Last night, convicted felon Donald Trump was elected the 47th President of the United States. While this all feels like a nightmarish repeat of the 2016 journey to the White House, there was a marked difference in Team Trump’s campaign tactics this time around. Most notably, his reliance on the creator economy to boost his Gen Z audience.
In turn, it should come as no surprise that, during the president-elect’s victory speech, UFC president Dana White took a moment to thank all the influencers that arguably paved the way for Trump’s historic second term.
“I want to thank some people,” he said. “Real quick. I want to thank the NELK Boys, Adin Ross, Theo Von, and Bussin’ With The Boys. And last but not least, the mighty and powerful Joe Rogan.” This message was met with rapturous cheering and applause from Trump’s audience.
But who exactly are the people involved in Trump’s chronically online A-team? Here’s the run-down.
Which creators endorsed Donald Trump?
Adin Ross is a streamer who found fame on Twitch before being banned for using a homophobic slur. Like many right-wing personalities, he has since found refuge on streaming platform Kick. He went on to break records on the platform thanks to Trump’s appearance on his stream.
The Nelk Boys began as your run-of-the-mill prank streamers, but soon shifted to the promotion of right-wing content. They did, however, return to their pranking roots in recent videos — although these pranks all had a pro-Trump theme, and were met with approval by the former Apprentice star.
Trump’s whistle-stop tour of right-wing podcasts included not just Logan Paul’s “Impaulsive,” but also Theo Von’s podcast and Barstool Sports’ “Bussin’ With The Boys.”
But while these appearances no doubt bolstered Trump’s image with that specific audience, his appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience” is on another level. It’s common knowledge that the eponymous Rogan is right-wing, but as the number one podcaster on Spotify, it’s clear he has a lot of mainstream appeal. His endorsement for Trump wielded a lot of power in terms of public persuasion.
But it isn’t just the creators Trump can thank for his victory. The whole of Big Tech and the powerful men behind it also played a role.
For instance, Elon Musk, whose site X has seen an increased right-wing presence, was also thanked in Trump’s acceptance speech. The billionaire has made it clear countless times that his loyalties lie with Trump — and as one of the most powerful men in the world, this could have huge implications for the future of our online landscape.
This balance of power is weighed down further by other powerful tech moguls, like Peter Thiel: a businessman and founding investor in Facebook and Instagram who endorsed Trump in the election run-up and was a key figure supporting vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance.
Furthermore, while Twitch owner Jeff Bezos didn’t officially endorse Trump, his intervention to stop the Washington Post from endorsing Kamala Harris said it all.
Although TikTok has publicly avoided discussing the election, it’s unsettlingly unclear what role TikTok’s notoriously volatile algorithm played in pushing his message to the masses. So, it looks like influencers won’t be the only ones influencing the web going forward.
This all leads us to one question. Would Trump have won the election without the help of the creator economy? As Joe Rogan himself would say, “It’s entirely possible.”
