As podcast bros grow critical of Trump, sports bros step in

If how Donald Trump won was the lingering question of the ballot his win was widely credited to his campaign s grasp of the nexus of sports celebrity and entertainment to draw in a wider part of the American electorate particularly young men across racial groups Nearly one year later a notable shift is underway The influential voices within the manosphere right-wing podcasters known for their brash and often controversial takes are increasingly retreating from their past help of Trump But as the same podcasters who helped Trump win are now lightly criticizing him for doing what he promised to do sports talkers a constellation of the podcast bro ecosystem are beginning to fill the void The way it looks is just horrific Joe Rogan in recent months mentioned of Trump s hardline deportation operation When you re just arresting people in front of their kids normal regular people that have been here for years everybody who has a heart can t get along with that The Oct episode was Rogan s best-performing of the year amassing more than million views on YouTube within the first three days of airing live Now Rogan is telling his listeners that the Democrats were pushing to release the Epstein files The Republicans fought against it and he is suggesting the federal cabinet shutdown is meant to slow walk the release of the documents Last year as early voting had begun in bulk states Rogan hosted Trump on his popular podcast The Oct episode was Rogan s best-performing of the year amassing more than million views on YouTube within the first three days of airing live Now Rogan is telling his listeners that the Democrats were pushing to release the Epstein files The Republicans fought against it and he is suggesting the federal establishment shutdown is meant to slow walk the release of the documents Now that I look back on it I really really wish I never got into like politics Adin Ross a popular manosphere YouTuber of late recounted his followers Ross interviewed Trump on his livestream in August and he like Rogan has grown disillusioned As I m getting older I don t think I ll ever care enough again for any other politician ever in the future he declared Fellow podcast bro Theo Von has also spoken out against the Trump administration accusing the Department of Homeland Shield of using an out-of-context joke of his in a social media video to dehumanize immigrants Everything Trump campaigned on I concluded he desired to do Andrew Schulz mentioned on his Flagrant podcast Trump appeared on the comedian s show in Oct And now he s doing the exact opposite thing of every single f g thing I voted for none of this He s doing the exact opposite of everything I voted for There are a few indications that criticisms from the largest part popular podcast bros are reflecting a growing disillusionment among parts of Trump s base that put him back in the White House I feel like the transparency as well is an issue not just with tariffs but also feeling like he switched positions when talking about the Epstein files from saying it s a huge deal to saying that Oh it s not really a big deal a -year-old Republican from Pennsylvania in the last few days explained NBC News Related Pam Bondi is Trump s mean girl It s fundamental to note however that even though Rogan s is the biggest podcast in the U S with more than million followers on Spotify of whom are male according to Edison Research a firm that s tracked podcast evidence since a modern poll from the Harvard Kennedy School s Institute of Politics ascertained that of young men have an unfavorable view of Rogan Another had never heard of him or did not know enough about him to have an opinion Notably Rogan waited until two days before Poll Day to formally endorse Trump On poll eve Trump joined former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick as part of his Let s Go podcast To celebrate his win on balloting night Trump invited UFC CEO and president Dana White to the podium A top staffer for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris on the other hand lamented after the polling that the values that has been associated with heavy sports-watching has become associated with right-wing values revealing that the campaign had trouble booking the vice president on countless sports podcasts during her failed presidential bid The sports talk industry has never forgotten the fallout from the firing of Don Imus who infamously described the Rutgers women s basketball club as nappy-headed h Countless see that event as one of the early flashpoints of the so-called woke era and Trump s voting process to a second term as a final rejection of political correctness Trump whose fondness for locker room talk was made infamous in the Access Hollywood tape published ahead of the vote has a long history with professional sports He owned a New Jersey-based club in the short-lived United States Football League during the s He also hosted WrestleManias and promoted boxing fights featuring Mike Tyson during the same period His Atlantic City casino is a frequent venue for UFC Want more sharp takes on politics Sign up for our free newsletter Standing Room Only written by Amanda Marcotte now also a weekly show on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts Since returning to the White House he s named Susie Wiles the daughter of legendary NFL broadcaster Pat Summerall as his chief of staff and in February he became the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl Trump has also attended the Daytona NCAA Wrestling Championships FIFA Club World Cup final and U S Open men s tennis final UFC pay-per-view events have effectively become Trump rallies Last month he attended a New York Yankees competition on the th anniversary of the attacks and only one day after the killing of far-right activist and podcaster Charlie Kirk The president has also promised to host a UFC event at the White House as part of the nation s th anniversary celebrations In a speech on Oct he indicated the fight has been scheduled for June Based on Trump s long history with sports it s no surprise the world of sports media is now stepping up with full-throated encouragement The president seems to have uncovered a safer haven for help in the world of sports during his second term than his first Trump who once referred to NFL players who knelt for the national anthem as sons of bitches hosted NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to help announce that the NFL Draft will be held on the National Mall The president meanwhile is still threatening to withhold a new stadium deal in D C until the Washington Commanders revert back to its original Washington Redskins name Stephen A Smith perhaps America s the greater part famous sports-talker regularly criticizes outspoken Trump critics like Michelle Obama and Rep Jasmine Crockett D-Texas How much work goes into that I m just going to go off about Trump cuss him out every chance I get say the the bulk derogatory incendiary things imaginable and that s my day s work Smith commented on a fresh episode of his podcast Smith has defended Trump s record on the financial system crime and immigration The ESPN host has featured Steve Bannon and Candace Owens on his podcast and regularly appears on Fox News often on former ESPN colleague Will Cain s show We need your help to stay independent Subscribe in contemporary times to help Sophia Tesfaye s journalism As right-wing influencers sour on Trump sports-focused media outlets appear steadfast OutKick for instance is owned by Fox Corporation and founder Clay Travis regularly appears on Fox News to praise the president and bash Democrats Barstool s Dave Portnoy a casual day trader from Massachusetts who built his media empire on college gambling advice is perhaps the only prominent voice in the sports world who previously supported Trump but has since criticized the president Portnoy s is a media company that caters to a large male audience Barstool s most of popular show Pardon My Take regularly ranks among Apple s top podcasts The hosts infamously argued that Taylor Swift requirements to release a sex video to make her presence at NFL games tolerable to the average male fan Portnoy explained NPR that his patronage for Trump was more an indictment of the Democrats than an endorsement of Trump s politics citing a particular disdain for an excess of woke politics These sports bros are helping normalize a custom that aligns with anti-woke sentiments like toxic masculinity that undergird the MAGA movement Even if they don t reliably explicitly defend Trump their style of sports commentary often overlaps with messaging common in pro Trump circles And like their brethren in the manosphere sports bros may soon see their popularity suffer as a outcome of their endorsement for Trump Ultimately Trump will only replace the new influencers just as he has his disillusioned old influencers Read more about this topic Mike Johnson s backing may be eroding At least Trump didn t win the Nobel Prize Or wait did he Stephen Miller and Kristi Noem s shambolic ICE tour The post As podcast bros grow critical of Trump sports bros step in appeared first on Salon com