Steve Bannon, Tucker Carlson and... Liz Truss? Inside the One-Time PM's Audition for the Maga Movement
Liz Truss, kicked off the inaugural episode of her YouTube show with a promise to unmask "those with ill intent" striving to bring down Britain, the US and Europe. She stated she would reveal how an "worldwide alliance of liberal activists function to weaken democracy and the electorate's mandate."
"Our focus will be on the Trump revolution and understand how this can be achieved in Britain," Truss declared. "Our guests will include the leading lights of the Maga movement."
In advance of the show's launch, there was a strong advocate. "This is the beginning of a sort of political shift," remarked veteran reporter John Solomon. His Just the News platform will host the ex-PM's new audio shows.
Building Connections in the Maga Media Ecosystem
British fellow travellers, featuring a pro-Reform adviser, have also helped her set up the Liz Truss Show. The setup is adequate, if somewhat rudimentary. The show has attracted ten thousand followers in her debut week and her debut garnered sixty-seven thousand views during that week.
This represents a modest start, but in partnering with John Solomon, the former PM is being entering a mature conservative ecosystem producing and amplifying Maga talking points. Its obsessions involve alleged censorship by the mainstream media and a desire to eradicate a so-called administrative state – a force that Truss blames for the rapid conclusion of her calamitous premiership.
"Just the News is not widely recognized beyond the pro-Trump media sphere, but it does have gravitas there, largely because of Solomon, who offers opinions on conservative outlets like Steve Bannon's War Room and has even spoken with Trump," noted Alex Hinton, who has closely studied the Maga movement.
A Divisive Associate
Truss's attempt to transplant Maga media to the UK has aligned her more closely to divisive personalities such as Solomon.
He founded his media outlet following criticism when allegations surfaced of pushing misleading narratives about the President's actions in the Ukraine, as well as disputed reports about the former US ambassador to Ukraine.
These allegations were repeated throughout the conservative press, with he appearing as a frequent visitor on the widely-watched Fox News program. The former president personally promoted his stories.
He wrote the Ukraine claims in a set of articles for the publication the political newspaper, where he had already been re-labelled as a columnist when staffers raised concerns over his articles. These reports were central in Trump's demand for the Ukrainians to investigate the Bidens in 2019. This pressure led to articles of impeachment against the president. The Senate later voted to acquit the then-president.
Shortly after Solomon left the publication in autumn 2019, the publication revealed it was carrying out a examination of his reporting relating to the Ukraine issue. It found he had cited questionable informants and noted he "did not disclose key facts about primary contacts in Ukraine, including the fact that they had been indicted or were under investigation."
Entering the Ecosystem
His media appearances are a example of the political media environment Truss is joining. Solomon mentioned his support for her new show on a broadcast he helps run on the conservative cable network, a political media platform that is where you find the pro-Trump commentator former adviser Steve Bannon and on which former Fox host Tucker Carlson also is seen. She has already interviewed Bannon on one of her first podcasts.
Through her association with this media figure, the former leader has become a niche participant in a much wider network of pro-Trump platforms that often amplify each other's content.
Solomon's own broadcasts have repeatedly hosted individuals such as influencer Mike Benz, a rightwing influencer whose disparagement of the US Agency for International Development was used by Elon Musk as grounds for closing the foreign aid agency.
A Cross-Border Foray
While the former PM's unnatural presentation and political travails have drawn derision in Britain, a number of stateside commentators are taking seriously her efforts to revamp her image as a local version of the Maga media.
"You have to take individuals such as her seriously, despite the fact that you may not want to interpret them word-for-word," commented a Democratic strategist, who was employed in the Biden White House.
"It was evident how in 2024 the former president used that media network to disseminate his views. Without a doubt that ecosystem spreads and shapes debate abroad. It seems relatively clear to me that the circumstances in the United Kingdom are akin to what permitted this parallel press sphere to prosper in the US."
Alan Finlayson, said the digital right-wing media sphere was already exerting influence in the UK.
"The internet transcends national boundaries," Finlayson remarked. "There's a kind milieu within which ideas travel – sometimes taking an extreme form and occasionally in softer tones – but which is interlinked."
Professor Hinton said the expansion of the online right in the UK in recent times meant the "chance to have a increasing influence is significant."
Global Goals
"Both Truss and the Reform UK leader recently spoke at the CPAC, where I observed they echoed Maga talking points prior to the {king of Maga|