Explaining the Right is a weekly series that looks at what the right wing is currently obsessing over, how it influences politics—and why you need to know.
The world of conservative grifters and hucksters exploded into controversy yet again this past week after serial conspiracy theorist Candace Owens took aim in a YouTube video series at Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk’s widow and the new head of conservative pressure group Turning Point USA.
Erika Kirk
While the drama is likely to continue to unfold as the various personalities continue to fight against the backdrop of Donald Trump’s increasingly unpopular presidency, the combat once again served as a reminder of the vast fortunes available in the world of conservative grift.
For decades there has been a ready, willing, and able audience of conservative true believers who are more than happy to buy products, subscribe to shows/magazines/podcasts, and sign up for services that make them feel like their commerce is an extension of their political beliefs. Major and minor figures in the conservative world are more than happy to take in this money for a quick buck, often for shady (at best) services or outright scams.
To no one’s surprise, one of the most prominent conservative profiteers is none other than Trump himself. He was perfectly positioned to swoop into this world, based on the mainstream failures of multiple Trump enterprises from steaks to an airline to his infamous Trump University.
Once Trump became the center of the conservative universe he was all too happy to sell his loyal supporters things like crypto, cell phones, and even guitars. Once can even buy golden Trump sneakers or a seriously tacky golf club cover.
Others have seen the money to be made on right-wing consumers, and it has opened up for products such as Trump-style teddy bears and worse. Naturally, what also happens is that the money gets out of hand, and it attracts outright criminal behavior. Last year, former Trump administration official and conservative media figure Steve Bannon pleaded guilty to his involvement in a scam where donors were told they were contributing to building a wall on the border—but they were really lining the pockets of scammers.
This is easy money for these figures, and most of them cannot resist an unethical, low-risk path to wealth.
Right-wing media, and the politicians attached to it, have turned politics into a 24-7 lifestyle. Conservatives are told that the entire world is always out to get them and betray them, be that Democratic politicians, colleges and universities, and even their own left-leaning families and neighbors. They are thoroughly indoctrinated and made to believe that buying goods and services is a path to “fighting back” against the left.
It is in that universe that buying a pair of Trump shoes or watching a Candace Owens video feels like it’s doing something.
The fight this week is a symptom of deep rot within conservatism, and it is a system that will remain in place long after Trump has left the political scene. The grifters are here to stay, happy to make fistfuls of money from a willing audience that believes enriching these figures will make their own lives better.
They’re very wrong, but someone has to keep filling up their bank accounts.
