After Dallas, conservatives rebel against the Drudge Report

Source: Business Insider | July 10, 2016 | Oliver Darcy

“BLACK LIVES KILL.”

Those were the three words that blared across the Drudge Report early Friday morning after five Dallas police officers were killed in a horrific ambush attack.

And immediately upon seeing the race-baiting headline, conservatives rebelled against a once-reliable ally who has become more and more divisive to them over the course of the 2016 campaign.

….

Allahpundit, an influential anonymous conservative blogger, skewered the site for a subsequent banner headline claiming a “black power group” had claimed responsibility for the attack.

“Dallas chief says suspect told them before he died that he wasn’t part of a group,” the blogger wrote.

And David French, the National Review writer who flirted with a third-party presidential run, went as far as to say that he had deleted the Drudge Report app from his phone.

The anti-Drudge sentiment had been simmering for months. But it seemed to finally come to a boil with the Drudge Report’s coverage of the Dallas attack.

…..

Many conservatives who frequent the right-wing link aggregator had grown upset over how founder Matt Drudge had covered the 2016 election. The Drudge Report, they say, trashed true-bred conservatives like Ted Cruz in favor of promoting a squishy moderate in Donald Trump.

….

The Drudge Report, operating from the same playbook as Trump, has used the racial tension in the country to generate page views, its critics say. And the website’s controversial three-word headline in the aftermath of the Dallas attack was the final straw.

“Matt Drudge, for whom my late friend Andrew Breitbart used to work closely and for whom I used to fill in on his old national radio show, is not a conservative,” conservative talk-radio host John Ziegler told Business Insider. “He is a brilliant businessman who doesn’t care at all about the conservative cause.”

The operator of the anti-Trump Stop Trump PAC, a Republican operative who asked not to be named to preserve his anonymity, told Business Insider he agreed with Ziegler’s analysis.

“It has nothing to do with conservatism. It has to do with ratings,” he said.

He added: “When it comes to Drudge, he has chosen to go down a path of racism. Embracing racism, inciting hate — all to gain followers. He doesn’t care about conservative principles or ideas. It’s all about ratings. It’s a ratings game.”

And Steve Deace, a popular Iowa radio host, slammed the Drudge Report as a “fraud.”

“Drudge isn’t a conservative. He’s a sensationalist. And right now, the sensation is white grievance politics/populism, so he’s parked there,” Deace told Business Insider. “Drudge, like too many other people in our industry, is a master at capitalizing on being conservative media without actually demonstrating a shred of conservatism.”

….

Matthew Boyle, Washington editor for Breitbart News, a website often linked to by Drudge, told Business Insider that the criticism stemmed from a “handful of losers.”

“Clearly, a handful of losers like David French have a problem with truth and accuracy,” he said. “The reason they don’t like Drudge is because Drudge gets it right.”

Boyle added: “He got it right in the Republican primaries, and he has it right in Dallas. Maybe David French’s time would be better spent floating an irrelevant potential presidential campaign again, while Drudge tells America what’s really going on.”

….

“I think Drudge is just being Drudge,” radio host Erick Erickson said. “I think Drudge sensationalizes things, but he also knows what his readers want. I’m not one to call for a boycott of anyone, but I personally find I go to the site less and less this political season.”

….

The Internet-news mogul wrote: “Thank you for your continued readership! The lovers and the haters. Such extraordinary times. Thrilling, actually.”

Tagged: ,

Viewing 3 posts - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
  • Discussion
  • Consistent July 10, 2016 at 12:07 pm #7820

    Consistent July 10, 2016 at 12:34 pm #7822

    ConstitutionalConservative July 10, 2016 at 12:42 pm #7823

    I quit Drudge like I quit FNC and FR, cold turkey, and I do not miss either one bit. I gave up FNC a few years ago and Drudge after the start of Trumps campaign and the filthy unmerited attacks on Cruz. My addiction to FNC was easily overcome but Drudge was bit more difficult as checking his site was the first thing I did when I sat down at my puter and continued checking at least 10 times a day.

    I now never even think about DR unless some story like this appears and I agree with all that is told in this article. Drudge is not a conservative the same as Trump is not conservative nor have they ever been.
    I think they both are walking a thin line that could easily collapse at any given time, they both have been seduced by their powerhouse image and they see themselves as indestructible, from my personal observations it never fails, pride does indeed go before the fall.

Viewing 3 posts - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.