Women snatch MAGA's megaphone

As the MAGA media ecosystem https://www.axios.com/2026/04/08/trump-maga-tucker-carlson-iran-war" target="_blank">fractures, conservative women are stepping into a growing influence vacuum.

Why it matters: The MAGA "manosphere" has become https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/03/iran-war-trump-maga/686571/" target="_blank">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 https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/04/09/partisanship-by-gender-sexual-orientation-marital-and-parental-status/#:~:text=Democrats%20have%20a%20substantial%20advantage,Republican%20than%20voters%20without%20children" target="_blank">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 https://therighting.com/podcast-report/candace-once-again-tabbed-as-fastest-growing-right-wing-podcast/" target="_blank">data from Howard Polskin, a conservative media expert and author of TheRighting blog.
• Owens' conspiracy-fueled investigation into the https://www.axios.com/2025/12/15/candace-owens-erika-kirk-turning-point-livestream" target="_blank">assassination of Charlie Kirk has racked up millions of views per episode, even as her https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/02/26/candace-owens-erika-kirk-bride-of-charlie" target="_blank">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 https://www.edisonresearch.com/the-top-50-podcasts-in-the-u-s-for-q2-2025-from-edison-podcast-metrics/" target="_blank">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 https://therighting.com/traffic-reports/war-in-iran-fails-to-drive-big-visit-gains-to-right-wing-news-website-in-march/" target="_blank">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 https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/epstein-files" target="_blank">Epstein scandal.

• Owens has https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/trump-thinks-his-base-is-stupid-candace-owens-lights-the-president-up-over-epstein-scandal/?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank">accused Trump of misleading his base on the Epstein files.
• Kelly has criticized the Iran war and https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/megyn-kelly-spent-months-campaigning-175316471.html" target="_blank">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 https://www.axios.com/2025/08/07/katie-miller-leaves-elon-musk-podcast" target="_blank">launched a podcast aimed at conservative women last summer.
• Ainsley Earhardt and Dana Perino are helping fuel Fox News' non-cable business https://www.axios.com/2025/05/06/fox-news-revenue-cnn-msnbc" target="_blank">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.

• https://www.axios.com/health/rfk-jr" target="_blank">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.