These media personalities have dined with Gov. Ron DeSantis, met with Donald Trump and starred in a state House campaign ad.

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O’Handley, who lives in the Tampa Bay area, is part of a growing community of MAGA-brand influencers who have emerged from or relocated to this region in recent years, forging an ecosystem of provocative conservative content.

Yet these purveyors of right-wing hot takes and, at times, disinformation, are no longer leaving mere online footprints. They are seeking to expand their reach from the internet into the real world of backroom politics and government policymaking. With former President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago and Republican Ron DeSantis residing in the governor’s mansion, they are increasingly finding access to the corridors of power.

Tampa Bay’s new residents include politics podcaster Austen Fletcher, known as Fleccas, who co-hosts with a meme-maker known publicly only as his username, Richard Ratboy; and Newsmax host Benny Johnson. A former journalist for Buzzfeed before being fired for plagiarism in 2014, Johnson has 1 million followers on Instagram. He now owns a $1.5 million house in South Tampa.