The fastest growing political YouTube channels in Q2

In a sign of shifting dynamics on the nation’s most popular video platform, growth among major political YouTube channels slowed in the second quarter of 2025, with right-leaning creators outpacing their left-leaning counterparts for the first time this year.

An analysis of 200 partisan-leaning YouTube channels - ranging from Ben Shapiro and Megyn Kelly to Meidas Touch and The Bulwark - reveals some key trends in how Americans are consuming political content on the platform. Of the 200 channels I tracked, I categorized half as left-leaning and half as right-leaning, and each had more than 100,000 subscribers. To be included in this list, the accounts have to post about U.S. politics with some regularity and share some political point of view, opinion, or partisan lean. 

Collectively, the top political accounts included in this report command a staggering audience of more than 397.9 million subscribers on YouTube, and comprise the most prominent political voices on the platform.

All-Access subscribers can view the complete list of top political YouTube channels tracked, their recent growth, and their total audience sizes in this spreadsheet.

One key takeaway from this data is that YouTube’s top political accounts saw a notable slowdown in new subscriber growth last quarter. The top channels added a combined 18.1 million new subscribers in Q2, a significant drop from the 22.9 million gained in the first quarter of the year. I assume that’s because Q1 saw a surge of interest in U.S. political news around Trump’s inauguration and first weeks in office.  

In terms of partisanship, right-leaning channels saw more growth in Q2 than those on the Left, adding 9.4 million new subscribers. Liberal-leaning creators added just 8.6 million new subscribers. That dynamic marks a reversal from Q1, when left-leaning channels added significantly more new subscribers than conservative accounts. As of July 1st, the top 100 right-leaning channels possessed a combined 233.9 million subscribers, while the top 100 progressive or left-leaning accounts had 163.9 million. 

Below you will find the 15 fastest-growing political channels on YouTube last quarter:

The data shows the most dramatic surge in political YouTube growth in the past three months came from right-wing commentator Benny Johnson, whose channel added an eye-popping 2.2 million new subscribers in Q2. No other political creator came close to matching that pace; in fact, none reached even half of Johnson’s growth in the same period.

If you’re not familiar with Johnson’s work, his career has taken some wild turns. Ten years ago, he was a viral politics editor for BuzzFeed but was fired and canceled by the D.C. media establishment amid accusations of plagiarism. He slowly rebuilt his career in conservative media, holding roles at The Daily Caller, Turning Point USA, and Newsmax. Last year, he was alleged to have unknowingly worked for a covert, multi-million-dollar Russian influence operation.

Now, Johnson is spending much of his time building his presence on YouTube. According to social analytics tool SocialBlade, his channel publishes an average of 64 videos per week and has accumulated more than 4 billion lifetime views. His videos, typically ten to fifteen minutes long, feature him breaking down the news of the day and make use of clickbaity titles and optimized thumbnails.

Aside from the immense volume of videos, it's unclear what could have driven his account’s unique subscriber growth compared to his peers. If you have an idea, shoot me an email - I’m interested in your thoughts and theories.  

The other fastest-growing political YouTube channels in the past 90 days include cable outlets FOX News and MSNBC, Democratic media startup MeidasTouch, and right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. 

There are also a few interesting trends in which channels aren’t growing. For example, Ben Shapiro continues to lose clout and audience, with a net loss of 10,000 subscribers last quarter. Other Daily Wire properties on YouTube, including Daily Wire+ and The Comments Section, saw significant audience decline, losing 20,000 and 90,000 subscribers, respectively. 

This data is important to watch because YouTube’s political ecosystem is evolving rapidly, reshaping the bench of who’s considered a prominent political personality. The fastest-growing political accounts show that the platform’s architecture rewards not just relentless output, but also the creation of highly optimized, sensational videos that follow an almost algebraic formula to game the algorithm. Political actors who are able to understand and follow that formula can grow unprecedented clout and influence heading into the midterms and beyond. 

Have we reached peak Epstein?

If you’ve been paying attention to the news over the past two weeks, then you already know that Epstein fever has completely devoured our national politics and Beltway media, with little end in sight. Democrats are wisely seizing the moment to paint Republicans as hypocritical, and MAGA supporters are in a full revolt. 

For years, MAGA elected officials and media figures have told their base that they would get to the bottom of a massive conspiracy surrounding the wealthy socialite’s sex crimes, network, and suicide, only to see the Trump administration reverse course earlier this month. Now, everyone from Democratic elected officials to nonpolitical celebrities, manosphere influencers, and media elites are chomping at the bit to get more information out of the Trump administration. Book sales about Epstein are on the rise, as are Netflex documentary streams and YouTube searches for content about the case. 

Trump, as you can imagine, is losing his mind, posting an AI-generated video of Barack Obama getting arrested in the Oval Office over the weekend. 

The big question the White House is no doubt asking: How much longer can this thing keep going? Have we reached peak Epstein? According to Google Trends data, search interest for Epstein-related topics reached its highest point in recent memory on Friday, July 18th, and began to decline over the weekend. 

More things you should read or watch this week:

• Normie Democrats are very hyped about this Joe Rogan episode featuring Texas State Rep. James Talarico. Talarico, who comes across as a Pete Buttigieg impersonator doing an impression of Barack Obama, is considering running for U.S. Senate in the Lone Star State next year.

• Also in the podcast-verse, California Governor Gavin Newsom sat down for a four-hour interview(!) with right-wing podcaster Shawn Ryan. 

• The DNC has commissioned an “autopsy” of the 2024 presidential election, but it reportedly won’t be scrutinizing Biden’s decision to run again, Harris’ strength as a candidate, or any decisions made by the campaign. 

• The New York Times profiled conservative media star Brett Cooper, who recently signed on with FOX News as an on-air contributor.

• For a while now, YouTube has been the most-viewed streaming service in the U.S., ahead of Netflix, Disney, and Prime Video. The Wall Street Journal published a look at how the platform “won the battle for TV viewers.”

• Aaron Regunberg has a solid take in The New Republic calling attention to many centrist Democrats’ longtime slogan, “Vote Blue No Matter Who,” and how that line doesn’t seem to apply when it comes to establishment Democrats slowrolling their support for progressive candidates like Zohran Mamdani. 

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