Advertisers Prefer Conservative Creators Rather Than Progressives During Trump Period

The pendulum has already swung.

As we enter the second year of the Trump administration, major brands are becoming increasingly willing to partner with conservative creators and are redirecting advertising budgets towards apolitical creators. This insight comes from several experts in the creator economy who I interviewed at SXSW 2026.

Last year, Business Insider noted that leading advertisers were turning to right-leaning platforms like Fox News and The Daily Wire. Fox News reported to Business Insider that they had secured 125 new prominent advertisers following Trump’s election victory. The report highlighted that companies worried “shunning conservative platforms [posed] a risk to their brands,” while others sought to avoid “signaling political bias on either side of the spectrum.”

At present, experts suggest a comparable transformation is taking place in the swiftly growing creator economy, where advertisers spent approximately $37 billion in 2025, according to IAB.

“There’s definitely a growing comfort level with conservatives, no question. Just look at the mainstream brands backing all the channels these days, right?” stated Arthur Leopold, CEO and co-founder of Agentio, a programmatic creator advertising startup, in an interview at SXSW.

“If you reflect on how much the pendulum has shifted, five years ago, if you were a brand and you didn’t display the pride flag in June…” Leopold remarked, “There would be boycotts and national media would be covering that X, Y, Z brand lacks a pride flag. But now, considering last year, that was hardly seen, right? There’s been a desensitization to politics and how brands react to it on social media. Consequently, brands are increasingly indifferent about teaming up with a Ben Shapiro or Meidas Touch.”

Conservative media features a plethora of proudly right-wing podcasters, YouTubers, and streamers. And we must also acknowledge the right-leaning manosphere. While these creators have historically received contracts from conservative-affiliated brands like Black Rifle Coffee, many of them are no longer off-limits to mainstream companies.

Simultaneously, this implies that proudly progressive creators are sometimes missing out on revenue they previously counted on.

Creators frequently earn minimal income from monetization schemes on platforms such as YouTube or TikTok. Usually, brand partnerships are crucial to establishing a viable career as a creator. Thus, if progressive creators who vocally support LGBTQ+ rights or climate change struggle to secure collaborations, their voices might vanish from your feed.