Benny Johnson, a podcaster and so-called conservative Republican influencer, and Alina Habba, a former attorney and incoming counselor to President-elect Donald Trump, decided to co-host an episode of Johnson’s show to interview controversial social media personality Andrew Tate, a man who has become famous for espousing masculine credences all while living in a metaphorical house of ill repute — or maybe not so metaphorically according to some accusations.
On Friday, Johnson posted the Tate episode on X. While it is safe to say that Johnson probably expected some negative reactions to this episode, it is also a safe bet that he didn’t expect such outrage from his conservative audience. It was a gross miscalculation and indicative of the grifting game among so-called Republican and conservative social media influencers, podcast hosts, or any of these entertainers on the Right.
Tate’s appearance is just the latest example of how so-called conservative social media personalities portray themselves as good, wholesome, religious, God-fearing Christians but often ignore, disregard, or abandon their Christian ideals and principles in exchange for fame and fortune. They manipulate people into believing they are ideologues aligned with them in a political fight when, arguably, the only things they really seem to care about are clicks, views, attention, and dollars.
But don’t take my word for it. Take a look at Johnson’s recent social media posts.
The podcast host defended himself from the rampant criticism that came in response to hosting Tate. First, he made a condescending and arrogant post about those who dared to object to having Tate on his show.
“If you’re upset that people you disagree with have conversations you need to find a different year to live in,” Johnson posted. “Its 2025. Censorship & deplatforming is dead. People can think for themselves. We are free. Grow up.”
This foolish and immature response seemed to stoke the fire even more. So, how did Johnson respond? By turning to religion, of course. The day after he hosted Tate, Johnson found God. He posted a religious message that differed from any of his recent posts, clearly trying to prey on the emotions of Christians among his 3.3 million followers.
On Saturday, he posted: “Good morning! Christ is King!”
Later that day, he turned to God again, this time posting an abbreviated quote from the Bible: ”He who is without sin cast the first stone.”
There is nothing wrong with promoting Christianity, the Bible, or religion. Such wholesome messages should be positively received and welcomed. The problem arises when the timing and frequency of such posts coincide with trying to fend off a wave of negativity in response to promoting a despicable person such as Tate. His posts seem fake and disingenuous and all part of an act to cover up, distract, and pivot from the surrounding negativity he caused by hosting Tate.
Consider that since Tate’s appearance on his show, Johnson has posted “Christ is King” and other biblical verses or references nearly every day. It is all performative hogwash. He went from lashing out against people upset over his choice to feature Tate to trying to portray himself as the 13th apostle.
Before Tate’s appearance, and subsequent negative responses and criticism, Johnson did not appear to be as pious. After looking at his posts from the last two weeks and the last few days of 2024, Johnson, unless I missed a significant number of his social media posts, did not regularly post “Christ is King” or verses from the Bible. (To be fair, I did not analyze his posts before the holiday, but I will assume his devotion was not amplified then, either.)
Gosh, I wonder why that is. How very convenient for Johnson to express his Christian devotion after the negative publicity over Tate’s appearance on his show.
People must stop falling for such facades. These influencers and entertainers regularly hide behind the cross to use and manipulate genuine, good-hearted, faithful people for financial gain. They are primarily interested in Christian people’s money, not their salvation or devotion to Jesus Christ.
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Johnson has the right to have anyone he wants on his show. However, it is cowardly, despicable, manipulative, and utterly embarrassing to retreat to religion to distract from people’s negative responses to having Tate as a guest.
People on the Right must stop honoring grifters and phonies such as these. They are little more than false prophets who hide behind the cross to deceive the people worshipping in front of it.