Don’t hate the messenger. Instead, heed the message — because it’s far and away the most underreported, underdiscussed, and underappreciated political story of 2025.
And ignoring it won’t make it go away; it’ll embolden them.
As with our “honorees” for the biggest PR losers of 2025, the criteria here is simple: Among all the political brands (i.e. politicians, activists, parties, movements, countries, organizations), whose reputation improved most dramatically in 2025?
We’re not asking who received the best press — or who we personally liked the most. This isn’t a moral critique but an outcome-based assessment: Whose political brand gained the most status, prestige, power, and recognition?
It’s less a question of magnitude than a measurement of distance.
And it’s tricky to tabulate because black swan events drive so much of the news cycle. Zohran Mamdani went from an unknown assemblyman to America’s most famous Marxist on June 24, 2025, when he won New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary. Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost wasn’t an A-Lister until May 8, 2025, when he became the 267th Pope, changing his name to Leo XIV.
Sadly, the biggest black swan event occurred on Sept. 10, 2025, when Charlie Kirk was murdered in broad daylight by Tyler James Robinson. By a very wide margin, this was the #1 U.S. news story of 2025 — and the most shocking political assassination on American soil in at least a generation.
If your metrics are news coverage, impact, and celebrity status, the three biggest PR winners of 2025 were Mayor-elect Mamdani, Pope Leo XIV, and Charlie Kirk.
But when you remove the black swan element and focus instead on brand-building, reputational management, audience engagement, and winning hearts and minds, an entirely different picture emerges: Two brands outcompeted, outhustled, and outperformed all others, radically redefining their image on the global stage.
2025’s two biggest PR winners are Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Just five years ago, Qatar and Saudi Arabia were pariah nations. Their brands were synonymous with the funding of Islamic terrorism, murdering and dismembering reporters, the 9/11 attacks, corruption, repression, and anti-Western extremism.
By the end of 2025, Saudi Arabia was the go-to destination for comedy festivals, boxing, MMA, pro wrestling, soccer, racing, and high-end entertainment. Big-name comedians like Dave Chapelle spoke glowingly of the Saudis, declaring that he has more “free speech” in Saudi Arabia than in America. Other comedians, like Bill Burr, went from bashing American millionaires to bootlicking Saudi billionaires.
Because of a lack of transparency, we don’t know how much the Saudis have spent to rehabilitate their PR image, but it’s probably the most expensive PR campaign in world history. At a minimum, we’re talking tens of billions of dollars.
But not even the Saudis were as successful as the Qataris!
When 2025 began, Qatar was an afterthought — just another corrupt, nondescript Islamic monarchy. Its demographics, after all, are the most bizarre in the Middle East, with a population that’s 3.45 times smaller than little ol’ Israel — and over 88% of Qatari residents are non-citizens. (Many, alas, are modern-day slaves.) The high number of non-citizen laborers is why its gender stats are so skewed, with only 25% of its residents being female.
By some measurements, Qatar has the highest percentage of males in the world. (Kind of ironic that the country with the biggest “sausage party” also bans the importation of pork.)
But the country ended the year with enthusiastic endorsements (advertorials?) from political influencers like Tucker Carlson, and it earned the biggest prize of all: an American war guarantee.
From the White House (Sept. 29, 2025):
(a) The United States shall regard any armed attack on the territory, sovereignty, or critical infrastructure of the State of Qatar as a threat to the peace and security of the United States.
(b) In the event of such an attack, the United States shall take all lawful and appropriate measures — including diplomatic, economic, and, if necessary, military — to defend the interests of the United States and of the State of Qatar and to restore peace and stability.
(c) The Secretary of War, in coordination with the Secretary of State and the Director of National Intelligence, shall maintain joint contingency planning with the State of Qatar to ensure a rapid and coordinated response to any foreign aggression against the State of Qatar.
Given the “America First” mantra of the MAGA movement and our (understandable) suspicion of foreign entanglements, Neocon “warmongers,” and being dragged into yet another “forever war” in the Middle East, you’d expect considerable blowback. Shouldn’t the same influencers who bitterly decried the Iraq War — who also opposed bombing Iran and condemned assisting Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza — also object to giving the Qatari billionaires a U.S. war guarantee?
How the hell is that supposed to be “America First”?
But somehow, the opposite is true: The same influencers who branded themselves as “peacemakers” and “committed noninterventionists” not only failed to object, but they doubled down on their pro-Qatari rhetoric.
Tucker Carlson, for example, declared, “I’ve actually been to Qatar. It’s awesome!” and called it “one of the U.S.’s closest allies in the world.”
And then, in early December, Carlson went one step further: He became a Qatari homeowner.
One way to prove you are a patriotic red-blooded American: buying a house in Qatar — according to Tucker Carlson.
The ex-Fox News star, during an appearance at the Doha Forum on Sunday, said he was going to buy real estate in the city on Monday.
Carlson referenced accusations he and his media company, the Tucker Carlson Network, have accepted big bucks from Qatari investors, while interviewing [Qatari] Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani. He then announced his new purchase.
Of course, from a crisis communications perspective, that whole “9/11 thing” continues to taint the images of Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi citizens, and for all the talk of Qatar being an American ally, the truth is, they’re still playing all sides.
Qatar sends billions to Hamas, loaned the Muslim Brotherhood approximately $7.5 billion, and raised untold sums of money for al-Qaeda. Their continued support for radical Islam has sown conflicts throughout the Middle East, including within the Arab world. They’ve been bankrolling Islamic terror cells all across the planet.
But Qatar clearly values PR. That’s why they funded, established, and promoted Al Jazeera, an international “news” organization that disseminates pro-Qatari talking points globally.
Yet most of their positive PR in 2025 didn’t come from Al Jazeera. Instead, it came from MAGA-aligned influencers.
And by the end of 2025, Qatar and Saudi Arabia were on the verge of their greatest PR victory yet: The “memory-holing” of 9/11 — with MAGA-aligned influencers denying that radical Islam even exists!
When Turning Point USA attendees voted in a straw poll that radical Islam is the greatest threat facing America, Tucker Carlson first claimed it was a psy-op campaign from the Israeli government before declaring:
I mean, I don’t know how they responded to the poll. I don’t know who answered it, but I believe in measuring reality a little more empirically. And I don’t know anyone in the United States in the last 24 years who’s been killed by radical Islam.
What an odd unit of time for Tucker to randomly pull out of his hat, eh? Why do you think he picked 24 years?
Why not a round number — like 25 or 30?
I’m sure it has NOTHING to do with 9/11 being 24 years and 4 months ago. (That’s just a silly coincidence.) Obviously, anything that happened 25 years ago is ancient history and shouldn’t count.
(Duh.)
Related: The 3 Biggest PR Losers of 2025 (and Poor Tim Walz Only Made the Honorable Mention List!)
And besides, the GOP needs to stop trying to make “radical Islam” happen:
No matter how hard the GOP tries to make “radical Islam” happen, the base doesn’t care about it.
We are way more concerned about Israel.
You can deny reality and scream about Tucker, but the party can no longer be governed by those who refuse to acknowledge the Zionist…
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) December 27, 2025
In the world of PR, Qatar and Saudi Arabia were hands-down the biggest winners of 2025. A round of applause to Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, Al Jazeera, and all the others who worked so hard to promote their message. Way to go, guys!
They literally couldn’t have done it without you.
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