The Republican National Committee just announced its Rumble channel will be exclusively livestreaming the GOP’s first presidential primary debate in 2024, making the Republican Party itself the latest right-wing entity with exclusive content on the platform — which already hosts QAnon-supporting shows, bigoted right-wing extremists, Holocaust denial, misogynistic and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, and misinformation restricted by other platforms.
On April 12, RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel appeared on Fox News’ Fox & Friends to announce that Fox News would be hosting the first GOP primary debate of the 2024 presidential election, while the debate will also be livestreamed on Rumble because the RNC is “getting away from Big Tech.”
Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski confirmed McDaniel’s announcement, claiming that “the #RumbleTakeover has begun,” and that he is “not finished either.”
Since it launched in 2013, Rumble has become part of an alternative digital infrastructure that caters to the extreme right, which for years has pushed the false claim that social media platforms (which McDaniel derisively labeled “Big Tech”) are biased against conservatives. The company, which has actually promoted itself as a YouTube alternative that is “immune from cancel culture,” is a home for right-wing extremists, including those that have been banned from other platforms, and platforms harmful rhetoric and misinformation:
Rumble is home of QAnon-supporting shows, MAGA trolls, and bigoted right-wing extremists
- Media Matters has identified at least 12 popular QAnon podcasts that regularly share videos to Rumble, including X22 Report, MG Show, and Patel Patriot. Additionally, Media Matters found that nearly all of the 12 popular QAnon-supporting shows on Rumble are monetized and assist the website in generating revenue.
- Rumble has also run ads before videos from various streamers, podcasters, and right-wing figures who have espoused white nationalist or extremist rhetoric, including antisemite Nick Fuentes and white nationalists Jared Taylor, Baked Alaska, and Stew Peters. Other extremists with monetized videos include Alex Jones, Infowars, and Steve Bannon.
- Far-right misogynist Andrew Tate joined Rumble after being banned from mainstream platforms like YouTube. After joining Rumble, the platform heavily promoted his presence. Online gamers like Adin Ross and Sneako, who similarly push misogynistic and hateful rhetoric, also turned to Rumble after being deplatformed.
- “Rumble Exclusives” creators — who are contracted to produce exclusive content either on Rumble itself or on its paid subscription service, “Locals” — also include right-wing figures who have been suspended or banned on other platforms, including Dan Bongino, Kim Iversen, SteveWillDoIt, and Right Side Broadcasting Network.
- Other right-wing figures who produce exclusive content for Rumble, including podcasters Steven Crowder and Russell Brand, often tell their YouTube audience to go to Rumble for more incendiary content.
