From Dave Rubin to Tristan Tate, Conservative Influencers Are Cashing in Big on Tequila

(Photo: Copal 22)

Amid a cascade of tariff news and escalating ICE raids across the country, conservative commentators are taking it upon themselves to make agave great again.

Last week, “The Rubin Report” host Dave Rubin became the latest right-leaning pundit to cash in on the tequila craze. His brand: Copal 22, announced in an X post that’s already accumulated over 500,000 views since it was published on Thursday. By modern tequila standards, it’s a fairly typical venture. Produced in Mexico, aged three months in American whiskey barrels and purportedly additive-free. However, since this is 2025, it of course comes with a twist — each bottle features a one-of-one AI-generated label, theoretically turning purchases into a bespoke collector’s item.

Whether or not this sounds like an odd change of pace for an anti-woke talking head may depend on your familiarity with the conservative media ecosystem.

Rubin, a former progressive who has since rebranded as an individual rights classical liberal, boasts nearly three million subscribers and well over one billion views on his YouTube channel. He’s interviewed the likes of Ron DeSantis, Lauren Boebert, Ben Shapiro and Rand Paul, and appeared on talk shows ranging from Fox News’ “Gutfeld!” to HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher.” Fans tune in for his dependably pro-Trump content and scathing takes on the money-laundering deep state. Writing of the unrest in Los Angeles, Rubin recently described the participants as “masked jihadists, anarchists, illegals and genderless furries.”

So why choose tequila, the most thoroughly un-American of spirits that money can buy?

It’s possible that Rubin took notes from other heavyweights in his political vicinity. Last month, influencer and self-described misogynist Tristan Tate — brother of the equally controversial Andrew Tate — splashed onto the scene with Talisman Tequila. In videos promoting the brand, Tristan can be seen driving Ferraris, smoking cigars and shushing models at the bar (preceded by the tagline, “Every wise man knows that Mexican women are famous for two things: their beauty and their susceptibility to charm.”)

The Tate brothers are currently wanted on 21 charges in the United Kingdom including rape, actual bodily harm and human trafficking. But Talisman Tequila appears to have been a resounding success, topping the Google Trends charts week after week since its announcement in May.

Last October, the founder of Ultra Right Beer debuted an agave spirit dubbed Border Wall Tee-Kee-Laa. Famous in social media circles for his proudly politically incorrect video skits, creator Seth Weathers doubled down with a spirit that featured a stereotypical Mexican climbing a fence underneath the words “Make Walls Great Again.” The back label reads:

“Conservatives will no longer complain about big corporations, who use our money to indoctrinate our children with their woke garbage. We’ll dump them and do our thing. Even if I have to cross deserts to bring the best back to America.”

If you’re looking for a succinct summary of the right-wing tequila trend, this is it.

As with many headlines in the spirits industry as of late, the movement traces its roots back to the Bud Light controversy of early 2023, when a partnership with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney sparked a boycott rumored to have cost Anheuser-Busch billions of dollars. It left a lucrative void in the market, one that brands like Ultra Right Beer were quick to capitalize on. And the concept has only gained momentum in the years since.

4547 Whiskey (an ode to President Trump’s two terms in office) has proven a breakout hit. Real American Beer, a “200% American” light lager recently debuted by Hulk Hogan, has secured back-to-back partnership deals with the WWE and Hooters.

It was only a matter of time before the idea found its way to tequila. With Mexico once again in the crosshairs of partisan political discourse, conservative-backed agave brands have found their moment to shine. These products offer an American-owned alternative to a foreign-made spirit; a red, white and blue ethos distilled from shades of red, white and green. Forget the fact that tequila can only be called “tequila” if it’s distilled south of the border. In the hands of a business-savvy influencer, anything can get a timely rebrand.