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Who are the substantive conservative influencers/minds in 2025

Posted on 10/30/25 at 9:50 am
Posted by Pettifogger
I don't really care, Margaret
Member since Feb 2012
85718 posts
Posted on 10/30/25 at 9:50 am
I'm sure this will quickly devolve into nonsense, but I'm so weary of the Owens/Tucker/Fuentes vs. bunch of ninnies stuff.

Everything I see is some sensationalist look at me stuff or someone with an Israel flag in their bio crying about the former.

Please give me your interesting, sober, smart, minimally shock-jock and actually conservative/traditionalist voices that you find interesting in 2025. They can be on either side of the above "split" if they're substantive IMO.

For example:
- Vance
- Derbyshire
- Charles Haywood
- Steve Sailor
- Yoram Hazony
- Jonathan Keeperman
- Sean Davis
- Mollie Hemingway
- Michael Brendan Dougherty
- Erik Prince
- Dave Greene
Posted by GumboPot
Member since Mar 2009
138911 posts
Posted on 10/30/25 at 10:07 am to
I asked Grok to help with this question. Here are the top conservative influencers as ranked by YouTube, X and Rumble.

Rank,Influencer/Channel,YouTube Subscribers,Key Focus
1,Ben Shapiro (The Daily Wire),6.9M,"Policy debates, culture"
2,Steven Crowder (Louder with Crowder),5.9M,"Comedy, anti-woke"
3,Candace Owens (@realcandaceo),5.47M,"Race, feminism, bold politics"
4,Benny Johnson,~4.7M,"Breaking news, pro-Trump"
5,Dan Bongino,3.9M,"Anti-deep state, podcast"
6,Charlie Kirk (Turning Point USA),3.8M,Youth conservatism
7,The Officer Tatum (Brandon Tatum),3.6M,"Policing, Black conservatism"
8,Matt Walsh (The Daily Wire),3.2M,"Gender, family values"
9,Michael Knowles (The Daily Wire),3.1M,Catholic conservatism
10,Dave Rubin (The Rubin Report),3.1M,Classical liberalism

Rank,Influencer,X Followers,Key Focus
1,Tucker Carlson,16.3M,"Independent media, populism"
2,Ben Shapiro,7.2M,"Daily Wire, rapid commentary"
3,Candace Owens,5M,"Race, feminism, culture"
4,Charlie Kirk,4.8M,Gen Z activism
5,Dan Bongino,4.2M,Government critique
6,Benny Johnson,3M,Viral news clips
7,Tomi Lahren,2.9M,"Outkick, social issues"
8,Matt Walsh,2.5M,Anti-woke threads
9,Steven Crowder,2.4M,"Memes, debates"
10,The Officer Tatum,2.1M,"Law & order, urban policy"

Rank,Influencer/Channel,Rumble Subscribers,Key Focus
1,Dan Bongino (The Dan Bongino Show),3.5M,"Anti-deep state, daily commentary"
2,Steven Crowder (Louder with Crowder),~2.5M,"Comedy rants, culture wars"
3,Dinesh D'Souza,1.7M,"Political documentaries, pro-Trump"
4,Donald Trump Jr.,~1.5M,"MAGA rallies, family politics"
5,Charlie Kirk (Turning Point USA),~1.2M,"Youth activism, campus events"
6,Benny Johnson,~1.0M,"Breaking news clips, Trump support"
7,Mark Levin,636K,"Constitutional law, radio-style"
8,X22 Report,769K,"Alternative news, conspiracies"
9,Diamond and Silk,597K,"Bold political vlogs, Trump allies"
10,Rand Paul,795K,"Libertarian policy, anti-overreach"
Posted by Pettifogger
I don't really care, Margaret
Member since Feb 2012
85718 posts
Posted on 10/30/25 at 10:35 am to
Gumbo pls

most of those are absolutely terrible
Posted by SeeeeK
some where
Member since Sep 2012
30448 posts
Posted on 10/30/25 at 10:36 am to
Mark dice should be, but he's not a ball sucking neo con, or Jewish lover.


But he's really good at his job
This post was edited on 10/30/25 at 10:38 am
Posted by VolSquatch
First Coast
Member since Sep 2023
7205 posts
Posted on 10/30/25 at 10:41 am to
I think in terms of raw reach and impact, the top two people who are bringing more people toward conservativism are:

JD Vance


pretty big gap


Tucker Carlson

JD is pretty obvious. He is the VP and uses his reach to have real policy discussion and debate, and he does a bit of trolling too.

Tucker I think has a much broader reach than we realize because of the variety of people he will speak to. I wish he would have on a few less obvious kooks, but I actually think he lays out his positions pretty well in the right setting and will ask things no one else will.
Posted by Pettifogger
I don't really care, Margaret
Member since Feb 2012
85718 posts
Posted on 10/30/25 at 10:44 am to
Tucker is too sensationalist for me at this point. Platforming people who others won't is fine, but I find it difficult to discern any real consistent line of thought from Tucker at this point because of how he operates his show and brand.

Auron Macintyre would probably be my Tucker substitute, obviously with a much more limited reach. He takes a similar approach of giving air time to third rail people but his ideology is much more focused and the profit/sensationalist incentive is lower.
Posted by Laugh More
Member since Jan 2022
3283 posts
Posted on 10/30/25 at 10:45 am to
A couple that I listen to on YT are:

- Black Conservative Perspective
- Devory Darkins

Good place for news and a showing of both sides and how they view things. Both over 1M on YouTube.
Posted by the808bass
The Lou
Member since Oct 2012
124633 posts
Posted on 10/30/25 at 11:00 am to
I like Knowles and Stuckey.

Most of the influencers can’t have really serious policy discussions. Those don’t get clicks and views.

That’s not good for the movement (whether it’s Christian Nationalism, Libertarianism, America first or just Republican).

Posted by FLTech
Member since Sep 2017
24763 posts
Posted on 10/30/25 at 11:01 am to
Stephen Gardner has the most informative podcast channel out there (in my opinion)
Posted by Zach
Gizmonic Institute
Member since May 2005
116585 posts
Posted on 10/30/25 at 11:07 am to
quote:

8,Matt Walsh,2.5M,Anti-woke threads

Matt Walsh is good but he needs to be more concise. He takes 30 minutes to convey a 10 minute message.
Posted by Big Scrub TX
Member since Dec 2013
38171 posts
Posted on 10/30/25 at 11:10 am to
quote:

Matt Walsh is good but he needs to be more concise. He takes 30 minutes to convey a 10 minute message.
I like Walsh the best. I hear what you're saying, but he is at least funny and good with words, so I don't mind just hearing him ramble. He's also a little too curmudgeonly for me.

I still like Shapiro for sharp analysis.

Jeffrey Mead is an up and comer. Black dude who just cuts to the quick.
Posted by Zach
Gizmonic Institute
Member since May 2005
116585 posts
Posted on 10/30/25 at 11:33 am to
quote:

Jeffrey Mead is an up and comer. Black dude who just cuts to the quick.

I'll check him out. My favorite right now is Paul Joseph Watson. He's British but covers US politics.
Posted by Bunk Moreland
Member since Dec 2010
65976 posts
Posted on 10/30/25 at 11:38 am to
Catturd
Loomer
DC Draino
Libsoftiktok
Johnny MAGA
Salty Cracker
This post was edited on 10/30/25 at 8:18 pm
Posted by tide06
Member since Oct 2011
19808 posts
Posted on 10/30/25 at 11:46 am to
Tucker is the biggest voice IMO and I agree with him on many topics.

Bannon for the MAGA/nationalist perspective both domestically and globally.

Shapiro for the GOPe/conservative take.

Then you have actual news journalists like John Solomon, Mollie Hemingway, Margot Cleveland, Glenn Greenwald and others that do investigative reports that are critical follows.

And lastly Alex Jones has been right about too much to ignore anymore. I used to think he was an IC asset to discredit stories, but if he were they wouldn’t have gone after him to shut him down the way they did under Biden. If he’s #2 on their takedown list after Tucker he’s worth following.
This post was edited on 10/30/25 at 1:48 pm
Posted by jlnoles79
Member since Jan 2014
14173 posts
Posted on 10/30/25 at 11:57 am to
conservative influencers/minds

quote:

Then you have actual news journalists like Mollie Hemingway, Margot Cleveland, Glenn Greenwald and others that do investigative reports that are critical follows.


For real?
Posted by Bunk Moreland
Member since Dec 2010
65976 posts
Posted on 10/30/25 at 12:01 pm to
Yeah, I consider guys like Greenwald and Taibbi independent media leftists. But, because they dissented from MSM on things like Russiagate and censorship, they got labeled right-wing.
Posted by AllbyMyRelf
Virginia
Member since Nov 2014
3982 posts
Posted on 10/30/25 at 12:02 pm to
Do you want an influencer or a “mind”? They’re not the same thing.

Victor Davis Hanson is probably the smartest conservative commentator alive.

You’ve also got Conservative Catholic specific thinkers like Sohrab Ahmari, Adrian Vermeule, Patrick Deneen.

You’ve got Robert George at Princeton, Josh Hammer, pretty much anyone who writes for The New Criterion

ETA: the things people on this board like about JD Vance are ideas that have been percolating in conservative legal circles for the last 10 years. JD is heavily influenced by his Catholicism and a legal trend called “common good constitutionalism” which was championed by Adrian Vermeule. I haven’t heard much about it in a few years, but it was all the rage in 2021–2022.
This post was edited on 10/30/25 at 12:07 pm
Posted by jlnoles79
Member since Jan 2014
14173 posts
Posted on 10/30/25 at 12:09 pm to
quote:

Yeah, I consider guys like Greenwald and Taibbi independent media leftists. But, because they dissented from MSM on things like Russiagate and censorship, they got labeled right-wing.


If they're conservative then the word has lost all meaning
Posted by GumboPot
Member since Mar 2009
138911 posts
Posted on 10/30/25 at 12:09 pm to
quote:

Catturd Loomer DC Draino Libsokftiktok Johnny MAGA Salty Cracker
Posted by Pettifogger
I don't really care, Margaret
Member since Feb 2012
85718 posts
Posted on 10/30/25 at 12:20 pm to
quote:

Do you want an influencer or a “mind”? They’re not the same thing.

Victor Davis Hanson is probably the smartest conservative commentator alive.

You’ve also got Conservative Catholic specific thinkers like Sohrab Ahmari, Adrian Vermeule, Patrick Deneen.

You’ve got Robert George at Princeton, Josh Hammer, pretty much anyone who writes for The New Criterion

ETA: the things people on this board like about JD Vance are ideas that have been percolating in conservative legal circles for the last 10 years. JD is heavily influenced by his Catholicism and a legal trend called “common good constitutionalism” which was championed by Adrian Vermeule. I haven’t heard much about it in a few years, but it was all the rage in 2021–2022.
'

Both

I'm familiar with everyone you listed, but listening to Vermuele do a podcast would make me want to gouge my eyes out. The integralists vary a good bit anyway, Vermuele isn't usually interested in talking about every cultural issue of the day, don't like the direction Ahmari is going at this point. I do like Deneen. I like a lot of their CN counterparts to some extent.

I agree on Vance, who is plugged into a lot of post liberal voices, Catholic and not.
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