He built an audience back in those community days, where he would critique and call out the lies of Fox News.
He was also one of the first to have a direct relationship with people at the offices at YouTube.
Which is where his decline and disconnect from a lot of his initial support first began.
Pre-DMCA, it was pretty tough to be taken off of YouTube. You either had to do something really heinous like doxxing, or posting outright white nationalism.