Inside Ben Shapiro’s MAGA meltdown

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/05/09/ben-shapiro-daily-wire-maga-media/

In the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, the company co-founded by conservative pundit Ben Shapiro ranked as Facebook’s top English-language publisher for three straight months. Its sarcastic news items on then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s salon visits gained millions more views than the websites of Fox News, CNN and the New York Times.

The Daily Wire’s fall from grace reflects the fragmentation of partisan media online, as centralized institutions such as Breitbart and Fox lose attention to a scattered network of podcasters, streamers and provocateurs.

The company’s brand of traditional conservatism, exemplified by Shapiro’s intense support of Israel, has clashed with right-wing creators promising a more radical brand of anti-incumbent, antiestablishment rage, she said.