Women snatch MAGA's megaphone
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From left: Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens and Katie Miller. Photos: Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg; Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post; Francis Chung/Politico/Bloomberg via Getty Images
As the MAGA media ecosystem fractures, conservative women are stepping into a growing influence vacuum.
Why it matters: The MAGA "manosphere" has become increasingly critical of President Trump, creating space for conservative women to expand the movement's reach to new voters.
- The Democratic edge among women has also narrowed over the past few years, creating a wider audience opportunity for women focused on conservative lifestyles.
Driving the news: Infighting within the MAGA media ecosystem is helping new voices break through.
- Candace Owens has had the fastest-growing right-wing podcast for the past two quarters, per data from Howard Polskin, a conservative media expert and author of TheRighting blog.
- Owens' conspiracy-fueled investigation into the assassination of Charlie Kirk has racked up millions of views per episode, even as her attacks on his widow Erika Kirk have appalled fellow conservatives.
- "She's thriving in a world where the truth is often irrelevant and outrage trumps logic," Polskin said.
- Megyn Kelly's podcast entered the top 20 shows in the U.S. last year, per Edison Research. It continues to be one of the top 25 shows on Apple Podcasts as of this month.
- A spokesperson for Kelly attributed a large part of her success to video, noting that Kelly's YouTube videos alone had 323 million views in the first quarter of 2026.
- Bari Weiss, who is now leading the charge at CBS News, continues to see growth for her media startup, The Free Press, per new figures from Polskin out Monday.
- The Free Press doesn't consider itself conservative, but Polskin still measures its growth alongside right-wing news websites.
State of play: Both Kelly's and Owens' popularity have surged in recent months as they have taken a more oppositional stance against President Trump over the war with Iran and his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
- Owens has accused Trump of misleading his base on the Epstein files.
- Kelly has criticized the Iran war and called Trump "gullible" for believing lies about the Iranian regime.
The other side: Some women have taken a less oppositional approach to the president and are instead leaning into culture and lifestyle conversations to attract conservative women.
- "If conservatives want to continue to gain ground amongst conservative women, you have to talk to women from a life and lifestyle perspective," said Katie Miller, a loyal former Trump aide who launched a podcast aimed at conservative women last summer.
- Ainsley Earhardt and Dana Perino are helping fuel Fox News' non-cable business growth with successful faith-based books, streaming shows and podcasts.
- Political influencers Brett Cooper, Riley Gaines and Tomi Lahren are contributors for the network. All three women have more than 1 million followers on Instagram.
Between the lines: Trump owes his Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. some credit in helping to expand the MAGA megaphone to more women leading up to the 2024 election.
- Kennedy's anti-Big Pharma worldview attracted a slew of women celebrities and influencers who turned to MAGA politics after Kennedy ended his presidential campaign, including fitness personality Jillian Michaels, former ESPN host Sage Steele and former race-car driver Danica Patrick.
- Miller said the MAHA movement has helped conservatives reach more suburban women.
Reality check: While personalities like Owens and Kelly are growing, the MAGA media ecosystem is still mostly dominated by men.
- "When I look at the top 20 right-wing podcasts, it's overwhelmingly dominated by men, although some of the fastest growing right wing podcasts are disproportionately women's podcasts," Polskin said.
