Right-Wing

Backlash to President Donald Trump’s early actions and statements is starting to erupt at Republican town halls, local and national protests — and on the phone lines of right-wing talk radio shows. 

Listeners are calling into right-wing talk radio shows to voice their frustrations

Following Trump’s first month in office, many right-wing talk radio hosts are having to face callers who, regardless of their personal politics, are voicing their frustrations with the Trump administration’s impact on their own lives.

On February 18, President Donald Trump pushed multiple false claims about the war in Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelensky’s involvement in it, falsely suggesting that Ukraine started the war and that Zelensky is a “dictator without elections.” Both claims echo Russian propaganda about the war.

Many right-wing media figures praised Trump's comments, with some commentators even following in his footsteps to target Zelensky. Others denounced Trump's remarks as “music to the ears of Vladimir Putin.”

YouTube has a pattern of recommending right-leaning and Christian videos, even to users who haven’t previously interacted with that kind of content, according to a recent study of the platform’s suggestions to users.

The four-part research project, conducted by a London-based nonprofit organization that researches extremism called the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, explored video recommendations served to accounts designed to mimic users interested in four topic areas: gaming, male lifestyle gurus, mommy vloggers and Spanish-language news. 

Right-wing media figures are blaming Federal Aviation Administration guidelines that promote hiring people with intellectual disabilities for a Boeing jet’s midair equipment failure earlier this month.

Right-wing media are claiming President Joe Biden isn't trying to address immigration issues or “defend the border,” even though the president has upheld many of former President Donald Trump's border policies alongside his own and offered further significant concessions on border policy that congressional Republicans have rejected.

At the beginning of December, the Senate GOP voted against a large aid package that tied foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan to expansions in border security. [Politico, 12/6/23]

Right-wing media figures are attacking newly-elected House Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans after the House passed a continuing resolution to fund the government through the beginning of 2024. The spending bill did not cut funding for any programs, which has angered many conservative media figures. 

As the interregnum without a speaker of the House came to an end last month, people from across the political spectrum came together, in a rare show of unity, to ask a single question: Who in the world is Mike Johnson? But amidst the general bewilderment, one group of conservative evangelicals with a radical cause immediately recognized the new speaker’s name.

Early in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, right-wing media established that attacking former President Donald Trump was essentially forbidden, especially when it came to his many alleged crimes. And after a summary judgment this week found that Trump repeatedly committed fraud for decades, the Trump family and conservative media are enforcing that foundational fact of the Republican primary once again.

As COVID-19 rates have risen over the past month, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended a new vaccine booster, right-wing media outlets and figures have reacted with outrage about temporary mask mandates, claims that the vaccines are a “scam” and dangerous, and allegations that recent surges and attention are a political ploy.

COVID-19 cases are increasing, and the CDC has recommended an updated booster