Bannon, Carlson and... Liz Truss? Exploring the Former PM's Foray for Maga

Liz Truss, kicked off the first edition of her YouTube show with a vow to expose "the evil-doers" attempting to undermine the UK, United States and European nations. Truss elaborated she would lay bare how an "international network of liberal activists operate to undermine the democratic process and the public's choice."

"We're going to look at the political movement of Donald Trump and observe how this can be replicated in Britain," she said. "We'll be talking to the prominent voices of the Maga movement."

Prior to the series premiere, there was one particularly enthusiastic supporter. "This represents the dawn of a type of revolution," stated veteran reporter John Solomon. The right-leaning Just the News platform will publish the former prime minister's new broadcasts.

Building Connections in the Conservative Media Landscape

British fellow travellers, such as a counselor supportive of Reform, played a role in her set up the Liz Truss Show. The production is professional, if basic. Truss has amassed 10,000 subscribers in her initial seven days and her debut achieved tens of thousands of views during that week.

It is a modest start, but in making common cause with John Solomon, she is being pushed into a well-developed right-wing media network producing and amplifying Make America Great Again themes. Central preoccupations involve accusations of information control by the established press and a desire to dismantle a conspiratorial 'deep state' – a force that she attributes her downfall to for the swift end of her disastrous time in office.

"Solomon's outlet is not famous beyond the Maga-verse, but it does have credibility there, largely because of its founder, who provides analysis on conservative outlets like Steve Bannon's War Room and has even questioned the former president," noted Alex Hinton, who has closely studied the Make America Great Again phenomenon.

A Contentious Ally

The former PM's foray to import the pro-Trump media model to Britain has aligned her more closely to divisive personalities such as Solomon.

He established Just the News in the wake of scrutiny after he was accused of promoting inaccurate reports about the President's actions in the Eastern European nation, as well as disputed reports about the former US ambassador to the region.

His claims were repeated throughout the conservative press, with Solomon serving as a common interviewee on the widely-watched Fox News show. Trump himself endorsed Solomon's reporting.

Solomon made the reports about Ukraine in a set of articles for the outlet The Hill, where he had already been re-labelled as a columnist after colleagues complained about his work. These reports were central in Trump's demand for the Ukrainians to investigate the Biden family in 2019. Those demands led to articles of impeachment targeting Donald Trump. The US Senate later found not guilty the commander-in-chief.

Shortly after Solomon left the Hill in October 2019, the news organization announced it was performing a review of his columns concerning Ukraine. It concluded the journalist had relied on untrustworthy contacts and noted he "failed to identify important details about main Ukrainian informants, such as the detail that they had been formally accused or were being probed."

Becoming Part of the Sphere

Solomon's own broadcast spots are a sign of the political media environment Liz Truss is becoming part of. He discussed his endorsement of Truss's project on a show he co-hosts on the right-wing channel, a political media platform that is where you find the conservative firebrand ex-Trump strategist Bannon and on which former Fox host Tucker Carlson also features. Truss has already hosted the political operative on a debut installment.

By partnering with Solomon and Just the News, Truss has become a niche participant in a much wider network of pro-Trump platforms that frequently cross-promote stories.

His personal broadcasts have repeatedly hosted figures such as commentator Mike Benz, a rightwing influencer whose arguments against the US Agency for International Development was referenced by the tech billionaire as justification for dismantling the government body.

An International Strategy

While her awkward delivery and political travails have invited ridicule within the UK, some US observers are taking seriously her efforts to reinvent herself as a UK offshoot of the Make America Great Again press.

"It is necessary to treat folks like that as significant, even if you may not want to accept their words at face value," stated a former Biden White House aide, who worked in the Biden administration.

"You saw how in the last election cycle Donald Trump utilized that media network to disseminate his views. Undoubtedly that ecosystem spreads and shapes debate internationally. It looks relatively clear to me that the conditions in the UK are akin to what permitted this non-mainstream media network to prosper here."

Professor Alan Finlayson, said the internet-based conservative network was already making its presence felt in the United Kingdom.

"Online platforms transcends national boundaries," he stated. "There's a kind milieu within which ideas travel – on occasion taking an extreme form and occasionally in softer tones – but which is networked."

The academic said the rise of the online right in the United Kingdom lately meant the "possibility to have a growing impact is substantial."

Cross-Atlantic Aspirations

"Both Truss and political figure Nigel Farage not long ago spoke at the CPAC, where I saw they hit Maga talking points prior to the {king of Maga|

Steven Serrano
Steven Serrano

A digital artist and vector graphics specialist with over a decade of experience in creating stunning visual designs for global brands.