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The MiddleGround Mic

The MiddleGround Mic

Inside the Paid Protest Industry: Adam Swart on Manufactured Outrage & Astroturfing

Aug 26, 2026 · 25m

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On this episode

About this episode

Adam Swart runs Crowds on Demand, the largest protest-for-hire firm in America. He doesn't call himself an activist—he calls it what it actually is: paid public relations and political machinery. In this episode, Swart pulls back the curtain on how modern American political campaigns and grassroots movements are manufactured behind closed doors. Key Topics Covered: * How political movements rely on hidden funding, astroturfing, and paid crowd mobilization * How closed-door institutional endorsements determine elections long before voters step into the booth * Why traditional political polling has lost reliability in modern elections * The economic reality of blind party loyalty in both red…