AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey
Right wing media backed the right pony in 2024. After many websites and pundits flirted with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in 2023, almost all outlets planted themselves behind Donald Trump and against the aging Joe Biden who became a right wing media punchline and punching bag. On the surface, all seems well in MAGA media world today. But there are questions large and small that could reshape the conservative landscape for years to come. Some questions may seem crazy, but in a world where Matt Gaetz was nominated as the country’s Attorney General, anything is possible. Here are just a few:
Who Will Be Right Wing Media’s Whipping Boy in 2025?
President Biden was the gift who kept on giving throughout 2024 for the pundits on the right and that was before the June 27 debate performance. Just recently, conservative comedian Rob Schneider called him “a corpse tied to a car battery.” In previous years, right wing media has obsessively targeted perceived villains such as Hillary Clinton, Anthony Fauci, Kamala Harris, the Squad, and Nancy Pelosi. But the cupboard for Democratic boogeymen seems particularly bare at this point in time. If Kamala Harris makes noises about entering the 2028 race, she will absorb the most vitriol from the right.
Will Right Wing Media Obsess About Every Report of Biden’s Health?
Count on it especially if there are significant new developments. You can also expect right wing media to follow every new wrinkle in reporting about President Biden’s rocky last year in office. The irony is that mainstream media will probably break the biggest stories about the president’s mental decline (see Wall Street Journal’s Dec. 19 article “How the White House Functioned with a Diminished Biden in Charge”).
Will Right Wing Media Dance on the Graves on DEI and Wokesterism?
Count on it especially if both go into full retreat. Accelerated attacks on Pride Month in June should also be expected, perhaps fanned by Trump’s administration.
Is It Time to Crown Matt Walsh the Michael Moore of the Right?
Walsh starred and co-wrote Am I a Racist? — the country’s highest-grossing documentary in 2024 (tagline: “a comedy to DEI for”). He has authored four non-fiction books and also hosts a daily podcast that lands in TheRighting’s top-ten right wing podcasts. While Moore is a best-selling lefty author with an Oscar for best documentary (2003’s Bowling for Columbine), his relevance may fade as the age of Trump 2.0 is upon us. Walsh, however, seems poised to reach new heights in 2025.
Will Right Wing Media Push for Trump on Mt. Rushmore?
Don’t laugh. To his base, Trump is a god who deserves to a larger than life sculpture honoring his accomplishments. What could be more fitting than his likeness etched in the stone of Mt. Rushmore next to three other presidential giants? Artist John McNaughton is already selling copies of his painting of Mt. Rushmore with Trump’s face just to Abraham Lincoln’s left. Look for right wing media to pick up this cause.
Is Newsmax the Next Big Thing in Right Wing Media?
Its footprint is a mere fraction of the giant of the right that is Fox News, but there’s no denying the growing multiplatform strength of the Newsmax brand. The ratings for some of its television shows occasionally draw larger audiences than CNN. While unique visitors to most news websites plunged precipitously between October 2020 and October 2024, Newsmax managed to increase its audience most months this year during that four-year period. Hard to say what’s next for Newsmax, if I were Fox, I’d keep a close eye on their growth.
Will Matt Gaetz Slip into Obscurity as a TV Anchor?
On Jan. 2, the former Florida representative started his gig as a prime time anchor on the scarcely watched One America News. Does the polarizing controversy magnet, who stands accused of sex with a minor among other sordid charges, stand a chance in a timeslot going up against the formidable chatting head Sean Hannity? If he fails, will the next stop be the even more obscure FrankSpeech.com, the website owned by Mike Lindell, the ultra-right owner of My Pillow?
Will Elon Musk buy Fox News?
This is highly speculative but it makes sense for both parties. Here’s why: Rupert sells at the top of the market and influence for his powerful conservative television and digital empire. Plus he avoids a messy fight with his children who are divided over the political direction of Fox. Musk adds the perfect complement to X and it gives him near total domination on the right side of the chess board. He would instantly become the most powerful man in media and increase his influence over the United States government. Plus, viewers could watch SpaceX launches and new Tesla product rollouts live on Fox.
Will Rupert Murdoch Buy The Washington Post?
Even if Musk doesn’t buy Fox News, this move makes sense for Rupert and fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos. Former Murdoch executive Will Lewis helms the Post as CEO so there’s already a top executive in place with experience working within the News Corp hierarchy. The lure of owning the premier news outlet in the nation’s capital might be irresistible for the Murdoch clan. Current owner Jeff Bezos probably doesn’t need the headaches and distractions of owning the Post. It could be a blemish on an otherwise fairly pristine legacy.
Which Right Wing Media Outlets Might Be MIA in 2026?
Several websites are teetering. The conspiracy-theory-spewing Infowars was supposed to be sold to The Onion in late fall until a federal bankruptcy judge blocked the sale. But the fate of one of right wing media’s most poisonous websites is still up in the air. Huge declines in unique visitors to Townhall, The Federalist and Breitbart, could spell disaster for those three sites. Each one lost more than 90 percent of its unique audience from October 2020 to October 2024, according to TheRighting’s research based on Comscore data.
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Howard Polskin is the President and Founder of TheRighting, a free newsletter that aggregates more than a dozen right wing headlines every morning for mainstream and progressive audiences.
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
