(NEXSTAR) – Former Pres. Donald Trump’s former political aide John McEntee is set to launch a conservatives-only dating app this summer – becoming the latest in right-targeted social media sites.
“Conservatives deserve an easy way to connect,” McEntee told Axios in a comment.
Axios reports that venture capitalist Peter Thiel, founder of PayPal, has invested $1.5 million into the app, which will be “catered to conservatives living primarily in big, progressive cities.” Until recently, Thiel was a board member of Meta, Facebook’s parent company, but said he was leaving to support conservative political candidates.
The conservative dating app also has some name competition with The Right Stuff, a New Jersey-based dating site for Ivy League students, graduates and faculty. The app also shares an unfortunate name with a noted white supremacist website, UpRoxx reports.
Despite sharing the same name, there are no known ties between McEntee’s dating app and the website The Right Stuff. The white supremacy website, described by the New Yorker as “a breeding ground for some of the most florid racism on the Internet,” is known for offering neo-Nazi and conspiracy theory content, UpRoxx explains.
Several right-leaning apps have arisen over the past year or so as certain segments of the community have felt their content was being censored by liberals. The Canadian video-hosting platform Rumble has emerged as a right-leaning YouTube alternative, while the encrypted messaging app Telegram has also gained prominence.
Former Pres. Trump himself is also set to launch his own social media app, Truth Social, this month. The app is designed to function like Twitter, but bills itself as a place apart from “self-righteous scolds and self-appointed arbiters,” the Hill says.
Last August, Washington Post reported Rumble users had surged from 1 million active users to 30 million. The company also says it doesn’t allow hate speech, it’s more forgiving of content featuring unproven medical claims.
The Right Stuff app is expected to launch as free and invite-only, but the company plans to offer a subscription model later, Axios reports.
