Far-right influencers turn against Trump campaign
Some of the internet’s most influential far-right figures are turning against former president Donald Trump’s campaign, threatening a digital “war” against the Republican candidate’s aides and allies that could complicate the party’s calls for unity in the final weeks of the presidential race.
Nick Fuentes, a white supremacist and podcaster who dined with Trump at his Palm Beach resort Mar-a-Lago in 2022, said on X that Trump’s campaign was “blowing it” by not positioning itself more to the right and was “headed for a catastrophic loss,” in a post that by Wednesday had been viewed 2.6 million times.
Laura Loomer, a far-right activist whom Trump last year called “very special,” said his “weak” surrogates had unraveled his momentum and that his approach “needs to change FAST because we can’t talk about a stolen election for another 4 years,” in an X post that was “liked” more than 8,000 times.
And Candace Owens, a far-right influencer with 5 million X followers who was photographed with Trump in March, described the conservative infighting in a podcast Tuesday as a “MAGA Civil War” fueled by anger that Trump’s policies and persona had been softened to boost his mainstream appeal.
“I’m just not sure who is driving the MAGA bus anymore,” she said, making it clear that like other vocal far-right influencers, her problem isn’t with Trump but with his staff. “You’re losing that support from the people that believed in you. … You need those people.”
The insider attacks, which come as other backers are calling for Trump to take a more disciplined, policy-oriented approach to his campaign, highlight a new vulnerability in one of the loudest corners of Trump’s nationwide base. With millions of followers, the far-right provocateurs have long been one of the most reliable engines for winning Trump attention online, helping to build the viral energy that boosted his political career and his strong lead among predominantly White male voters. Trump embraced far-right internet celebrities before the 2016 and 2020 elections, even welcoming some to the White House for a 2019 “social media summit.” [Continue reading…]