Images from protests and the "No Kings" logo

Molly Butler / Media Matters

Research/Study Research/Study

“No Kings” rallies highlight how right-wing provocateurs generate content for right-wing media

Right-wing criticism of No Kings protests are being fueled by videos from TPUSA Frontlines, FreedomNews, Nate Friedman, Julio Rosas, and others

Written by Gideon Taaffe & Jack Winstanley

Published

Right-wing media have been using video content from right-wing content creators, many of whom describe themselves as “independent journalists,” to attack the March 28 “No Kings” rallies, claiming protesters had “idiotic things to say,” calling protesters “quite terrible” people, and accusing them of engaging in “terrorism.” 

This is just the latest example of the feedback loop between right-wing media and a variety of online influencers and content creators who have emerged to create and distribute content that spreads right-wing narratives on social media. These creators, some of whom have affiliations with right-wing outlets and organizations like FreedomNews and Turning Point USA’s Frontlines, have become part of the right-wing media ecosystem, as right-wing media figures have come to rely on them for on-the-ground footage and evidence in support of longstanding right-wing talking points. 

These content creators and so-called “independent journalists” descended on the March 28 No Kings rallies in several U.S. cities — including New York City, Nashville, Las Vegas, Dallas, and Los Angeles — for content, using their videos to push the longstanding right-wing narrative that anti-Trump protesters are violent or paid. 

While 74 arrests were reported in relation to protests in Los Angeles, the No Kings rallies drew out an estimated 8 million people across the United States. Despite the overwhelming number of protesters engaging peacefully, right-wing content creators highlighted confrontations between protesters and police. 

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  • Right-wing content creators, many of whom describe themselves as “independent journalists,” descended on No Kings protests for content

  • InfluencerMontage_NoKings

    Images via Nate Friedman, Frontlines TPUSA, Julio Rosas, and FreedomNews.tv

    • FreedomNews, a “video content supplier” that purports to be composed of “independent journalists” and “committed to independent reporting,” filmed No Kings rallies from around the country, including New York City, Nashville, Palm Beach, Dallas, and Los Angeles. Many of FreedomNews’ videos featured clashes between No Kings attendees and counter protesters, as well as footage of protesters engaging with police and demonstrating outside federal buildings. The outlet additionally highlighted activist groups attending the protests, including pro-choice activists, trans activists, and communists. [YouTube, 3/28/26, 3/28/26, 3/29/26,  3/28/26, 3/28/26, 3/28/26, 3/28/26, 3/29/26, 3/28/26, 3/28/26; FreedomNews.tv, accessed 4/6/26]
    • TPUSA’s Frontlines, which Axios described as the “guerrilla-style reporting” arm of Turning Point and which self-describes itself as “a team of passionate and dedicated video journalists,” posted footage of protests in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, with self-described “independent journalist” Jonathan Choe capturing footage from Las Vegas. Videos alleged that rally attendees were “agitators … trying to break down the fence at the federal building” and “appear[ed] to throw cement at federal officers.” Another video claimed that Turning Point Action volunteers had been heckled and that “cops just stepped in to scold a leftist protester after she used her pom pom to hit a woman singing Christian praise music.” On Instagram, TPUSA and one of its creators, Bronson Alford, posted a video from New York City that claimed a No Kings attendee “can’t define ‘conservative.’” [Instagram, 3/28/26, 3/28/26, 3/28/26, 3/28/26, 3/30/26, accessed 4/6/26; Axios, 10/30/25; TPUSA Frontlines, accessed 4/6/26]
  • YouTube Shorts_turning point usa_bodittle at no kings protest_3-30-26

    From a March 30, 2026, YouTube video from Turning Point USA

    • Julio Rosas, who describes himself as “a trusted source and independent journalist,” posted a video showing protesters approaching a fence outside the Los Angeles federal building, with the title describing it as a “riot.” The video showed protesters kicking a fence outside the building and throwing pieces of concrete as police deployed gas. [YouTube, 3/29/26; Substack, accessed 3/30/26]
    • Self-described “investigative journalist” Nate Friedman posted a video in which he “crashed No Kings NYC” and interviewed several protesters. The video featured one protester who pushed back against the claim that the protest was largely white. [YouTube, 3/30/26; Instagram, accessed 4/6/26]
  • YouTube_Nate Friedman_no kings_3-30-26

    From a March 30, 2026, YouTube video from Nate Friedman

    • The Daily Wire posted a video to Instagram Reels of reporter Brecca Stoll interviewing protesters at No Kings rallies, including one in Washington, D.C. [Instagram, 3/29/26, 3/29/26, 3/29/26]
  • Brecca Stoll - No Kings

    From a March 29, 2026, video from Brecca Stoll, uploaded to Instagram

    • Frank Scales, founder of Surge Philly — a Philadelphia-based “independent media organization” covering “Antifa and other radical groups,” “Islamification,” and “National Protests and Demonstrations” — posted a TikTok in which he interviewed protesters at a No Kings rally in Philadelphia. The video featured a protester in a banana costume who struggled to explain how Trump was behaving unconstitutionally. On his Instagram, Scales also describes himself as an “independent journalist.” [TikTok, 3/29/26; SurgeMedia.com, accessed 3/31/26; Instagram, accessed 4/6/26]
  • Frank Scales at No Kings

    From a March 29, 2026, video from SurgePhilly, uploaded to TikTok

  • Right-wing media picked up videos from these content creators and “independent journalists” and used them to claim protesters were “paid,” “terrorists,” or had “idiotic things to say”

    • Right-wing streamer Asmongold reacted to several No Kings videos online, including FreedomNews’ videos from a Portland protest. While watching the videos, Asmongold commented, “I cannot wait till we have a presidential candidate that I can vote for whose solution to this will be literally just shoot them with rubber bullets until they leave.” He then commented that “every time they do this,” police need to take a few protesters as “sacrifices” and “totally crucify them,” adding, “Put them on 10 different charges and send them to jail [for] like 15 years.” [Twitch, 3/29/26]
    • Podcaster Tim Pool reacted to a video from Andy Ngo, a provocateur previously presented in right-wing media as an “independent” or “conservative” journalist, of protesters throwing rocks at an ICE facility and FreedomNews’ video of communists at the New York City protest. Pool commented, “I’m watching a video right here of a dude chucking concrete slabs at cops. Do you think reasonable people are happy with what you are doing?” [YouTube, 3/30/26, 3/30/26; Media Matters, 8/28/19]
    • The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro aired Julio Rosas’, Nate Friedman’s, and The Daily Wire’s in-house videos. Shapiro mocked protesters, calling them “quite terrible” people, saying a protester “throws like a girl,” and calling another a “fatass.” [The Daily Wire, The Ben Shapiro Show, 3/30/26]
    • Podcaster and former Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino reacted to FreedomNews’ video of protesters carrying communist flags at the New York City No Kings protest and a video from Surge Philly showing protesters in keffiyehs. Bongino described protesters as “thugs and jerkoffs” and said No Kings protests are “paid-for bullshit.” [Rumble, The Dan Bongino Show, 3/30/26]
    • The New York Post shared video from Rosas of protesters attacking an ICE facility. [Rumble, 3/29/26]
    • The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh aired The Daily Wire’s, Surge Philly’s, and Friedman’s interviews with protesters while claiming, “I need to emphasize that I’m not cherry-picking clips here. Every single time one of these people was asked to explain their worldview, it all fell apart.” After playing Friedman’s clip, Walsh said, “These people, they just make no attempt to form a coherent worldview at all,” adding, “It’s impossible to debate people that have no interest in being coherent.” [The Daily Wire, The Matt Walsh Show, 3/30/26, 3/30/26]
    • Podcaster and radio host Vince Coglianese shared a FreedomNews video from Portland while claiming, “This is terrorism, what you’re witnessing.” Coglianese also aired a clip of protesters in Los Angeles from Rosas’ Mostly Peaceful Media, saying, “This is like communist revolution stuff, what you’re watching. This is Marxism on display.” [Rumble, Vince, 3/30/26]
    • On The Charlie Kirk Show, several TPUSA Frontlines journalists who were at the protests, including Bronson Alford, Gabriel Victal, and Ro Ortiz, spoke about their experiences. They also showed a clip from Friedman to claim the demographics of the protesters are “very old, lib boomers.” [Rumble, The Charlie Kirk Show, 3/30/26]
  • TPUSA Frontlines personalities on The Charlie Kirk Show

    From the March 30, 2026, edition of Real America's Voice's The Charlie Kirk Show

    • Right-wing talk show host Steven Crowder dubbed the No Kings rally the “dumbest protest in American history” and aired clips from right-wing content creators and journalists. Crowder played clips from online content creators, including Friedman, TPUSA, FreedomNews, and The Daily Wire. [YouTube, Louder With Crowder, 3/30/26, 3/30/26, 3/30/26]
    • On his show Triggered, President Donald Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., aired clips from both TPUSA Frontlines and FreedomNews of No Kings protests in Los Angeles and New York City. After playing TPUSA’s clip, which showed protesters lobbing rocks at the Los Angeles federal building, Trump Jr. commented, “I remember when that was an insurrection, but, you know, if you’re a Democrat it’s clearly not. It’s just, you know, protest, paid or not.” [Rumble, Triggered, 3/30/26]
    • On Salem News’ The Scott Jennings Show, host Scott Jennings played a clip from Friedman in which he interviews a No Kings protester. Jennings teased the clip, saying, “A lot of the people that went to the No Kings rallies had idiotic things to say.” [Salem News Channel, The Scott Jennings Show, 3/30/26]
    • On Newsmax, host Carl Higbie aired clips from Rosas while discussing the No Kings protests, which he described as “fake outrage by people with nothing better to do on a Saturday.” While Rosas’ clip played in the background, Higbie stated, “It's also funny that the people who said Trump would destroy America are literally the ones setting fire to and breaking stuff in American cities. It's like, nothing to see here, just mostly peaceful protests.” [Newsmax, Carl Higbie Frontline, 3/30/26]
    • Higbie then interviewed Surge Philly founder Frank Scales about a clip he posted of an interview with a woman at one of the No Kings protests, which Higbie argued were funded by “NGO grants and fraud.” Scales said of the video, in which he interviews a woman dressed as a banana, “It's very alarming that we have people dressed as bananas who can't, you know, explain why they're dressed as bananas.” [Newsmax, Carl Higbie Frontline, 3/30/26]
    • Fox News host Sean Hannity interviewed Brecca Stoll about her interviews with No Kings protesters in Washington, D.C. Queueing up Stoll’s video, Hannity said, “Take a look at some of the, well depending on your point of view, highlights or lowlights.” [Fox News, Hannity, 3/30/26]
  • Stoll_Hannity

    From the March 30, 2025, edition of Fox News' Hannity

  • Right-wing content creators have become a part of the right-wing ecosystem, exploiting national flashpoints to generate content for right-wing media

    • YouTuber and “independent journalist” Nick Shirley went viral after he posted YouTube videos purporting to show widespread fraud in Somali immigrant-run child care centers in Minnesota, prompting a response from the Trump administration. Shirley’s Minnesota investigation was celebrated by right-wing media and members of the Trump administration, and it led to the Trump administration pausing $185 million in federal child care payments to the state. [Media Matters, 1/13/26; Anti Fraud Club, accessed 4/6/26]
    • After Shirley's success, right-wing content creators and the Trump administration itself descended on Minnesota and other states trying to replicate Shirley’s template and similarly expose supposed instances of fraudulent activity. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz released his own video alleging mass fraud and abuse at Los Angeles-based hospice centers. For his part, Shirley has continued to release videos claiming to uncover mass voter registration fraud in California. [Wired, 1/12/26; NBC News, 1/4/26; Politico, 2/27/26; Media Matters, 2/18/26]
    • Two outlets have emerged as major distributors of this influencer-driven, on-the-ground reporting for right-wing media: TPUSA’s Frontlines and FreedomNews. Frontlines has its own content creation staff and has previously partnered with other right-wing influencers, including Cam Higby, to capture footage, often focusing on left-wing protests. FreedomNews, which bills itself as a “video content supplier,” has frequently published footage showing violent scuffles between protesters and police officers. [Axios, 10/30/25; TPUSA Frontlines, accessed 4/6/26; FreedomNews, accessed 4/1/26; Media Matters, 10/24/25]
  • YouTube_Savanah Hernandez_4-3-26

    From an April 3, 2026, video from Savanah Hernandez, uploaded to YouTube

    • Other right-wing “independent journalists,” like Rosas and Friedman, have also developed online presences filming protest content. Friedman’s videos often involve street interviews with protesters while claiming he has “exposed” paid protesters. Rosas has received praise from right-wing media figures like Manhattan Institute senior fellow Chris Rufo and Fox News contributor Mollie Hemingway for his reporting on liberal protests. [YouTube, 11/22/25, 2/3/26, 3/3/26; Substack, accessed 3/30/26]
  • friedman_embed_oldprotest

    From a March 24, 2026, video from Nate Friedman, uploaded to YouTube

    • The Trump administration has also sought many of these influencers out and treated them as legitimate subject-matter experts and media officials. In October, the White House invited a dozen right-wing influencers to partake in a roundtable discussion on supposed threats posed by antifa. Several right-wing influencers, including figures affiliated with TPUSA, have been selected to be part of the Pentagon Press Corps, following the Department of Defense’s dismissal of traditional media outlets from the Pentagon. Right-wing influencers have also taken part in ride-alongs with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and filmed promotional content for mass deportations. [Media Matters, 10/24/25, 11/20/25; The Guardian 1/11/26; The Washington Post, 12/2/25, Talking Points Memo, 4/1/26]