It is important to note that several of the most vocal anti-Israel individuals on the right are, in fact, overt antisemites, using the term in its strictest definition. (For instance, white nationalist Nick Fuentes has denied the Holocaust and lauded Hitler.) Nevertheless, it remains true that Israel is currently involved in a disfavored asymmetric conflict in Gaza internationally, accompanied by an outstanding arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for employing starvation as a method of warfare.

To the staunch antisemite, the fact that Epstein was Jewish automatically links the so-called Epstein files to Israel. In broader MAGA circles, prominent figures (such as Tucker Carlson) put forth the theory that the billionaire sex criminal was connected to Mossad. (This theory is partly supported by longstanding rumors that Ghislaine Maxwell’s father was a Mossad agent.)

The groups emphasizing both Epstein and Israel are either nonideological (like Theo Von, who questioned JD Vance on the Epstein files and wondered “why we [America] support Israel”), deeply populist, conspiratorial, or sometimes a mix of these. For example, Tucker Carlson’s latest podcasts intensely explored Epstein’s background and criticized Israeli military actions on Christian churches in Gaza—mere weeks after he highlighted the Epstein-Mossad theory at the TPUSA event. Alex Jones has provided relentless coverage of Epstein updates this week, including hosting a debate with Fuentes where he criticized the Trump administration as an “absolute failure.”

Surprisingly, the group seeking to back Trump while keeping their audience appeased has shifted, too: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a leading MAGA figure balancing her endorsement of Trump with her frequent antisemitic remarks, went a step further by labeling Netanyahu’s actions as “genocide.” Both Matt Gaetz and Steve Bannon, who oscillate on Epstein messaging, recently described the Gaza situation as a political hindrance for Trump.

The ongoing situation with Netanyahu’s presence in Gaza and the ensuing humanitarian crisis is impossible to overlook, as it has eroded American attitudes toward Israel, now at record lows. Notably, Trump himself parted ways with Netanyahu on Monday, expressing disbelief in the prime minister’s claims that children in Gaza are not starving. “Based on television … those children appear very hungry,” Trump remarked, later adding: “I can see it, and you can’t make that up.” While it’s uncertain if the influencers would have criticized Israel without Trump leading, their shift was inevitable, given the changing views within the podcast-listening audience.

A Pew poll published last year found that only half of young Republican men between 18 and 34 were sympathetic to Israel’s actions, while the other half were either opposed or unsure — a shocking statistic compared to older Republicans, who overwhelmingly supported Israel. It hasn’t gotten better since: a Gallup poll released this Tuesday found that while a majority of self-identified Republicans continued to support Israel’s actions in Gaza, 51 percent of men, 54 percent of white people, and a staggering 82 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 34 did not.

For the Trump team and the Republican Party as a whole, it’s becoming clearer that maintaining a good relationship with MAGA influencers is a rather different dynamic than maintaining their alliance with Fox News. A single influencer is held accountable to their audience and the comments section, whereas if a Fox talking head goes rogue, the White House can call Rupert Murdoch — whose media empire, and particularly Fox, needs access to the White House — and wrangle them back into line. (Incidentally, over the past week, according to a Media Matters analysis published Thursday, Fox News spent a cumulative three minutes talking about Epstein, and 85 minutes talking about Sydney Sweeney’s denim controversy.)

Even if the Trump administration establishes a symbiotic relationship with some influencers, with the expectation that they parrot Trump’s line about Epstein (or Israel), they may find that their power to persuade only goes so far. A recent example from the manosphere demonstrates the limit of an influencer to, well, influence: earlier this month, the Nelk Boys, two Canadian right-wing bro podcasters, posted an interview with Netanyahu, whose government (and, by extension, Israel) has become increasingly unpopular with younger Americans due to his actions in Gaza. It backfired completely: their audience immediately began accusing the two of platforming a genocidal Zionist, going ballistic when the hosts admitted that the Israeli government fed them questions, and drew criticism from leftist streamer Hasan Piker and Nick Fuentes during the same livestream. Their YouTube channel has lost over 20,000 subscribers since posting the interview, according to Social Blade.

But being on the White House’s good side does have its benefits even if one loses followers: Laura Loomer, one of the loudest voices calling for Epstein documents, has recently dialed down her trutherism and instead clung harder to the White House’s official continued support on Israel: In a post criticizing Zohran Mamdani, the current Democrat nominee in the New York City mayoral race, she announced that she would never “feel safe with Muslims holding office in America” and that she didn’t care about who she offended. “This is why I will never care about Gaza,” she added. Unconditional loyalty, however, does have its benefits: Loomer’s been credited with convincing Trump to fire over a dozen officials for perceived MAGA disloyalty.