After the 2024 presidential election, news stories proliferated about Donald Trump winning over the young male vote. On the surface, many said this was due in part to a genius move by his son Barron to get Trump on podcasts hosted by Joe Rogan and Theo Von.
However, if you ask Chris Kluwethe reason is much more nefarious than that.
The former Minnesota Vikings punter who recently went viral for protesting a MAGA plaque at a public library in Huntington Beach, California, told Daily Kos that social media algorithms are leading men to adopt neo-Nazi ideologies.
Related story: Ex-NFL player arrested for protesting MAGA plaque in public library
“A lot of the radicalization of young men in America is because big tech companies want to make a lot of money, and they don’t care who they hurt to do it,” he said.
In the digital space, a company’s bottom line often boils down to clicks and time spent on an article or video. With dwindling attention spans and nonstop news cycles, creators and companies as a whole have jumped to new levels to compete for attention.
In other words, Kluwe said, the creators understand that to “drive clicks”—which translate to dollars—they need to make more “extreme content.”
“And so they lead these people down rabbit holes, where you start right at the Joe Rogan podcast, and then you end as a member of Stormfront,” Kluwe said, referring to a neo-Nazi message board.
And it’s not just U.S. creators pushing these ideas on their own. In 2024, right-wing social media creators were allegedly tied to a Russian operation to spread pro-Russian propaganda.
In the past election cycle, the U.S. has seen Silicon Valley and its powerful tech companies essentially abandon the left and bow to MAGA. From million-dollar donations to Trump’s inaugural funds, VIP seats to his swearing-in, multimillion-dollar settlement cases, workplace diversity overhaulsand more, tech and social media companies have a hue of red.
X—now a haven for far-right ideologies—is run by the Nazi-saluting Elon Muskwho holds enormous sway in the White House as Trump’s “first buddy.” He also has banned some left-leaning accounts from the website.
Kluwe, whose following on Bluesky skyrocketed after his arrest in Orange County, is still banned.
“I impersonated Elon Musk,” he told Daily Kos. “When Musk declared he was going to open up the verification system to anyone who could pay eight bucks or 10 bucks, I was instantly like … this is a really bad idea. At that point, it’s not really a verification system, it’s a ‘Hey, I have money, pay attention to me’ system.”
To prove his point, Kluwe says he trolled Musk by impersonating him on X (then Twitter) for about 18 hours before the site caught on.
One of the viral tweets?
“There is nothing better than waking up and enjoying a fresh, steaming cup of my own urine,” Kluwe wrote. “Such a tangy way to start the day, and it’s scientifically proven to help brain cells grow. If you want to be like me, drink your pee.”
To Kluwe, it isn’t just social media that’s been bowing down to the right. In his opinion, even legacy media outlets like The New York Times have conceded to Trump as well.
After turning down an interview with the Times, Kluwe told Daily Kos that he agreed to our interview because our outlet “didn’t write an apologia for a dictator.”
“The New York Times was complicit in Hitler’s rise to power,” Kluwe said, adding, “Because they wrote the exact same articles they’re writing now. They wrote, ‘Oh, Hitler doesn’t mean it. Oh, he’s just trolling about the Jews. Oh, he would never do something like that.’ And then the camp started.”
Related story: Ex-NFL star Chris Kluwe: ‘No kings, no tyrants—not now, not ever’ (Exclusive)
But Kluwe, like many concerned people around the worldunderstands there isn’t one easy solution to fix the growing problem of radicalization and violence through social media.
“Well, you could put [Meta CEO] Mark Zuckerberg in jail for a start. Then you could break apart YouTube, figure out what their algorithms are doing, find the people responsible for that, put them in jail,” Kluwe said, though he added, “It’s never going to happen.”
On the other hand, Kluwe said what we really need is “more voices speaking up on the other side.”
“We need those voices to be amplified by people who have power,” he said. “Because right now, the people who have power lean toward Trump.”
But as always, money talks. People are abandoning X and flocking to alternatives like Bluesky. News readers are canceling their Washington Post subscriptions and leaning more toward independent media sources.
In other words, it’s possible that being all in on Trump might not be good for big tech after all.
Are you sick and tired of Elon Musk? Click this link for instant access to Daily Kos and staff accounts on Bluesky. Follow along for the latest news to stay informed and engaged!
