‘Talk Tuah’ is expanding the conservative podcasting bubble

Hailey Welch’s new podcast Talk Tuah is not inherently conservative. The show’s chat format mostly revolves around relationship talk and celebrity interviews. And yet, only three episodes in, Welch has already cultivated a fanbase filled with MAGA bros.

Welch first gained fame back in June when, during a man-on-the-street YouTube interview outside a Nashville bar, she described her bedroom techniques. (“Hawk Tuah” is an onomatopoeia she used to simulate a sex act). Now, her podcast has skyrocketed to the top five of the Spotify Charts. Joining her in the top five are some of the right-leaning mainstays: Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson, and Candace Owens.

In fact, Welch has since the start maintained an oddly conservative fanbase. Trump rally attendees have been spotted wearing “Hawk Tuah” shirts, and Welch’s appearance at a Long Island sports bar was flooded with Trump fanatics (and even an impersonator). While Welch has never publicly stated her political preference, her celebrity—and Talk Tuah—clearly carries some appeal for conservatives.

“You’ve got this southern belle who is very visibly someone that conservatives would code as one of their own,” says Patrick Johnson, a journalism professor at Marquette University who has studied the conservative podcasting space. “She definitely has that shock jock edge to her that conservatives love. She’s going to say what she wants to say. She’s going to do what she wants to do.”

The MAGA cloud around ‘Talk Tuah’

Welch is not a political podcaster; in fact, she’s even upset the alt-right before. Laura Loomer, the conspiracy theorist (and Trump associate), was sent into a tailspin on X after Welch said on a separate podcast that she wouldn’t “hawk tuah” on Trump, claiming Welch’s answered showed her leftist roots. Loomer would later retract the statement, saying she realized after the fact that her answer was a matter of sexual preference, not politics. Since that episode, Welch has stayed remarkably quiet about her leanings.

Talk Tuah is part of influencer Jake Paul’s sports-betting company Betr. Paul himself is a certified MAGA bro, embracing photo ops with Trump and donating $10,000 to Trump’s fundraising committee, per Federal Election Commission data. (Paul’s own podcast, BS, features episodes with titles like “Jake Paul GOES OFF on Climate Change Activists.”)

Johnson, the Marquette University professor, compares the Talk Tuah chat-style to Barstool Sports’ infamous podcasts. Barstool programs several of these incendiary lifestyle podcasts—the infamous Call Her Daddy was born there—and has similar ties to Trumpworld. A political class even sprung up from the media brand: The bro-y, anti-authoritarian “Barstool Conservatives.”

Welch joins a crowd of seemingly apolitical podcasters with peculiar MAGA ties. Consider Theo Von, the comedian-turned-podcaster who’s fratty antics have opened his show up to guests like Ed Sheeran and Mark Cuban. On his recent tour of sympathetic podcasts, Trump chose Von to be one of his primary interviewers—and Von inevitably softballed the presidential candidate with questions about the UFC and hunting. Ironically, Welch’s lawyer wrote to The Hollywopod Reporter that she was “known to her friends as the female Theo Von.”

The conservative podcast boom

Conservative podcasting has boomed recently. The mega-hits, like Joe Rogan and Tucker Carlson’s shows, frequently top Spotify’s charts. Per Gallup, 46% of Republican podcast-listeners say they trust their audio news more than news from other sources. That compares to only 19% of Democrats. 

Trust in traditional media among conservatives is also at an all-time low at just 14%. Thus, they’ve taken to building out their own media ecosystem, not only for news but also for comedy and sports. This may be why Talk Tuah was pulled into the fray, per Johnson.

“[Conservatives] don’t want to go to the other podcasts that they claim might be liberal,” Johnson says, “despite the fact that [the podcasters] are really literally just talking about relationships.”

That’s an important split among the conservative podcasting world: Some shows actively embrace Trumpism, while others (like Talk Tuah) merely attract Trump-loving audiences. But combining the two together creates a dramatic look at the sprawling conservative media landscape.

“It’s showing the diversity of conservative voices,” Johnson says. “They’re carving out their own space, and in doing so, they’re making that sandbox really big for themselves.”

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