In the endless trenches of online political debates, it can be hard for even the most well-marketed personalities to break away from the pack and reach prominence. Getting people excited and engaged helps; making people angry seems to work even better. In the silo of progressive Twitter, a vague grouping that within itself contains an endless number of ideological bubbles, there are a handful of voices worth following, whether you like them or loathe them.
Broken down by ideology and profession, here are Blue Tent’s top progressive Twitter influencers:
The Bernie Leftovers
Briahna Joy Gray—@briebriejoy
The former lawyer and journalist has been a controversial figure on Twitter since the 2016 Democratic primaries, and with her appointment to National Press Secretary for the Bernie Sanders campaign in 2020, Gray only became more infamous. During the 2020 primaries, Gray hosted the campaign’s podcast and ran point in forwarding Sanders’s message, rebutting his critics, and attacking his rivals. After Sanders suspended his campaign, Gray only solidified herself as a tweeting lightning rod, continuously criticizing the Biden campaign, especially its opposition to Medicare for All. In September, along with Virgil Texas of Chapo Trap House, Gray launched Bad Faith, a lefty panel discussion podcast that provides a counter narrative to mainstream liberal media.
David Sirota—@davidsirota
Sirota built his following online as a radio host, muckraking journalist and lefty agitator. In 2019, Sirota joined the Sanders campaign as an adviser and speechwriter, and — much like his colleague Briahna Gray — drew the instant ire of the Democratic and media establishment. Sirota pressed hard for the socialist senator’s campaign, and after a hard-fought loss, has continued his tough criticism of mainstream Democrats and Republicans alike. Now back in journalism as the founder and primary writer of the Daily Poster newsletter on Substack and as an editor-at-large at the socialist magazine Jacobin, Sirota will undoubtedly continue to be a thorn in the side of the Biden administration and other powerful Democrats on Twitter.
The Bruenigs—@mattbruenig and @ebruenig
The term “Twitter power couple” is perhaps one of the worst possible manglings of the English language ever conceived, but few other phrases could accurately describe Matt and Liz Bruenig. Matt, who founded and runs the crowd-funded think tank People’s Policy Project, is a longtime blogger and Twitter bomb-thrower known for his ability to generate rage-inducing, contrarian takes on economic policy and politics. During the 2020 primary, Bruenig inspired many Sanders supporters to argue that the Vermont senator was, contrary to popular belief, the safest choice to be the Democratic nominee, citing his particularly loyal base, which many mainstream Democrats had blamed for 2016 and feared would sit out in 2020, as well. It was classic Bruenig — catnip for his lefty followers, and infuriating to his detractors.
Compared to her husband, Liz Bruenig may seem infinitely kinder and more engaging, but is not above excoriating those she disagrees with online. Moreover, as a socialist who has penetrated the heights of the liberal establishment — before joining the New York Times opinion section, Bruenig was also a columnist and editor at the Washington Post — and is unabashedly religious and pro-life, Liz draws plenty of angry engagement from those on the left, as well as the right and center.
Bidenville
Charlotte Clymer—@cmclymer
Though Charlotte Clymer was a major Warren supporter as the 2020 primaries began, she is perhaps best known to many on the left as an outspoken critic of Bernie Sanders and his supporters, as well as an enthusiastic advocate for Joe Biden when the race was whittled down to two. A veteran and former press official with Human Rights Campaign, Clymer draws on a wide range of experiences in advocating for progressive causes online, especially transgender issues.
Zerlina Maxwell—@zerlinamaxwell
Long known as a must-follow for the liberal Twitteratti, the former Hillary Clinton campaign staffer, radio host and author continued to brand herself as a major voice for Democrats online. Maxwell was particularly vocal in advocating for the Biden campaign to focus on black voters, whom she sees as a vital, though often ignored, piece of the Democratic coalition. Her first book, “The End of White Politics,” was published in July.
Mehdi Hasan—@mehdirhasan
Though the former al-Jazeera presenter and Intercept columnist turned NBC host has been a critic of many Democrats from the left, Mehdi Hasan gained online notoriety in 2020 for his strident advocacy on behalf of Joe Biden. As the primaries concluded in 2020, Hasan held a widely shared interview with Noam Chomsky, wherein the dissident intellectual argued that even the most left-wing of Biden’s critics should still vote for the former VP in the general election. Hasan continued to advocate for — and critique — Biden on Twitter during the 2020 campaign, while also arguing (unsuccessfully) to make Elizabeth Warren his running mate.
Media
Nikole Hannah-Jones—@nhannahjones
Also known to her Twitter followers as Ida Bae Wells, Nikole Hannah Jones is a New York Times Magazine reporter, public intellectual and veteran of the online flame wars. Jones has long reported on school segregation, but her most famous accomplishment to date is her creation of the 1619 Project, a forceful argument to frame American history around the country’s legacy of slavery and racism, for which she was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 2020. Jones is also a MacArthur fellow, and regularly shares important ideas, threads and debates on Twitter.
Ken Klippenstein—@kenklippenstein
Not many reporters can claim their Tweets have appeared as evidence in major lawsuits, but after Elon Musk blocked him during one of the billionaire’s signature online meltdowns, Ken Klippenstein cemented his place in Twitter history. Along with mocking the founder of Tesla and SpaceX, Klippenstein regularly goes viral for his equally humorous and insightful tweets. The D.C. bureau chief for The Nation, Klippenstein is also a FOIA expert just as skilled in breaking big stories as he is at trolling titans of industry.
Joy Reid—@joyannreid
If you were to draw a Venn diagram with circles labeled “cable news” and “online media,” the overlap section might as well just say “Joy Reid.” Reid is most famous as a leading liberal voice on MSNBC, where she recently took over the 7 p.m. time slot with her show “The Reid Out,” (Reid is the first black woman to host a prime time news show since the late Gwen Ifill) but she has also spent years engrossed in web journalism as a blogger, Salon.com writer, and prolific Twitter user. Beloved by liberals and loathed by those on the socialist left, Reid will command a huge following for years to come.
Activists
Parker Molloy—@parkermolloy
When it comes to media criticism with a progressive lens, few do it better than Media Matters for America’s Parker Molloy. Molloy writes extensively on FOX News, right-wing conspiracies and disinformation, often all at the same time. Molloy is also a sharp critic of mainstream media and its willingness to accommodate right-wing talking points and trickery, from CNN to the New York Times. Long an active blogger and Twitter user, Molloy is also one of the best advocates for transgender rights to follow online.
Jordan Uhl—@jordanuhl
Jordan Uhl wears many hats: activist, writer and podcaster are just a few, but he also might be one of the most widely shared progressive posters on Twitter. Uhl, who currently works for the liberal group MoveOn.org, has mastered the art of going viral among the activist and media set of the emerging left, using biting humor and (more often, as of late) righteous indignation. Uhl seems to find a new shtick every week, from mocking centrist Democrats, to going after alt-right trolls and exposing the U.S. Army’s video game recruitment efforts. Love him or hate him, you’ll probably end up retweeting him.
Brittany Packnett-Cunningham—@mspackyetti
It would be inconceivable to make a list about progressive influencers without including at least one person from the Pod Save America extended universe. But Brittany Packnett-Cunningham doesn’t exactly fit the mold of the liberal podcast network, whose flagship show is hosted by a group of former Obama staffers named Jon, Tommy, Dan and, again, Jon. Instead, Packnett-Cunningham has brought to Crooked Media (Pod Save’s parent company) a desperately needed perspective as a co-host of the social-justice-focused Pod Save the People. Packnett-Cunningham rose to prominence online as a protester in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, eventually being appointed to President Barack Obama’s 21st Century Policing task force. In the years since, Packnett-Cunningham has established a brand on Twitter as a voice for young activists, seeing her posts shared widely in the midst of the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
