By J. Max Robins: Musk has taken note of the Right’s anti-EV assault, and his romancing of DeSantis, McCarthy and other MAGA fellow travelers is a savvy counter offensive. Exactly how do you think he got to be the richest man in the world?
Publication: A Righting Original
Right-Wing Media Stoke IRS Fear-Mongering
By Kevin Howley: The fear-mongering has grown increasingly incendiary. While concerns over targeting FBI agents for violent attack has received the lion share of news coverage, the demonization of the IRS demands closer scrutiny.
“My Weekend in Hell with Mike Lindell”
By Jacob Gries: Mike Lindell’s Moment of Truth Summit this past weekend felt like a church service with a sentient conspiracy theory subreddit in place of a liturgy, blended together with about a pound of caffeine, which made for a truly insane spectacle. The My Pillow Guy’s two-day event was sparsely attended.
TheRighting Q&A with Right-Wing Extremist Watchdog Ron Filipkowski
By Jacob Gries: The former general counsel of the Republican party of Sarasota, FL, has become one of the most prolific and coherent voices in the Twitterverse dedicated to exposing the threat of right-wing extremism to democracy. He’s also a relentless critic of Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Joseph Curl Hopes Off the Press Is the Next Drudge Report
Michael Lovito: Ever since Drudge Report took a somewhat anti-Trump turn in 2020 the site’s been sworn off by a number of conservative commentators, creating an opening for a more ideologically pure competitor to sop up its old readers. Curl thinks he has the chance to do just that with Off the Press
News Stars Like Kari Lake Now Chase Votes, Not Ratings
By J. Max Robins: Among the more prominent – and more frightening – of the local news personalities who have entered the political arena is Kari Lake. After 22 years as an TV anchor in Phoenix, the political novice nabbed the Arizona GOP nomination for governor by campaigning as an election denier.
How the Right Weaponizes Monkeypox
By Kevin Howley: While Infectious disease experts explain that Monkeypox primarily affects men who have sex with men, they insist it is not a gay disease. Try telling that to conservatives eager to exploit the health emergency to score political points.
Election “Fraud” Documentary Makes Millions for Conservative Salem Media
By David Lieberman: Salem, which describes itself as a specialist in “Christian and conservative content,” says that it made a $4.8 million profit after recouping its $4.5 million investment in 2,000 Mules, a documentary that claimed to have uncovered fraudulent voting in the 2020 presidential election. “To say the film has been a success would be an understatement,” CEO .David Santrella told Wall Street analysts and investors.
NewsNation: A Haven for Tarnished Stars of the Left and Right
BY J. Max Robins: In an attempt to build brand awareness, NewsNation is opening up the checkbook for tarnished news stars like Chris Cuomo and maybe even Bill O’Reilly at bargain basement prices, in what is a time-honored blueprint, albeit one that is seldom successful.
Meet the “American Thinker” Behind Thousands of Conservative Posts
By Michael Lovito: On a normal day, American Thinker founder Thomas Lifson oversees the publication of six original articles and 15 blogs. On a weekly basis, that would mean more than 140 items and on a monthly basis more than 600. He’s been doing this since 2003.
The Pillow Guy’s Media Network Is a Vast Wasteland of Nothingness
By Jacob Gries: Mike Lindell has created an ambitious right-wing media network featuring a website, two video channels and a social network. In a little more than a year, it’s grown into an home for conservative programming at a reported cost of a million dollars a month.
A Hard Rain from the Right Is Going to Fall on Merrick Garland
By J. Max Robins: This is just the calm before a right wing media storm. Actually, tornado may be a more apt word, and when it gets here, AG Merrick Garland will be in the center of it.
How Right-Wing Media and Pols Target Transgender Rights
By Jaden Satenstein: Conservative media outlets have successfully framed the transgender rights movement as a divisive, hot-button issue, inducing moral panic and outrage on the right.
Much Ado About Drag Queens: Another Phony Crisis from the Right
By Kevin Howley: Articles about drag queen story hour for children at libraries conveniently ignore the decisive role right wing media play in mainstreaming moral panic.
Biden Needs to Be Louder and Prouder Like Fetterman
By J. Max Robins: The soon-to-be octogenarian President’s approval ratings are falling with a kind of stubborn insistence. Meanwhile, the Pennsylvania Lt. Governor is several points ahead of his opponent Dr. Mehmet Oz in the U.S. Senate race and is raising a ton of cash. As Fetterman’s star rises and Biden’s wanes, the president should take note of a comeback blueprint in his fellow Keystone Stater’s bare-knuckled ways.
Lefty Protest Group Rocks the Right with Unruly Tactics
By Michael Lovito: Unruly, uncivil, unfair – whatever you want to call it, ShutDownDC doesn’t care. Over the past two and a half years, the Washington-based direct action group has taken the fight for progressive priorities to DC’s streets, disrupting traffic and, occasionally, steak dinners to grab both headlines and the ears of politicians.
For Brittney Griner, Nonstop Contempt from the Right
By Daria Nastasia: One conservative commentator suggested that the Biden administration should leave jailed WNBA star Brittney Griner in a Russian prison until she publicly repudiates her stance on the national anthem.
Rumble Draws Millions to Unfiltered Videos Rich with Misinformation
By Jaden Satenstein: Rumble’s looser content moderation policies have right-wing personalities like Alex Jones, Sean Hannity, and Representative Matt Gaetz flocking to the video-sharing site. They and other prominent personalities view Rumble as a refuge from cancel culture.
J6 Hearings May Kill Trump Book Bump
By J. Max Robins: After the Jan. 6 committee wraps up its drama-filled run, will there really be that much to read about that we haven’t learned already? The golden orange sales glow from Trump titles has already already begun to fade with losers like “Here’s the Deal: A Memoir”, by Kellyanne Conway. I have to wonder if publishers watching the hearings have already cut back press runs on high-profile Trump-related titles due this fall.
Ambitious News Website El American Targets Conservative Hispanics
By Beatriz Colón, Howard Polskin: The two-year-old venture is the most ambitious launch of a conservative news site since at least 2017. It could serve as a pipeline into Spanish-speaking communities across the USA which would then help shape opinion and improve the outlook for right-leaning candidates.
Summer Travels in the Right Wing Mediasphere
By Kevin Howley: In the short time I’ve spent reading right wing media, I’ve come to realize that it is not, as former FCC chairman Newton Minow once described US commercial television, a vast wasteland. Rather, it is the fountainhead of vitriol and demagoguery laying waste to democratic principles and the rule of law.
The Budding Romance Between Murdoch and DeSantis
By J. Max Robins: The Murdoch-powered Trump takedown is in lockstep with Fox News’ full-throated support of DeSantis. With the radically Right governor firmly established, Murdoch is putting his entire media empire into unseating Trump atop the GOP.
No Major Film or TV Series for Conservative Radio Giant Rush Limbaugh
By Paul Colford: Left/Right tensions in the entertainment industry may be one reason that no big Limbaugh project has gotten any traction. But whether you loved him or loathed him, perhaps a balanced examination of the radio giant’s career will help us understand how we became the divided country we are today.
California News Site Keeps Close Tabs on the Far Right
By Michael Lovito: Left Coast Right Watch, which was founded by Abner Häuge, has become a go-to resource for readers and activists looking to keep tabs on an increasingly violent and extreme corner of American political life.