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With the well-deserved collapse of public trust in the mainstream media, there has been a concomitant rise in popularity of online influencers as sources of news and opinion. The upside is, there is a lot to be said for giving a massive platform to independent journalists such as Andy Ngo and Michael Shellenberger. But there has also been an alarmingly high number of social media influencers on the Right amassing millions of followers but delivering everything from misinformation to conspiracy theories to propaganda.
The two most notable examples are, of course, Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens. When Carlson was fired from Fox News two years ago, conservatives including me were giddy that his independent platform would bring hope and change for a fearless conservative voice, and help bury the obsolete propagandists of the mainstream media. Instead, he has become the biggest disappointment for conservatives since Supreme Court Justice John Roberts. Carlson, with over 16 million X followers, now shills for every Western-hating Islamic power from Qatar to Iran, and supportively platforms subversives like former kickboxer Andrew Tate and “historian” Darryl Cooper (pictured above), who asserts that Hitler was the peacemaker and Churchill the villain of World War II.
Although a few like myself saw Candace Owens from the beginning as nothing more than a glib, low IQ grifter, she plummeted from Turning Point USA and Prager U stardom into a raging antisemite with a conspiracy nut’s shaky grasp of history, so much so that the Horowitz Freedom Center felt compelled to post a statement denouncing her and regretting having boosted her career early on. She has nearly seven million followers on X.
Other examples abound.
The Hodge Twins, with over 3 million followers, have also chosen the antisemitic path of Candace Owens and embraced an absolutely brainless defense of our Middle Eastern enemies. On Sunday they posted this clueless doozy: “Anybody ever thought maybe these Middle East countries wouldn’t hate us if we would have just left them the fuck alone years ago?” Seriously, how is it possible to be this uninformed about the 1400-year-old jihad being waged against Christians and Jews, or the boiling, existential enmity Iran has held for America since 1979 – uninformed and arrogant to boot?
Jack Posobiec is no better. With only slightly fewer followers than the Hodge Twin grifters, the Senior Editor of Human Events told Steve Bannon recently, “Every Middle East War ends with Christians slaughtered, by one side or the other. All these areas used to be Christian, they’re all slaughtered, and you say, ‘Oh, we pray for them,’ or you could maybe not start a war and get them all killed.”
The truth is that those Christian communities all throughout the Middle East were almost wiped out long before we went after bin Laden in Afghanistan. They were the victims, not of revenge for American boots on the ground in the Middle East, but of the Islamic imperative to wage genocide against Christians – a genocide still ongoing in the Middle East and in Africa as well. Christians in Nigeria, for example, aren’t being slaughtered because of anything America did but because Islamic fundamentalists there burn with a theologically-mandated, murderous hatred of infidels. But that doesn’t fit Posobiec’s anti-Israel narrative.
While I’m at it, allow me to note that Posobiec and Candace Owens are arguably the two biggest weaponizers of the “Christ is King” rallying cry against Jews. As a Christian, I believe Christ is King – or more properly, King of Kings – but when used insincerely it becomes a dog whistle to the mobs of Jew-haters among their followers. Benny Johnson, with nearly 4 million followers, is another one guilty of this. They know exactly what they’re doing when they promote this slogan.
But that’s not all.
Some influencers are perceived as being Right-leaning but merely use some conservative positions (like being pro-family) as a flag of convenience to cover for their grifting and/or Jew-hatred. The despicable sex trafficker – sorry, alleged sex trafficker – and Muslim convert Andrew Tate, who has exploited both men and women in his ruthless aggrandizement of money and notoriety, sells his degraded version of masculinity to nearly 11 million followers. The slimy Nick Fuentes has “only” an estimated 878,000 followers (over all social media platforms, not just X), but is a lightning rod for some of the ugliest antisemitism online.
There are, of course, major conservative influencers (and may I say that I hate that word? Because I do; modernity has produced some of the most inane concepts in history, and “influencer” is one of them) who are smart, not antisemitic, and insightful. I think Ben Shapiro (almost 8 million X followers), Dan Bongino (nearly 7 million), and Matt Walsh (3.7 million) can be counted in that number, although I don’t always agree with them – and that’s okay. As conservatives, we don’t – or shouldn’t – have to agree with each other on every topic.
Charlie Kirk (over 5 million X followers) of Turning Point USA, for example, recently hopped on the “no regime change in Iran” fence, posting that “The proponents for regime change [in Iran]… know they are losing and their position is indefensible and unpopular.” Wrong. Wanting the Iranian mullahs to be changed out by any means necessary is both defensible and popular, in America and in Iran itself. This came shortly after he, Megyn Kelly (3.6 million), and other conservative influencers leapt to the defense of degenerate Leftist Glenn Greenwald after a sex video featuring him was leaked.
And then there are some influencers I literally know nothing about, like Steven Crowder (2.4 million X followers). As a rule, I ignore comedian/pundits, who are sometimes just stupid, like Dave Smith or Stephen Colbert, but always unfunny.
The Right has to come to terms with the fact that too many of our internet superstars have gone too far off the rails, wield way too much influence, and dominate our political discourse far too much. It’s not good for our side, and not good for America. Pray for wisdom and discernment in whose voices we reject and whose we embrace.
Follow Mark Tapson at Culture Warrior
Sadly all those loud mouths -aka influencers- are part of the price we pay in a free society. Unlike legacy media who pretend to be objective. Those loud mouth morons are not hiding their ignorance and biases.
As recently fired from ABC Terry Moran publicly argued journalist should not be objective. Neither those loudmouths. It is up to rest of us rebuke and ridicule their argument for the world to see.
Great summary. and testimony of the hard earned wisdom of David Horowitz. The fundamental problem is widespread ignorance of history. Even the most sensible conservatives mouth the leftist rewrites of history. But then where would you go to find history you can trust? I belong to specialty groups on Vietnam and China. Over decades I have accumulated and read most of the books in my library.
“…I believe Christ is King – or more properly, King of Kings…”
The Lord Jesus will be, He’s not now.
1 Timothy 6:15 “…in his times HE SHALL SHEW who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;”
The Lord soon after the stoning of Stephen in Acts 7, pushed the pause button just when Daniel’s 70th week, “the time of Jacob’s trouble” was about to begin. He installed “the dispensation of the grace of God” in Acts 9.
When this parenthetical time concludes, then “the day of the Lord” will commence. Several years after that, Christ will return and will become King over this whole earth, and the universe.
The Day of the Lord occurs after the Tribulation…
Meanwhile… you keep preaching the ‘Paul is Savior’ doctrines of the devil…
Mr 13:24-27… But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.
…
The Day of the Lord is like this…
1) He is seen in the clouds.. <<< after the Tribulation
2) The world mourns
3) He gathers/Raptures His Believers… <<< Remember: “at the Last Trumpet”
4) The Marriage Supper
5) God's Wrath/The Lambs Wrath is poured out
I see our two resident idiot Muslims are back in all their bitterness and Jew hatred.
Did you have a nice vacay? Too bad Trump and Bibi went all Roman on the douche bag Iranians. It just sucks for you when the right countries win the war against your Muslim buddies.
But it’s OK because you get to indulge your rapturous and tribulation fantasies all the while being more Muslim than Christian.
GFY, scumsrent
You quoted Mark 13:24-27 correctly. Glad to see the King James Bible was used.
As far as no. 3, that “gathering” which Matthew 24 and Luke 21 talk about, is a gathering, but it’s not the “rapture” or catching up of the church the body of Christ.
The catching up takes place prior to “the time of Jacob’s trouble.” The body of Christ is going to be spared from the 7 year “tribulation:”
1 Thessalonians 5:9 “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,”
Part of the reason the BOC is going to be spared is because “the time of Jacob’s trouble” concerns Israel.
The “little flock/”the Israel of God” IS NOT to be confused with the BOC. They’re different. They’re Not the same.
“Paul is Savior.” Why don’t you stop it with that? I haven’t said that, nor anyone else around here that I’ve seen or read.
I’m sorry, but constantly referring to scripture to validate your statements isn’t good enough, and is almost exactly what fanatical Muslims do. I love western civilization and our Judeo-Christian heritage, which is under constant assault and slowly dying, but it is just not good argument to constantly say “well, the bible says this!” If one tried that in even a high school debate class, he or she would lose every time and be laughed out of the class.
Thumbs up. The perfect response to this charlatan. I believe this clown is actually a closeted Muslim posing as a Christian who continually spouts off about the Endtimes while proving nothing.
And if you dare challenge him he resort to insults and name calling. He is an immature child. I prefer ridicule. Watch how he responds to my post.
“…referring to scripture to validate your statements isn’t good enough…”
If one says, like the article here did, that “Christ is King – or more properly, King of Kings…” where did that statement and belief come from? The Bible.
If that statement is not entirely accurate, how is it going to be answered correctly if not from the scriptures?
Matthew 22:29 “…Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures…”
good point. Cherry-picked and without context, any statement can be pulled apart. even worse, in accurately cherry-picked.
Since when has a lot of “followers” made somebody reliable?
Since never.
Leftists and conspiracists go by numbers.
what nothing about tits and wanting to boink candace owens as long as her mouth is gagged so you don’t have to listen to her?
Is there a doctor in the house? Mi Heffy Jeffy is a bit mellow today – 🙂
Luv ya bro
Bro? Who you callin’ bro, bro?
Yes, sir you are correct we are all hiding behind the cyber veil.
It’s funny you mention Candace Owens because I would like to do her. She would thank me. That actually happens sometimes. Chicks say “thank you” after they’re done. And we both know how much they hate saying that.
It might be that they are relieved that it was over so quickly and you are letting them leave, but that could hubris on my part seeing as I’ve never been thanked by any women.
If this is true, what do you have Jeff, tools or medication? Not sure if I want to know.
The M.S. Media Bottom Feeders are just digging their graves deeper each day
They are part of a strategy by the Qatari government to sow division within the American Right. Tucker Carlson was paid big bucks for a shameless shill interview to a Qatari minister. “Antisemite of the year” Candace Owen’s dramatic 180 on Israel in recent years can be explained in the same way. We are under a massive propaganda attack and these sell-out are at the core of that.
Tucker Carlson, or Instability Disguised as Lucidity, Who Ended Up Turning into a Muppet Show Puppet – 1
There is something profoundly unstable about Tucker Carlson—and it’s not just in his words. It’s in his body, his nervous laughter, his posture, arms crossed over his stomach, his right hand clutching his left arm as if to reassure himself. These gestures are not insignificant: they betray a man chronically insecure, internally unbalanced, and in tension with himself. Carlson’s body language speaks louder than his words: he is not a leader, he is not a visionary; he is a man playing a role he knows to be false.
Tucker Carlson has never been part of the heart of power. Never elected, never an advisor, never a strategist for a victorious campaign. He witnessed the Trump phenomenon from the outside, as a commentator, often brilliant in its presentation, but never decisive in its action. He would have liked to be a major influential figure in the America First movement—but Trump, who possesses a rare instinctive intelligence, was never fooled. He sensed in Carlson the instability, the facile critical stance, and perhaps even the danger of a false prophet.
And that is precisely what Tucker Carlson has become.
The false prophet of a true movement
America First is an old political movement, renewed by Donald Trump with energy and audacity. Carlson did not create it. And yet, he acts as if he were its original guardian, as if he understood better than anyone else what the people want. He appropriates the slogans, the values, the symbols, while stripping them of their original coherence.
He presents himself as the one who “dares to speak the truth,” the one who “sees clearly” where others would be blinded by the system. But in reality, he constructs rhetorical fictions, narratives saturated with suspicion, invisible enemies, hidden agendas—without ever assuming coherent strategic thinking.
What he’s selling isn’t a vision. It’s resentment.
Tucker Carlson, or Instability Disguised as Lucidity, Who Ended Up Turning into a Muppet Show Puppet – 2
Resentment as a stock in trade
Tucker Carlson speaks on behalf of an America frustrated, wounded, humiliated by elites, pointless wars, and state lies. But instead of sublimating this feeling into a constructive dynamic, he fosters it, fuels it, and radicalizes it. He doesn’t seek to heal the wound: he flaunts it, he scratches at it, and he turns it into a weapon against all “others.”
And like so many wounded ideologues before him, he needs scapegoats. He needs global culprits. So, with a pseudo-intellectual guise, he recycles old conspiracy narratives: Israel, the neocons, the lobby, influential Jews, traitors in the shadows. In doing so, he flirts dangerously with political imaginaries contaminated by decades of repackaged anti-Semitic fantasies.
But the reality is quite different: it is not Israel that dictates America’s foreign policy. It is often America that tries to dictate to Israel what it should or should not do—sometimes even against its vital interests.
Carlson is not a leader; he mimics power.
Carlson’s frustration is not just political: it is existential. He would have liked to have a role, he would have dreamed of being an advisor, or even, why not, president of a “true” America First. But he was not chosen. And deep down, he knows it. This is why he retreats into a critical stance, into constant denunciation. He attacks those who acted to mask the fact that he built nothing.
Today, he’s trying to capture the heart of the MAGA movement, not to strengthen it, but to redefine it in his own image: more radical, more isolated, more paranoid. And this poses a real threat, because it divides, it confuses, it blurs the lines. It transforms an energetic political movement into a tribe of suspicion.
Conclusion: The Carlson Imposture
Tucker Carlson is not a traitor in the classic sense. He is the product of a personal failure transformed into an ideology. He is not dangerous because he is powerful. He is dangerous because he seduces minds tired, those who have lost faith in everything, and who want only simple certainties—even false ones.
And in his world, the culprit is always elsewhere. Never him.
Carlson is not America First. It is the bitter version of a dream betrayed by someone who was never ready to govern.
Tucker is indeed getting a little strange, but he does interview some fascinating people, like Christopher Moritz, whose book about the decline of California, “Failed State,” is heart-breaking. But for Tucker’s interview, I would not have heard about it.
“but he does interview some fascinating people,”
Yes… All that’s missing from his podcast set is a stuffed bear.
Even some Native American axes and a totem pole.
HA HA HA!
How capable are China and Russia in upping the ‘clicks’ these influences receive? It’s certainly in their interest to splinter the GOP by driving a wedge with their anti-Jew — or Israel — nonsense..
Tucker and Candace, like many others of their ilk, are by-products and the latest generation of “useful idiots” resulting from the Soviet KGB’s “Operation SIG.” This phenomenon has been going on for some time. Consider the likes of Philip Giraldi (former CIA): https://www.commentary.org/noah-pollak/philip-giraldi-and-doug-feith/
Like so many conservatives who used to watch Tucker. We all turned off after Nazi apologetic vile-liar Darryl Cooper interviewed.. ’nuff said.
I see our two resident idiot Muslims are back in all their bitterness and Jew hatred.
Did you have a nice vacay? Too bad Trump and Bibi went all Roman on the douche bag Iranians. It just sucks for you when the right countries win the war against your Muslim buddies.
Take your own advice Sebasturd. GFY.
If you don’t know the context and the history of my comments to these two and theirs to me perhaps you should bugger off and mind your own damn business.
“You’re conflating Tucker shilling for Islamic power with Tucker questioning going to war with ME countries on behalf of Israel. We shouldn’t question that?”
Is there currently a war against the Middle Eastern countries in the name of Israel?
Which train did you miss?
We’re talking about Iran developing nuclear weapons. The vast majority of Americans don’t want Iran to develop a nuclear weapon, and Iran’s nuclear program is full of very suspicious things.
Since 2015, Trump says: no nuclear weapons for Iran.
Since 2010, MAGA, America first, says: no nuclear weapons for Iran.
MAGA, America first in power = no nuclear weapons for Iran.
Is there something you don’t understand in this equation?
Do you want the Iran of the mullahs to have a nuclear weapon?
Do you want these mullahs, who hate America and spend their time financing terrorist groups, arming them, and training them, to have a nuclear weapon?
Zionism is supported by the American people; by a majority, even before an American government recognized Israel.
Does that pose a problem for you?
Don’t you know the spiritual, intellectual, and cultural connections between the construction of America and Jerusalem?
Israel is an ally. And we help its allies.
Do you have a problem with that?
If America is violently attacked, wouldn’t you be happy if Israel came to help America?
” Iran didn’t have nuclear weapons”
But who said that Iran has nuclear weapons?
“but Iran didn’t have nuclear weapons. Our own Director of National Intelligence , Gabbard confirmed that.”
In reality, what she said on March 25, was that US intelligence services had no evidence at that time that Iran had restarted an active nuclear weapon program.
Although the technological capabilities needed to build one quickly were known.
In other words, she distinguished between:
possessing the technical capabilities (which Iran does),
and having an active weapons-building program (which intelligence did not confirm at the time).
I see you’re quite intellectually deranged, like many people who support Tucker Carlson.
For the rest, go educate yourself.
Sebastian says / June 24, 2025 at 10:30 pm : “Who said? You’re kidding right? According to Bibi and all you Israel first hacks Iran was on the “verge”, within “weeks” of nuclear weapons. ”
So he never claimed that the mullahs possessed a nuclear weapon, but that they had the capability to make one.
You’re uneducated.
Don’t you know that Iran attacks Israel via Hamas and Hezbollah, which it funds to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars a year?
That they trained Hamas fighters in 2023 before the attack against Israël.
That they were preparing a massive attack on Israel for June 2025?
That Iran wants to annihilate Israel?
Who are you, you piece of scum?
Add to that the fact that Trump’s America, which was elected with the following platform: “No nuclear weapons development for Iran,” doesn’t want Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. For all these excellent reasons, which I won’t elaborate on here because it would take too long.
So Iran won’t have nuclear weapons.
Is that complicated for your stupid little brain to understand?
Sebastian says June 25, 2025 at 12:24 am “why didn’t Israel attack Iran over the last 30 yrs? ”
If you had a good political culture, you’d know why. Go educate yourself a little more, that’ll stop you from telling us such nonsense here.
For 45 years, this regime has been ruining the lives of countless people for nothing… To bring what to humanity?
And enough idiots to defend them.
Many of these idiots, if they had the choice between living and raising their children with these tyrants in Iran or living in Israel, would choose Israel.
Also
The International Atomic Energy Agency has issued strong warnings about the escalation of Iran’s nuclear program:
non-cooperation with inspections,
dangerous enrichment of nearly 60%,
lack of explanation for undeclared materials,
significant accumulation of near-weapon-grade uranium,
violation of its obligations.
These warnings are widely relayed by Western powers as signals rejecting the idea of a purely civilian program.
I see our two resident idiot Muslims are back in all their bitterness and Jew hatred.
Did you have a nice vacay? Too bad Trump and Bibi went all Roman on the douche bag Iranians. It just sucks for you when the right countries win the war against your Muslim buddies.
Take your own advice Sebasturd. GFY.
Sad but true. How many might even be double agents to sabotage President Trump?
The funny thing is both this guy and the religious freak Sumsrent disappeared for several days as the Iranian war heated up. I guess they both needed instruction from their Mullah masters. It was a nice break to be away from them for a while but now they are back peddling their anti-American anti-Israel B.S.
I thank Prof Tapson for this run down. I don’t watch any of these goons in this list.
I have never heard Candace Owens spout antisemitism but enough have commented on it that I reflected back on Candace and compared her to AOC. Two dimwits with big mouths. Tucker Carlson is so annoying, he never allows his guests to get their voice, always interrupting and cutting off those he is interviewing. Clearly Tucker Carlson has psychological demons that will really come out as he ages.
Any monkey with a microphone and internet access can have a podcast. There is always the fringe that will agree with you if you splay yourself over the world wide web. A mere fraction of 1% of the global population 24/7 over the internet will discover you and purchase your after market products. Proudly wearing a Turkey Carlson hoodie with his funky face and bad haircut.
Frankly, WC Fields hoodies sell more.
More like Social Affluencers – who would want such a title: “influencer” to begin with. Sounds very weak and inconsequential. So maybe it is appropriate?
The irony is articles like these give these people the notoriety they need.
Never could stand Carlson – always thought he was what Limbaugh’s critics accused him of being – only being conservative for the money. Carlson is just another Colbert as far as I can tell.
Never heard of the others except Owens and have not kept up with her utterances and have not been exposed to any of them in quite a while – I do hear about what she has said but not what she has said. If she has gone crazy anti-Jew then she deserves to be ignored.
The sad thing is – there are those who believe that any criticism of Jews is bad.
I am one who wishes there was more criticism of the kooky secular Jews who have invaded our culture with their amateur childish Marxism. As far as I can tell the sainted Mr. Horowitz was one of the few who would take them on.
By the way for an extremely educational read – S.D. Tucker’s THE MISUSE OF SCIENCE BY STALIN AND HITLER – You knew Marxism was nuts but I bet you have no idea how nutty it actually is. This book explains what is happening today and from whence it came. I thought I knew something about Marx, Lenin, Hitler and Stalin and their acolytes – I have had quite an education.
I used to love Carlson on Fox b/c he brought up issues that no one else did. Esp. social and cultural issues. The rest just repeat the same stories all day long. I think he has become so anti- endless wars that he see the forests from the trees.
It was surprising to find out whose writing was trustworthy and whose wasn’t. 10/7/23 drew the line n the sand – who the anti-semites are. Apparently, they don’t understand the Bible.. For their information, God chose the Jews. He chose them for three critically important reasons.
Tucker Carlson has no place to visit in my home anymore.
Candace has been good for years, I just don’t agree with her stance on Israel. I’m sure
it’s rooted in her theology. I know the big issue on the internet today is the Covenant theology argument vs. dispensationalism. Lot’s of video’s on this debate. It needs to be hashed out because a lot of Christians are rejected national Judaism over a spiritual concept that Christians are Israel, the Christians are the fulfillment of old testament covenants with Israel.
I totally agree with your hatred of that ridiculous and offensive title of ‘influencer’. Being an ‘influencer’ is NOT a real job.
Nobody has all the answers. Nobody. Only Jesus Christ, the Word incarnate, leads us to absolute truth.