The day after Election Day, Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, a far-right Republican, appeared on a television network owned by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell for an interview with Emerald Robinson, a former Newsmax TV host who was benched from that channel after warning Christians that COVID-19 vaccines contain a bioluminescent marker called LUCIFERASE so that you can be tracked.

It was there that Biggs first hinted at a substantial piece of news: He was planning to challenge House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in his bid to become speaker.

I would say maybe not so fast, maybe we should have a good discussion within the confines of our internal body, Biggs told Robinson and the LindellTV audience, referring to McCarthys leadership. We were told we were going to have an incredible wave, and if that would have been the case ... You would say Kevin is the presumptive nominee for speaker. But I think we need to have a serious discussion.

The surprise comment from Biggs, who now leads a substantial challenge to McCarthys leadership even if he may not become speaker himself, pointed to a larger trend: Republicans less-than-stellar performance in Novembers midterm elections has widened the rift between the partys establishment and its far right. And the far right has spent years building up a parallel power structure based in large part on a media strategy that has aligned them with fringe figures and ethno-nationalists.

With House Republicans holding just a four-vote majority , the influence of the partys far right will only grow in the new Congress as each GOP vote holds sway. As Norm Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute observed to The New Yorker recently, When your margin is small, the problem is youre held hostage.

The hostage takers, in this case a far-right coterie that includes Biggs as well as Reps. Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Lauren Boebert (Colo.) and Paul Gosar (Ariz.) dont all necessarily oppose McCarthys speakership. Greene has endorsed him and received significant concessions.

But taken together, the group has a real opportunity to shift the debate to the right on key issues: Laws theyve sponsored include the criminalization of doctors who provide gender-affirming surgery to trans kids and a change in a statute to allow the government to jail families seeking asylum, including children, as their cases proceed through immigration court.

Theyll be able to push this cruel agenda in part by leveraging their millions of followers on various social media platforms. As much as they are politicians and members of Congress, they are also something perhaps more powerful: influencers.

A Vast Audience