters changed the cultural relevance of the Republican party and created a new voting block for Trump.
Today we are amidst the conservative girly-pop revolution. And unless we create a counter-cultural movement ourselves, we can expect them to reap the rewards in 2028.
Candace Owens, Brett Cooper and Alex Clark are the new faces of the right’s war on feminism. No more buttoned-up Phyliss Schlafly, no more dowdy Nancy Regan, no more shrill and unaccepting Ann Coulter.
Today’s conservative girlies are super cute, warm, and welcoming. They will meet you where you are and give you what you didn’t know you needed.
Want a fun eighties style workout video you can easily do at home in between meetings or during the baby’s naps?
They’ve got you covered!
Looking for ways to hack your hormones?
They’re on it.
Want to bake the best damn pancakes of your life?
They have the recipe.
They’re coming for you when you least expect it.
You may have already liked and shared their content. I’ve definitely done it. These days they’re pretty much everywhere, on social media, in your podcast feed, being served to you on YouTube and maybe even in that TikTok your friend just forwarded you about a freakishly cute baby cow.
Conservatives have figured out how to use new media to target populations who are otherwise not being served in our media environment. With MAHA, they’ve harnessed the soft power of influencers who care about wellness, beauty and motherhood and directed them into political action that aims to privatize our healthy systems and take away our reproductive rights. It’s already happened and it is just going to keep happening.
The left is significantly behind the right when it comes to building politically motivated social media influence. Over the past ten years, conservatives have invested significant funds into building a comprehensive digital media ecosystem centered around personality-driven online media properties targeting specific audiences.
Charlie Kirk, the executive director of Turning Point USA, told the New York Times: “We made long-term investments in creators and in influential voices that we believe will be the opinion shapers of tomorrow.”
The culture war was never about the war on Christmas or the sexy green M&M. That was chum in the water for the Fox-watching boomer base. The culture war was really about changing the hearts and minds of the next generation. And if you ask some of the right’s biggest influencers, they are already winning.