The political coalition built around President Donald Trump is facing new strains as some prominent manosphere influencers distance themselves from him while others are in jail, according to Ross Morales Rocketto, a longtime advocate and political organizer.

Trump “never would have been elected, and then reelected,” without the avid support of so-called manosphere influencers, AlterNet reported. The group includes figures ranging from podcaster Joe Rogan and former child star Jake Paul to right-wing activist Laura Loomer and self-described “pimp” Andrew Tate.

The informal term “manosphere” refers to a broad online ecosystem that caters primarily to men. Its content can combine right-wing political ideology, fitness advice, spiritual teachings and pop-culture commentary. Many of its most prominent figures command audiences of millions across social and traditional media.

Some of these influencers helped make support for Trump culturally popular while making support for former President Joe Biden less appealing to their audiences. Several also backed Trump after he lost the 2020 presidential election and attempted to overturn the result. But after helping return Trump to power in 2024, some have cooled on him, including Rogan, while others are in jail, including Tate. The stakes extend beyond Trump himself: as the interview lays out, the open question is whether the cultural and political right reunites around another figure, rebuilds in a different form, or splits the Republican Party in two.

To examine the development of the manosphere and its relationship with Trump, AlterNet interviewed Rocketto. His career in advocacy and electoral politics spans more than 20 years. It has included state and local campaigns in Texas, including Julián Castro’s first campaign for mayor of San Antonio in 2005; presidential organizing for John Edwards and Bill Richardson; political consulting; and co-founding Run for Something, which recruits progressive young candidates for down-ballot races. Rocketto is now chief advocacy and culture change officer at Equimundo, a nonprofit that works with men and boys on gender equality and healthy masculinities.

When AlterNet asked President Trump about Rocketto’s observations, White House spokesman Davis Ingle said: “No other President in history has accomplished more for young men than President Trump, who is working tirelessly to create jobs, cool inflation, increase housing affordability, and more. The President has already made historic progress not only in America but around the world, and this is just the beginning as his agenda continues taking effect.”

The following interview, conducted by AlterNet, has been lightly edited for clarity, context and length.

What is the manosphere?

ROZSA: Would you agree with me that a good working definition of the manosphere is political content aimed at men that is far-right in its ideological thrust and tends to play on men’s economic, gendered and social vulnerabilities? Would you agree with that as a basic description?

ROCKETTO: Yes. The only thing I would add is that I don’t think it’s just political. It often includes content that is not political. It becomes broader than politics. But yes, I generally agree with that.

ROZSA: It includes fitness, spirituality and pop-culture analysis. It is quite broad-ranging.

ROCKETTO: Yes.

ROZSA: I have created four categories of manosphere influencers for this interview, with four people in each category. I’ll go through them and then ask for your analysis of what defines the type of person in each group.

The first is the group of jailed manosphere influencers: people who are literally incarcerated, including Andrew and Tristan Tate, who are being held in Miami pending extradition to the United Kingdom. They have not been convicted. The group also includes Wes Watson, who pleaded guilty to aggravated battery in Miami-Dade and faces separate charges in Broward for allegedly beating a woman. Finally, there is Russell Brand, who was recently convicted of rape and sexual assault and is in custody pending his transfer to serve a 10-and-a-half-year sentence.

The second is the Rogansphere, including Joe Rogan, Theo Von, Andrew Schulz and Tony Hinchcliffe.

The third is the Rumblesphere, including Tim Pool, Fresh and Fit, and Steven Crowder.

The fourth is the Trumpsphere: people directly aligned with the president, including Elon Musk, Logan and Jake Paul, and Laura Loomer.

What do you think of those groupings?

ROCKETTO: The first group, the people in jail, is a really interesting framing. At some point, you could include the fitness influencer who was recently accused of rape, Clavicular. You’ll probably be able to include him in that group at some point.

I don’t know whether they have much in common beyond being charged with crimes and being part of the manosphere, but it’s an interesting grouping. I hadn’t given it much thought.

I think the Rogan grouping is pretty good. Those people allow audiences to pick and choose their own ideology. Sometimes they are political and often they are apolitical, but they have a political lens. People often talk about a Joe Rogan of the left. Joe Rogan endorsed Bernie Sanders in 2016.

I think those figures are ideologically flexible. What they really care about is making as much money as possible, and they ride whatever cultural vibes are out there. That does not mean they are not platforming or saying harmful things. I think the Paul brothers could fit into several different categories.

ROZSA: I placed them in the group aligned with Trump because, like Loomer and Musk, they have direct access to the president.

ROCKETTO: Yes. I think they are less political than the Musks and Laura Loomers of the world. Laura Loomer is a political animal. But the Paul brothers attended the fight night and aligned themselves directly with the administration.

I actually think the Paul brothers are beginning to distance themselves somewhat from the administration because they are starting to realize it is not good for their brand. Again, many of these people care much more about making money than ideology. But it is an interesting grouping. Some of the categories make me think, “Yes, that makes sense,” while others make me think, “I hadn’t considered it that way before.”

ROZSA: The category you haven’t addressed is the Rumblesphere: people on Rumble, such as Fresh and Fit, Crowder and Pool.

ROCKETTO: That grouping makes sense to me. I didn’t mention it because it also seemed intuitive. It checks out.

ROZSA: Here is why I grouped them that way. As I’m sure you can tell, I have researched the subject.

ROCKETTO: Yes.

ROZSA: The categories represent different ways in which these figures influence people or can lose that influence. The Tate brothers, Watson and Brand have minimal influence left, if any, as a result of being in prison. I know they still have devoted followers who cling to every fragment they post on social media, but generally speaking, their influence has been significantly curtailed by their incarceration. That is one group of manosphere influencers. As you noted, Clavicular is making it a growing group.

Then there are figures such as Joe Rogan, who have more mainstream appeal because they are flexible and not rigidly driven by ideology. They are opportunistic. Next is the Rumblesphere, which I see as firmly political: people who can never remove politics from their brands, including Pool, Fresh and Fit, and Crowder.

Finally, there is the Trumpsphere, made up of people with direct access to the president. The only possible revision I would make is placing Joe Rogan in the Trumpsphere, but then I would have to remove him from the Rogansphere.

ROCKETTO: [laughs]

ROZSA: The bottom line is that I think I have covered most of the ways young men are drawn into the manosphere. It happens through direct political contact with the president and those who promote him; through far-right platforms such as Rumble, Kick, Truth Social, OAN and Newsmax, as well as countless YouTube channels; or through mainstream podcasters in Joe Rogan’s orbit. Would you agree, or did I leave anyone out?

ROCKETTO: I think there are also people farther up the pipeline. Many science podcasts are not political at all. I think Andrew Huberman belongs in this group. He is not political, but he becomes a top-of-funnel figure for Joe Rogan and others.

People can move along a chain. It is not necessarily linear, but they can be drawn up that chain. They might begin by listening to very mainstream material about science, sports or another niche. Then they move to another podcaster with something similar but a slightly more political orientation, and eventually reach far-right content.

There are people even farther upstream who are not intentionally doing that work but become a top of the funnel simply because they exist on the internet. If you spoke with Andrew Huberman, he would say, “That’s not what I’m doing.” But mapping can show how someone moves from point A to point B.

Will Trump be able to rely on the manosphere?

ROZSA: How will this affect President Trump and his ecosystem of influencers? If a quarter of these people are in jail and another quarter are abandoning him — referring to the jailed group and the Rogansphere, respectively — how will Trump’s political movement thrive or collapse based on his current relationship with them?

ROCKETTO: I think his political movement has collapsed, and I’m not sure he can do much to rebuild it. I’m more interested in how these movements reconstitute themselves and whether they reconstitute around someone else.

One thing Trump did that was unique in the Republican Party was unite the cultural and political right. Previous candidates had done some of that. Going back to Reagan, to be honest, Bush did it to a degree, but Reagan was the person who really coalesced the cultural and political right for the first time.

Those groups do not particularly like or trust one another. So I wonder whether someone else can unite them and rebuild the coalition with a slightly different character, because it will not feel the same as it did under Trump. Or will the groups break apart and split the Republican Party in two? We do not know the answer yet. I think the 2028 presidential election cycle will show us what it becomes.

I would be very concerned about Tucker Carlson because he is the kind of person who could unite those two groups again. I don’t think a traditional politician such as JD Vance or Marco Rubio could do it. Perhaps one of Trump’s children could. But it depends on how the 2028 cycle unfolds.

To me, Trump’s ability to exercise power that is not institutional within the government — his large-scale influence on culture — is nearing its end. I think this election cycle showed that people’s pocketbook concerns matter more than one person, or even the good feelings they may associate with an elected official.

ROZSA: I appreciate your thoroughness. But I also need to know what you plan to do to influence the 2028 narrative. You are the founder of White Dudes for Harris, after all. My sense is that you will not remain on the sidelines.

ROCKETTO: My full-time work is now as chief advocacy and culture change officer at Equimundo, which is a 501(c)(3) organization. We do a great deal of online work with young men, and that is the space I will largely occupy as we move toward the 2028 cycle.

One important point is that we are entering an era in U.S. politics in which the electorate has become more fluid than ever. By that, I mean there is less adherence to parties and political structures than we have probably seen — certainly in my lifetime.

We saw a 40-point movement among young men from Republicans to Democrats between 2024 and 2026 for this midterm election. I think those numbers will continue to swing until two things happen. First, one political party delivers for them. Second, we address the underlying issues that make men especially vulnerable to grievance politics.

That is the part of the work where I am spending my time and energy: figuring out how to inoculate men, particularly young men, against grievance politics.

ROZSA: One clue may be helping them see through manosphere lies, the opportunism of the Rogansphere, the extremism of the Rumblesphere and the political maneuvering of the Trumpsphere. It also means helping them understand that people such as Watson, the Tates and Brand deserve to be in jail. Showing young men these things and helping them understand them can make a difference. But how do you get them to understand?

ROCKETTO: There are several ways to approach it. First, you have to meet people where they are. That means doing so without judgment and from a place of empathy and compassion.

I wrote a piece about the Cornell Seven, and I think the same idea applies: most people are not born monsters. Society and the structures within it tell people how they can and should act. We need to create different representations of what masculinity and being a man can mean. We need to create the conditions that give people permission to act differently.

You do that by working with the people who speak directly to young men and to men more generally. These are largely nonpolitical actors, including people who make content about gaming, sports and fitness. Wherever people are on the internet, that is where we also need to be.

We should not approach this through an ideological prism. We should ask how we can help make men’s lives better in some way — whether by helping them form in-person communities, build social connections or meet other needs.

The policy and political work obviously has to happen. But I am personally most interested in work farther upstream that meets men where they are.

Source: AlterNet