David Sacks has acknowledged that Republicans’ growing rift with influential alternative media figures, including Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly, played a significant role in the party’s crushing 2026 midterm defeat. He also pointed to the Iran war as a major source of division within the conservative coalition.
During a discussion on the All-In Podcast examining the election results, the former Trump administration official described the Republican loss as the party’s biggest midterm defeat since Watergate, arguing that the administration’s handling of the war fractured a coalition that had helped Donald Trump secure a decisive victory in 2024.
“Just one other thing I want to say about it, which is there’s one other piece of why the war I think was so bad, which is it fractured the Republican coalition and the Republican base,” Sacks explained.
He then acknowledged just how many prominent voices the Republicans had alienated, explicitly naming some of the biggest figures in alternative media.
“We lost all the podcast bros. I mean, obviously it was Tucker Carlson and Joe Rogan and Theo Von and that whole set, Megyn Kelly,” Sacks said.
For Sacks, the problem extended beyond a handful of influential personalities. He argued that alternative media had become an indispensable part of the Republican political infrastructure, particularly because traditional media outlets are overwhelmingly hostile to the party.
“A house divided against itself cannot stand. I mean, we lost a huge part of our base. And I would say that the Republicans in particular are dependent on the podcast circuit. Let’s call it alternative media. Why? Because the mainstream media hates us. Legacy media hates us.”
Sacks also pointed directly to Trump’s 2024 campaign as an example of what Republicans stand to lose when they abandon that relationship. The president’s appearances on major podcasts had helped him reach audiences outside the traditional political media ecosystem, providing an alternative to conventional campaign coverage.
“I think one of the reasons why Trump produced such a resounding victory in 2024 is he appealed to that whole podcasting circuit. And frankly, we should have done a better job giving them all front row seats in the White House press room. We should have stayed connected to all of them because they are our media,” Sacks said.
However, he acknowledged that these personalities cannot simply be treated as extensions of the Republican Party or the White House, emphasizing that their independence is precisely what makes them influential.
“By the way, they don’t work for us. They’re willing to defect. Obviously, they have their own opinions, but we have to pay attention,” he added.
Sacks ultimately warned that Republicans risk losing their only meaningful media advantage if they continue alienating alternative media figures, suggesting that the backlash over the Iran war may have translated directly into electoral consequences.
“I think our side has to pay a lot of attention to them because without them we don’t have any media that supports us. So I think that losing them was a big deal. It fueled the sense and I think that a lot of those people showed up and then did a protest vote because they wanted to send the message that they want out of this war,” he concluded.
