Steve Bannon, Tucker Carlson and... Liz Truss? A Look Inside the One-Time PM's Audition for Make America Great Again

Liz Truss, began the inaugural episode of her video series with a pledge to expose "those with ill intent" striving to bring down Britain, the US and Europe. She explained she would uncover how an "international network of liberal activists operate to undermine democracy and the electorate's mandate."

"We're going to look at the Maga phenomenon and understand how this can be replicated in Britain," Truss declared. "Our guests will include the leading lights of the Make America Great Again campaign."

In advance of the series premiere, there was a notably ardent backer. "This represents the dawn of a sort of revolution," said veteran reporter John Solomon. The right-leaning Just the News will host the ex-PM's new broadcasts.

Establishing Ties in the Conservative Media Landscape

British fellow travellers, including a counselor supportive of Reform, played a role in her set up the Liz Truss Show. The setup is competent, if somewhat rudimentary. The show has attracted 10,000 subscribers in her initial seven days and her debut achieved tens of thousands of views in that timeframe.

This represents a humble beginning, but in making common cause with Solomon, she is being entering a well-developed right-wing media network creating and spreading Maga talking points. Its obsessions include claims of media suppression by the mainstream media and a goal to eradicate a shadowy government apparatus – a force that the ex-PM holds responsible for the swift end of her disastrous time in office.

"The platform is not widely recognized beyond the pro-Trump media sphere, but it does have gravitas there, mostly due to its founder, who provides analysis on pro-Trump shows like Bannon's 'War Room' podcast and has even interviewed Trump," commented an anthropology expert, who has closely studied the Trumpist political wave.

A Contentious Ally

Her effort to import the pro-Trump media model to the United Kingdom has drawn her nearer to divisive personalities such as the journalist.

He founded Just the News after scrutiny after he was accused of pushing misleading narratives about the President's actions in Ukraine, as well as contentious articles about the former US ambassador to Ukraine.

His claims were amplified across the conservative press, with Solomon appearing as a frequent visitor on the prominent cable news broadcast. Trump himself promoted his stories.

Solomon made the reports about Ukraine in a number of opinion pieces for the outlet the Hill, after having been re-designated as an opinion writer after colleagues complained regarding his reporting. These reports were pivotal in Trump's demand for the Ukrainian government to look into Hunter Biden and his father in 2019. This pressure led to impeachment charges targeting Donald Trump. The Senate later voted to acquit the commander-in-chief.

Not long after he exited the Hill in October 2019, the publication announced it was performing a examination of his work relating to the Ukraine issue. It concluded the journalist had used untrustworthy contacts and noted he "did not disclose important details about primary contacts in Ukraine, specifically the detail that they had been indicted or were the subject of inquiries."

Entering the Ecosystem

The journalist's personal TV and radio guest spots are a indication of the right-wing media network Truss is joining. He discussed his support for the program on a program he presents on Real America's Voice, a rightwing cable channel that is the base for the pro-Trump commentator Steve Bannon and on which commentator Tucker Carlson also is seen. She has already hosted Bannon on an early episode.

In linking up with Solomon and Just the News, the former leader has become a small part in a broader ecosystem of right-wing publications that routinely amplify each other's content.

The journalist's broadcasts have frequently included personalities such as influencer Mike Benz, a rightwing influencer whose disparagement of the foreign aid agency was cited by the X owner as grounds for closing the government body.

A Global Media Play

Although her awkward delivery and political travails have invited ridicule in Britain, some US observers are taking seriously her bid to reinvent herself as a British branch of the pro-Trump media ecosystem.

"One must regard people like Truss with seriousness, even if you may not want to take them literally," said Rob Flaherty, who worked in the Biden White House.

"It was evident how in the recent campaign Donald Trump used that ecosystem to disseminate his views. Certainly that network transmits and affects discourse abroad. It appears fairly obvious to me that the circumstances in the United Kingdom are comparable to what enabled this parallel press sphere to thrive in America."

Professor Alan Finlayson, said the online conservative ecosystem was already having an impact in the United Kingdom.

"The internet knows no borders," he said. "There is a certain environment within which ideas travel – sometimes appearing in harsh versions and other times more moderately – but which is interlinked."

Professor Hinton said the growth of the online right in the UK in recent times meant the "chance to have a increasing influence is significant."

A Transatlantic Ambition

"Both Truss and the Reform UK leader recently were featured at the the major conservative conference, where I saw they deployed Maga talking points before the {king of Maga|

Priscilla Campbell
Priscilla Campbell

Maya Chen is a tech journalist and digital strategist with over a decade of experience covering emerging technologies and consumer electronics.