Conservatives Slam Drudge 'Sensational' Approach

Anti-Drudge sentiment among Conservatives has been simmering for months. But it seemed to finally come to a boil with the Drudge Report’s coverage of the Dallas attack, according to Business Insider.

Since its inception in 1996, the Drudge Report has been a home to conservatives who feel disenfranchised by traditional media. Drudge has marketed his website as a news destination not controlled by corporate interests or politicians.

But that's a narrative that was heavily challenged during the 2016 Republican Primary, when it became clear the news aggregator was pushing a pro-Trump agenda.

Matt Drudge

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,” L-A's KRLA 870 AM talk-radio host John Ziegler told Business Insider. “He is a brilliant businessman who doesn't care at all about the conservative cause.”

Steve Deace, a Salem Radio Network host based in 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."

Yet, despite a growing group of critics, Drudge still has fierce backers.

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

“I think Drudge is just being Drudge,” radio host Erick Erickson from WSB 750 AM / 95.5 FM in Atlanta 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.”

Overall, the divide over the Drudge Report appears to reflect the current rift in the Republican Party caused by the bombastic Trump.

Drudge, for his part, has appeared to bask in the limelight, seemingly enjoying the attention from both fans and critics.