Daily Wire co-founder Jeremy Boering laid out what he sees as the crucial difference between two high-profile right-wing figures, Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson, on the podcast "Triggernometry." Owens, he said, is captured by her audience, while Carlson pursues real political change in a way that threatens the foundations of conservatism.
"As I see it, Candace Owens is engaged in a project of self-aggrandisement," Boering said. "I've asked Candace on two separate occasions, 'What do you actually believe?' And on both occasions she told me, 'I believe what the people believe, I am the voice of the people.'"
Nevermind that's a completely amoral statement. Nevermind that I don't know who 'the people' are in this conversation. Nevermind that 'the people,' whoever they are, can obviously be wrong. Candace is actually saying something somewhat profound. She's saying, 'I will say whatever gets the most reward.' She may not even know that that's what shes saying. Shes articulating audience capture as a virtue.
However, Carlson, Boering said, isn’t chasing mere clicks. He aims to redefine what it means to be a conservative. With President Trump leaving office in 2028 and no clear ideolgoical heir to his movement, the stage is set for opportunists to try to capture some of Trump’s base and leverage it for a post-2028 victory.
Tucker Carlson, I don't believe Tucker Carlson is engaged in audience capture. I think Tucker Carlson is a part of a small cohort of people, that cohort includes Marjorie Taylor Greene, that cohort includes Steve Bannon, that cohort includes Nick Fuentes, although I'm not saying that Nick Fuentes and Tucker Carlson believe all of the same things. But these are people engaged in an actual political project. These are people who are engaged in trying to create a new American majority premised on left-wing economic populism and right-wing social populism. You can say what you want about that, whether it's good or bad, you can say what you want about that, but it is a political enterprise. They believe that they can create a majority, and that that majority can rule the country. And it is a new vision, in terms of the ruling class in our country. It's not that there's never been people who put forward that vision, but it's never been as poised to seize actual political power as it is right now in the hands of that group of people.
"So I don't...You know some of the sort superficial qualities look the same, but I don't think it actually is the same. Candace is not engaged in a political project; Tucker Carlson is very much engaged in a political project," Boering said.
Jeremy Boreing on the crucial difference between Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson.
— Britta | NoSoup4Knowles (@nosoup4knowles) January 28, 2026
Candace wants clicks.
Tucker wants political change.
Very insightful 👇👇👇 pic.twitter.com/UDB95bdQE2
The question, then, is how conservatives prevent the most dangerous grifters from succeeding. While many older conservatives can see through the deceptions of figures like Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens, a growing number of younger conservatives, newly introduced to an increasingly complex political world, are treating them as credible authorities.
As older generations exit the political stage, responsibility for the future of conservatism and the stability of American government increasingly rests with the young, a reality made all the more troubling by the growing popularity of "conservative" grifters.
