POLL: Republicans Don’t Know Or Trust Far-Right Influencers Like Jack Posobiec And Tim Pool

Isaac SchorrDec 21st, 2023, 12:08 pm
 

Much has been made of online influencers‘ role in the Republican presidential primary, but a new set of poll results from WPA Intelligence obtained by Mediaite cast doubt on just how much sway this cohort has.

The survey measured the name recognition and trust in four right-of-center commentators: Ben Shapiro and Candace Owens (both of the Daily Wire) as well as independent podcaster Tim Pool and Human Events senior editor Jack Posobiec.

The results found that a strong majority of Americans — even of every political affiliation — were aware of Shapiro and Owens. Shapiro was known by 70% of Republicans, 76% of Independents, and 59% of Democrats, while 63% of Republicans, 62% of Independents, and 54% of Democrats know of Owens.

On the other hand, Posobiec is unknown to 72% of Americans and even less popular to Republicans, 75% of whom don’t know who he is. The same is true of Pool; 69% of Americans and 74% of Republicans have never heard of him.

Republicans also have a lot less faith in Pool and Posobiec than they do Shapiro and Owens. Forty-seven percent of Republicans says they trust Shapiro and 45% trust Owens. For Posobiec and Pool, those numbers are 10% and 8%, respectively.

But it gets worse still. Only 3% of Republicans trust Posobiec and 1% trust Pool “a lot.” Moreover, even among the online right — that is Trump voters who get most of their news online — over 70% have never heard of either influencer and only 6% of them place a lot of trust in Posobiec and 3% do the same for Pool.

Posobiec has been a prominent advocate for a number of conspiracy theories, including Pizzagate, which suggested that a Washington, D.C. pizza shop was a hub for child sex-trafficking. Shortly after Posobiec visited the location and told InfoWars that it was adorned with “demonic artwork” and that he discovered a “secret door” there, an man showed up at the shop and opened fire.

Pool is famous for his popular YouTube channels where he has earned a reputation of a right-wing voice, though he began his career as a progressive covering the Occupy Wall Street Movement.

Both Posobiec and Pool have been outspoken supporters of former President Donald Trump in the GOP primary, and loud critics of his rivals Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley.

Pool has made a point of criticizing Haley’s appearance when she speaks, zeroing in on her teeth, while Posobiec has characterized DeSantis’s refusal to concede to and endorse Trump as a “narcissistic ego trip.”

Trump seems poised to reprise his role as the GOP nominee for president next year, but despite their prominence on social media, his online influencer army would appear to have next to nothing to do with his success.

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