Conservative influencers who supported Donald Trump during his 2024 election campaign are now mentioning him far less frequently on podcasts, with mentions dropping nearly 70% from the peak of the campaign and by 30% since the start of the Iran war in February. This decline reflects broader GOP skepticism about the conflict; a CNN poll shows Republican approval for Trump's handling of the war has dropped to 60%, down from 73% in March. Notable figures like Tucker Carlson have criticized the war, contributing to a fracture within Trump’s MAGA base and causing some Republican candidates to distance themselves from the president ahead of midterm elections.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-24,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Since the 2024 election, conservative influencers who supported former President Donald Trump are mentioning him far less on podcasts, with mentions per hour declining by nearly 70 percent since the peak of his campaign, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of over 69,000 hours of podcast content. This shift coincides with increasing criticism within Trump's MAGA base regarding the ongoing war in Iran, which has seen GOP approval for the conflict drop from 73 percent in March to just 60 percent currently. Republican candidates running in battleground states like Iowa and Michigan are now focusing on ending the costly war rather than supporting Trump’s policies, further indicating a decline in his influence among conservative media figures and voters.
Written for “Declining Mention Of Trump” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.
Conservative influencers who helped Donald Trump win the 2024 election are now talking about the president far less, new analysis shows.
asserted
analysis → help → president
Mentions of Trump’s name per hour on conservative podcasts have declined nearly 70 percent from the height of the 2024 campaign, according to the Wall Street Journal.
uncertain
Mentions → decline → Journal
Several prominent media figures in Trump’s MAGA base, and even some Republican lawmakers campaigning in battleground states, have broken with the president on the unpopular and costly war in Iran.
asserted
figures → campaign → Iran
Monthly mentions of Trump’s name on conservative podcasts have fallen 30 percent since the U.S., alongside Israel, launched strikes against Iran at the end of February, according to the nearly 70,000 hours of podcasts that the Journal analyzed using an AI tool.
uncertain
Journal → fall → tool
GOP support for the war has been declining, with a new CNN/SSRS poll finding that 60 percent of Republicans approved of how Trump was handling the conflict, down from 73 percent in March.
asserted
Trump → decline → March
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson was one of the first conservative media personalities to criticize the Iran war, calling it “absolutely disgusting and evil” in a statement to ABC News’ Jonathan Karl.
asserted
Carlson → criticize → Karl
Trump raged against Carlson and other MAGA figures, including Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens and Alex Jones, in April, writing in a Truth Social post that their criticisms of the Iran war are because of their “low IQs.”
In June, Carlson told Sky News, ‘There’s no future of the MAGA movement.
asserted
Carlson → rag → movement
He said that he still believes in “America First” policies that have been a cornerstone of the movement, adding, “This war was the most obvious betrayal of that.”
“We didn’t go to war to protect our own interests.
asserted
We → say → interests
We went to war to serve Israel’s interests,” Carlson said.
asserted
Carlson → go → interests
Amid a fracturing base, MAGA influencers have been hemorrhaging viewers, according to a New York Times analysis published in late July.
uncertain
influencers → fracture → July
Conservative podcaster Benny Johnson was gaining tens of millions of views on YouTube during Trump’s 2024 election campaign, but his views later dropped by millions, the Times reported.
asserted
Times → gain → millions
In an unusual move to boost support for Republican candidates in the upcoming midterm elections, Trump held a two-day conference in Dallas earlier this month, in which he told supporters to “pretend that I’m on the ballot.”
But some Republicans in competitive races are instead choosing to distance themselves from the president and his low approval ratings.
asserted
Republicans → boost → president
Congresswoman Ashley Hinson, who is running for U.S. Senate in Iowa against Democrat Josh Turek, wrote on X Monday, “Iowans are being squeezed and shouldn’t have to foot the bill at the pump or the checkout line for the war in Iran,” adding, “The war needs to be brought to a successful and immediate end.”
Former congressman Mike Rogers, running against Democrat Abdul El-Sayed for U.S. Senate in Michigan, shared a similar message on X Monday: “The war in Iran needs to end to bring costs down.
asserted
war → run → costs
“
There’s also a tight race for U.S. Senate in Texas between the state’s Attorney General Ken Paxton, who Trump insulted for his fashion taste during the Republican midterm convention, and Democrat James Talarico.
asserted
Trump → ’ → convention
Talarico has become the most-discussed Democrat who isn’t a former president among conservative podcasters, according to the Journal’s analysis.
uncertain
who → become → analysis
This month, MAGA media figures have mentioned Talarico’s name more often than prominent Democrats such as Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and California Governor Gavin Newsom.
asserted
figures → mention → Cortez
The Aporia
