Tucker Carlson and Ben Shapiro — rival podcasters and competing advocates for two opposing visions of conservatism — were both in the news this week. The mainstream media fluffed, favored, and feted one of them; the other just ate a smorgasbord of bad press.
And next week, that bad press will kick into hyperdrive: It’ll get worse before it gets better.
(What, you thought the mainstream media would sit on the sidelines during the MAGA civil war? For shame: Of course they were gonna put their thumbs on the scales!)
Tucker Carlson was the beneficiary of a feel-good glow-up from the New York Times. I’m sure it successfully drove Times readers to his podcast — just as appearing on Carlson’s podcast helped drive listeners to Nick Fuentes’ podcast. Carlson came across as bold, unapologetic, open-minded, and humble… if not particularly honest:
NYT: I ask because you’ve been talking on your show about whether Trump is the Antichrist.
Carlson: I have not said that.
NYT: On your show, the day after Easter, you noted he did not put his hand on the Bible during his swearing-in ceremony as president, and you said, “Maybe he didn’t put his hand on the Bible because he affirmatively rejects what’s inside that book.” And then on a recent show, you went further, saying: “Here’s a leader who’s mocking the gods of his ancestors, mocking the God of gods and exalting himself above them. Could this be the Antichrist?”
Carlson: I actually did not say, “Could this be the Antichrist?” [He did.] I don’t know where that comes from, but I know that those words never left my lips because I’m not sure I fully understand what the Antichrist is, if there’s just one. I actually tried to understand it. I may have said some are asking that. I am not weighing in on that because I don’t understand it, just to be totally clear.
[emphasis added]
See? Not only would Carlson NEVER say it, but he doesn’t even understand what those words mean! That’s just cRaZy talk! (Cue high-pitched laughter.)
If you’ve seen enough of Carlson’s schtick, you know his song and dance by heart: Not only will he deny saying what he literally just said, but he’ll do so with a straight face — as if the allegation utterly baffles him.
But since the name of the game is getting clicks, it makes sense for Carlson to cast his line in lakes with fish. If he fails to split the MAGA movement and capture an audience of ex-Trump supporters who hate the Iran war as much as he does, then his only path for growth is to attract an audience from somewhere else.
Such as, for example, from The New York Times.
It’s probably why he’s now betting eyes at far-left senatorial candidate Graham Platner:
NYT: You’re in Maine. Graham Platner is a Democrat who is vying to be the Senate candidate. Is that someone whose ideas you are interested in at all?
Carlson: I certainly appreciate his foreign policy views. And I appreciate how different they are from everybody else in his party. I haven’t met him, and I plan to meet him. I don’t know a lot about his other views.
[emphasis added]
Seems a little farfetched that a journalist who follows politics for a living wouldn’t know about the “other” political views of the senate candidate in his home state. (C’mon, it’s not as if Maine is big.) But by phrasing it that way, Carlson can now justify inviting Platner on his show — to learn about him, of course! — and then popularizing him to the Groyper right.
Because Carlson and Platner have so much in common! Including, of course, an unhealthy obsession with all things Israel and Jewish.
By building Carlson into a credible, open-minded political analyst, the mainstream media can then cite him as an “expert” and keep using him as a source. (Like Carlson with Platner, the media must justify its choices, too.)
Be on the lookout for future headlines where the media insists that Graham Platner couldn’t possibly be an extremist — because open-minded conservatives such as Tucker Carlson support him.
As for Ben Shapiro, his company waited ‘til late afternoon on Friday to make its announcement — the classic time for a negative news dump. So obviously, the news wasn’t good:
The Daily Wire has reportedly laid off a significant share of its employees amid financial difficulties and declining audience retention.
— AF Post (@AFpost) May 1, 2026
Follow: @AFpost pic.twitter.com/1Ive5okyYQ
Some data 📊 re: layoffs at @realDailyWire:
— Kyle Tharp (@kylewilsontharp) May 1, 2026
Ben Shapiro's show lost 60,000 YT subscribers in the past 90 days, and has seen a massive drop in views month over month since early 2024 https://t.co/6JUpwlwSjf pic.twitter.com/MvRGYU5T7d
Naturally, Shapiro’s (many) enemies pounced:
Hearing that the Daily Wire laid off over 50% of their staff today.
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) May 1, 2026
As much as I positively despise what their execs put me and my family through there are a lot of good people that work there with families to feed who could use a prayer.
The Daily Wire put the best possible spin on the news.
Ben Shapiro’s right-wing media company confirmed the layoffs in a statement to the media on Friday afternoon, saying that impacted staffers span “a number of teams” and that the layoffs were largely concentrated at its Nashville headquarters.
“Today, The Daily Wire made a difficult decision to restructure the organization, which included layoffs to a number of teams,” a spokesperson said. “We are deeply grateful to those impacted. Their contributions were instrumental in building The Daily Wire into what it is today.”
The statement continued: “The cuts were largely concentrated at our Nashville production office. As the company has invested in new formats, locations, and production models, our footprint there has evolved. Over the last year, we have added production staff in D.C., the Northeast, and Florida. This step allows us to focus our resources on an ambitious slate of new entertainment projects set to release this year. Additionally, we will continue to invest in our editorial team and investigative journalism where we have already added numerous new reporters across the country and established a DC bureau with a seat in the White House briefing room.”
Because it’s a private company, it’s unclear if The Daily Wire is in real financial trouble, or if it's trimming fat in one area while doubling down in another. But still, there’s an unshakeable sense that The Daily Wire has lost its momentum.
Layoffs happen in the entertainment biz. Just how it is. Over the past few months, Disney and Netflix had layoffs, too. But those companies are much larger than The Daily Wire; they can absorb the losses — and the inevitable PR hits — with significantly less adversarial sniping.
It’s a troubling omen for conservative media, because The Daily Wire was one of our industry’s biggest success stories. For its first few years, it grew by leaps and bounds, releasing a slew of original content, including Matt Walsh’s documentary films. When Disney canned Gina Carano, The Daily Wire had the bankroll to step up to the plate and feature her in a move of its own. And most recently, it unveiled its most ambitious multimedia project yet — The Pendragon Cycle: Rise of the Merlin.
But managing growth is one of the hardest things in business. For The Daily Wire, I thought the danger signs were visible back in January:The biggest mistake entertainment companies make is creating content that pleases ownership — instead of focusing on the desires, demands, and interests of the audience. My suspicion is that someone in The Daily Wire’s ownership was a Pendragon super-fan and pushed very hard for the series.
I’ll bet everyone reading this a Diet Coke: Matt Walsh’s documentaries will draw more eyeballs, gain more mainstream exposure — and do more to land new Daily Wire subscribers — than a story about dragons and magic.
And it’ll do so at a fraction of the cost.
Do you remember 2022’s Terror on the Prairie, starring Gina Carano? (It had a reported budget of $2 million.) Or 2023’s Lady Ballers, starring ex-Daily Wire personality and cofounder Jeremy Boreing? (It had a reported budget of $7 million — with a whopping $1.6 million spent advertising on Facebook and Instagram.)
Nothing against either film. They weren’t bad, and my kids and I enjoyed Lady Ballers. It was a fun, lighthearted popcorn flick.
But we liked Matt Walsh’s documentaries a whole lot more!
In business — and in politics — you’ve gotta keep the main thing… the main thing. And probably, for the same price of The Pendragon Cycle: Rise of the Merlin, the company could’ve:
- Hired Nick Shirley — the 23-year-old conservative YouTuber who broke the Somali fraud story — to be an in-house Daily Wire podcaster.
- Filmed and produced MULTIPLE Matt Walsh documentaries. (Walsh’s hit documentary What Is a Woman? was made on a budget of less than $1 million.)
- Produced and launched a TV adaptation of Rush Limbaugh’s “Rush Revere” book series for kids. (Be perfect for animation.)
- Completed the TV adaptation of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, since The Daily Wire only owns the rights for a “few more years.”
- Launched a Daily Wire book publishing subdivision to publicize more conservative content, stories, and talent. (Ben Shapiro’s new book, Lions and Scavengers: The True Story of America (and Her Critics), was released by a Simon & Schuster-owned company.)
- Produced a weekly bio-series of influential conservative thought-leaders: Thomas Sowell, Russell Kirk, William F. Buckley, Barry Goldwater, Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, Antonin Scalia, Charlie Kirk, etc.
And still had millions of dollars left over!
I hope The Daily Wire can regain its footing. It’s been a tremendous advocate for conservative values (and on a personal note, I’m much more aligned with Shapiro’s vision for the GOP than Carlson’s). But if you wanna reach the Promised Land, you need a viable roadmap.
You’re not gonna get there by accident.
The Daily Wire, I suspect, would be wise to streamline its apolitical entertainment aspirations and concentrate on delivering all-original red meat to a right-of-center audience. Focus like a laser beam on why the audience fell in love with you in the first place!
Because when you overreach, you’re overextended. And then you’re vulnerable to a bad actor who’ll stab you where you’re thinnest.
Fingers crossed for Shapiro and his team. They’ve got a fight on their hands.
PRediction: The mainstream media places the New York Times on its highest pedestal. It’s mandatory reading in every major newsroom.
So now that the New York Times has given Tucker Carlson its seal of approval, other outlets will, too. Expect to see a cascade of Carlson interviews — one domino falling after another — as the ex-Fox News host suddenly receives the best PR of his life. Whereas once he was toxic, now he’s considered introspective and insightful.
It’s PR 101: When you and the mainstream media share a common enemy, the PR benefits are incalculable!
Unfortunately, the opposite is true, too. (As Republicans have long known.)
PRojection: Meanwhile, for Shapiro, the media will now refer to the “struggling Daily Wire” in its copy, and reference the layoffs in future stories. That’ll be its not-so-subtle way to diminish and discredit Shapiro and his team. Those with a vested interest in watching the company burn will float conjecture about The Daily Wire’s financial woes — and even rumors about its pending bankruptcy.
It’s a nasty, dangerous PR cycle for any company to be in. If The Daily Wire has the capital and the vision, it’d be wise to make a high-profile hiring ASAP — or announce a hot new project — to cleanse the palate and reboot the “struggling” narrative.
PRaise: To King Charles’ charm offensive. As an American, I find the “royalty thing” hokey and anachronistic, but clearly, I’m in the minority. Most people — including the president — seem to get a kick out of it.
My wife is European (Dutch) and knows all the kings and queens in Western Europe. (I mean, she doesn’t KNOW them, but she knows all their names and families.) To her, having a royal family is totally normal.
I think it’s weird.
Either way, we’ve gotta give credit where credit is due: The King and Queen of England avoided gaffes and gladhanded like pros. They were FAR better goodwill ambassadors and/or diplomats than Keir Starmer.
Maybe this “royalty thing” has merit to it after all…
PRedators: Any chance Spirit Airlines will be like Spirit Halloween stores and stick a vinyl sign over someone else’s plane a few months out of the year? (I’m guessing not. But it would be fun corporate synergy.)
It’s too bad. Spirit Airlines going bankrupt will make it harder for Americans to fly around the country, conduct business, and spend time with loved ones. It’s a bummer for everyone.
Plus, it was entirely avoidable — were it not for the interference of the Democrats:
Here's Biden Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg bragging about blocking the Spirit Airlines merger with JetBlue that would have saved the airline from bankruptcy. I don't think America has ever had a more incompetent Secretary of Transportation than Mayor Pete. pic.twitter.com/Pgdjf5Ng6U
— Izengabe (@Izengabe_) May 1, 2026
Nice work, Liz. https://t.co/j8aRWm8Dlr
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) May 2, 2026
Way to go, guys. Thanks for looking out for us!
Like Ronald Reagan used to say, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.’”
Some things, alas, never change.
