there’s a lot more money and fame and love to be gained by grifting leftward

What makes you say that? Is the republican media apparatus not the best funded political talk sphere on the planet? When is the last time someone like Sam Seeder or David Packman appeared on the lefty equivalent of Prager U? Have you seen those Prager U videos? Their production values are through the roof.

Conservative talk radio is in every market in the country. There’s not a single town in America that you can’t hear Rush Limbagh every afternoon. Compare that to my home state, which has a single radio station for progressive talk which only covers about 30% of the state. It’s an independent station that struggles to make ends meet, while the conservative talk shows are always on whatever stations play local college and professional sports, giving the station plenty of ad revenue while also lending additional legitimacy to the content of the talk programs.

In my experience, the bar for entry and success as a left-leaning commentator seems much higher than it is on the right. Commentators are expected to have a stronger understanding of history and its implications in modern politics. Progressive commentators like Thom Hartmann do deep dives into specific policies, while Dave Rubin focuses on “culture war” issues, and how angry you should be about some vague hypocrisy he can’t elaborate. This is the very reason Dave Rubin doesn’t do debates anymore.

People like Candace Owens and Tim Pool didn’t go right because of some principled stance or final straw by looney-leftists, they saw dollar signs and followed the money. Dave Rubin himself can attest to how much more money there is behind media efforts on the right, he’s far bigger now than he ever was back when he pretended to be a progressive.