There have always been communists, fascists, conspiracy theorists, and kooks on the fringes of American politics. Social media has exposed the general public to these extreme views over the last two decades in a way that was unprecedented before the internet, but in 2025, the crazies on both sides took a massive step out of the basement and into the mainstream.
The Left never recovered from former President Barack Obama’s heel-turn toward a politics centered on racial grievances or from the mainstreaming of Marxist economics brought about by Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-VT) presidential campaigns in 2016 and 2020. After Israel went to war against Hamas following Oct. 7, large swaths of the Left became obsessed with the conflict.
This combination of factors led to Democrats enabling, even praising, groups of antisemitic protesters as they took to the streets in support of Hamas and to the victory of Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani. Mamdani defeated former Gov. Andrew Cuomo by nearly 10 points, all while promising government-run grocery stores, rent freezes, and a racist, anti-white tax policy, and refusing to denounce the term “globalize the intifada.”
After the assassination of TPUSA co-founder Charlie Kirk, allegedly at the hands of a radical, trans-obsessed leftist, millions of leftists flooded social media to celebrate the murder. Commentators Jimmy Kimmel and Matthew Dowd were disciplined by their employers for downplaying or excusing the killing, and hundreds of Democrats were fired across the country after making cruel or celebratory comments about the slain conservative activist. Not to be outdone, Virginia attorney general candidate Jay Jones found himself in hot water this fall when text messages from 2022 were revealed that showed the leftist politician fantasizing about murdering Republicans. Democratic voters did not seem to mind, as Jones easily defeated Republican incumbent Jason Miyares in November.
Republicans have yet to follow Democrats into the depths of actually electing the worst human beings in their ranks, but figures on the extreme Right still saw their influence increase dramatically in 2025. Commentator Tucker Carlson hosts the top-rated political podcast according to Spotify, and he spent the year obsessing over Israel and Jews; running blatant, bald-faced propaganda for the governments of Russia, Iran, and Qatar; and mainstreaming figures such as neo-Nazi “Groyper” leader Nick Fuentes. Carlson is so popular that many right-wing leaders, including Vice President JD Vance, have avoided condemning his actions.
The most unhinged segment of right-wing personalities became even worse after the murder of Kirk. Kirk’s supposed “friend,” Candace Owens, who hosts the 10th highest-rated podcast on Spotify and has amassed over 5.5 million YouTube subscribers, chose to monetize Kirk’s death and has been spewing deranged conspiracy theories ever since. Owens has accused TPUSA, Erika Kirk, Israel, France, Egypt, the CIA, and the U.S. military of involvement in the assassination without a shred of evidence.
DEBUNKING GUN-RELATED CONSPIRACY THEORIES
Owens’s shamelessness has prompted mainstream conservatives to denounce her deranged ramblings, but not before many in the commentariat attempted for months to avoid condemning Owens, purportedly over a sense of devotion to the idea of “no enemies on the Right.” This notion derives from the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt’s “friend/enemy distinction” that has become a popular talking point among national conservatives.
From Marx to Schmitt, it is an indictment on our political discourse that relics of discredited, murderous, authoritarian ideologies remain embedded on both sides of the aisle. The elections of Mamdani and Jones, and the popularity and widespread influence of characters such as Carlson and Owens, highlight a deep rot in American politics. Without a course correction, both parties run the risk of being overtaken by the radicals in their ranks.
Brady Leonard (@bradyleonard) is a musician, political strategist, and host of The No Gimmicks Podcast.
