The final sprint weeks before the US presidential election and Donald Trump’s victory on Wednesday, November 6, were particularly intense. Culminating their latest meetings, the Republican and his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris, intensified their communication efforts on social networks. And this latest battle takes place in the field of conservative podcasts broadcast on the Internet that the future president’s campaign team has decided to wage in part.
In October alone, Donald Trump was a guest on nine of these shows, four of them for his running mate JD Vance. Produced mainly in audio and video in the form of long individual interviews, these programs hosted by Trump journalist Tucker Carlson, comedian Theo Von and sports commentator Joe Rogan are increasingly followed. The week after the election, of the fifteen most listened to podcasts on Spotify, nine were political shows. All of conservative tendencies.
The podcast genre is booming on the other side of the Atlantic: 47% of Americans, including almost 60% of those under 35, listened to at least one in October, according to figures from the Edison Research Institute cited by THE Wall Street Journal. Therefore, these conservative programs could have played an important role in Donald Trump’s success. On the night of his re-election, the interested party also let his loyal supporter Dana White, president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), thank on his platform a list of podcasters and influencers who, in recent months, have done much of the promotion. of your ideas.
Anti-traditional media
Author of the work Shock waves. History of the media and politics of conservative radio in the United States. (Editions de l’Université de Bruxelles, 2024), Sébastien Mort, professor at the University of Lorraine and specialist in media and politics in the United States, analyzed how these opinion leaders were formed in an ecosystem of alternative media. he observes “a filiation” between this news “media war machine of unmatched effectiveness and robustness” and radio host Rush Limbaugh.
In 1988, this close friend of the Republican Party took advantage of the repeal of a doctrine relating to the impartiality of broadcasters to launch his program, the “Rush Limbaugh Show”, in which he commented on current affairs for years in an incarnate way and with a strong dose of excess and entertainment. Six years later, Republicans captured the House of Representatives after decades of Democratic majority. A success attributed to Rush Limbaugh, whose recipe continued to be emulated: at the same time that Donald Trump came to power in 2016, personalities such as journalist Ben Shapiro, former police officer Dan Bongino and activist Charlie Kirk emerged on the radio. with “shows” to their name, bringing in their wake a swarm of online podcasters.
You have 60.94% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
