Fox News Digital caught up with CPAC 2025 participants on Saturday ahead of President Donald Trump’s headline speech to discuss how Republicans control the narrative of modern media.
The Conservative Political Action Council is the annual general meeting of conservative minds to discuss policy and hear from the party’s key voices. The CPAC dates back to 1974, but Trump’s 2017 speech led to a conservative conference into the present day.
Conservative media broke out during Trump’s era, and CPAC displayed the evidence in full this year. The media line has space for everyone, from legacy mainstream media to independent podcasters, and some of the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Centers in National Harbor, Maryland during 2025 CPAC It spanned the floor.
The Trump administration has embraced this new media landscape. Most notably, opening the coveted “new media sheet” in the White House Press Briefing Room, especially for influencers, podcasters, content creators and independent journalists. The White House received thousands of media applications last month following the announcement of White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt.
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Fox News Digital caught up with CPAC 2025 participants on how conservatives are leveraging the new media landscape. (Fox News Digital)
“The diversity of new media is a great addition to the media landscape, and I think it’s great to see them in the press briefing room. All the new conservative ones using channels like Tiktok and Instagram. Influencer Kelly Lynch, CPAC attendant, told Fox News Digital, CPAC attendant Kellie Lynch, who told CPAC attendant, it really connects with the young people, and obviously, it’s President Trump reaching this election It was a new group from a demographic perspective that was made.
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Trump relied on podcast space during the 2024 presidential election under the advice of his Z son Baron Trump. Trump appeared in Theo Fon’s “this last weekend” in Joe Logan’s widely popular “The Joe Logan Experience” and Logan Paul’s “Impulse.” Each episode accumulated millions of views, with 26 million views on Rogan’s podcasts.
“I was watching Joe Rogan,” young CPAC attendee John Tucker told Fox News Digital. “I listened to President Trump’s interview, I listened to an interview with JD Vance’s Joe Rogan, which was a demographic that is not commonly spoken about. I think they really spoke. They saw hope in that interview. Many conservatives gathered for President Trump.”
“I’m going to show Donald Trump was very open about his opinion. He’s not hiding behind anything. He went to the podcast without even knowing what he was asked of. Tiktoker Harley Richards added.
“It’s a great strategy,” said CPAC attendee Jacob Lee. “A lot of young people today are obsessed with podcasts. They love podcasts. They love Joe Logan. They love Nerk boys. They have a lot of Kamala Harris and Democrats. Didn’t go. In my opinion, they went on a kind of inflammatory podcast, but they’re not attractive on top with young men.”
President Donald Trump will attend the annual meeting of the Conservative Political Action Conference held in National Harbor, Maryland on February 22, 2025 (Reuters/Nathan Howard)
The White House announced its official rapid response account @rapidResponse47 during Trump’s first month inauguration, led by White House’s rapid response director Jake Schneider. The account aggregates key interview moments, shares fast facts, creates headlines, highlights Trump’s best moments, and clips the worst of Democrats.
“I’ll follow Trump’s quick response in the White House. It provides a great commentary on what’s going on. You can respond to it and discuss with non-conservative people. I’m not a single person. I think that’s very useful,” Taber said.
“That’s what most adolescent groups are watching now: social media. They mostly don’t actually receive the news from big news sources,” explained Lee.
Tiffany Chiangsi, who runs a social media channel called Tiktok Town Hall, said Trump “knows about his existence in Tiktok and saw the benefits of being able to connect him to an audience,” and During the election cycle, people told Fox that they “recognized it.” They wanted that accountability and “connection with our politicians.”
“Special Government Employee” Elon Musk uses X to communicate directly with Americans and shares information about the government department in real time. As the owner of X, Musk is the most followed person on the app, with a whopping 208.5 million followers.
“In particular, seeing those voices amplify again and free speech return to X, as Elon Musk bought X and a conservative re-platform that was previously platformed on Twitter. I think it’s great,” Lynch said.
“In the past, it would have been very difficult to say anything. I was moderately conservative. Now I can’t scroll through X, you know, what to do with a conservative song “I’ve seen two deep posts without looking.”
President Donald Trump is working on CPAC in National Harbor, Maryland on February 22, 2025 (Reuters/Briance Nyder)
As social media shifts more conservatively, legacy media is embracing change too. Bill Abbott, president and CEO of Great American Media, spoke with Fox News Digital on Friday about the future of faith, family and the media ahead of the CPAC panel. Recognizing the industry gap three years ago, the former Hallmark CEO launched a family-friendly media company.
Abbott, who met the audience by joining CPAC, said that viewers always enjoyed conservative media, but now the demands are being met by the increased supply of conservative channels.
“I don’t know if that’s a shift or if people will feel free to speak up,” Abbott said. “If you go back to 2016 or 2017 and have free speech, or you actually say something about the administration or the president, or being conservative, you could be cancelled. I think so. It will be held at light empty.”
“Now, with elections and landslide victory, people clearly feel that they are more comfortable expressing what they really think. So, I don’t think that’s much of a change, but I think that’s the case. I think most of the country has always been in this camp, Abbott added.
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“It was never liberal,” retorted Board Brewer, a CPAC attendee in Pennsylvania. “There was no conservative force to raise conservative people. The Conservatives were always there. They were never activated.”
Emma Woodhead is the production assistant for Fox News Digital.
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