Matt Drudge is reportedly 'starting to get a bit miffed' with Trump
Powerhouse link aggregator The Drudge Report has uniquely shaped online traffic flow and the conservative news agenda for two decades, garnering its reclusive curator, Matt Drudge, a position of real influence among right-of-center politicos. Drudge galvanized his readers' support for President Trump during the 2016 election, but now CNN reports his own enthusiasm for the president is beginning to wane.
Drudge is "growing impatient," an unnamed associate of the site editor told CNN, because he "takes some credit, I think, for getting Trump elected into the White House and he expected him to follow through on the promises he campaigned on. Look, it's not going well so far. Some of it is, but for the most part it's trouble. Drudge can see that. He's not blind to reality."
Another person with ties to Drudge said it "seems like Matt is starting to get a bit miffed" and does not feel at all "beholden" to Trump if the president doesn't keep his promises.
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Drudge is reportedly attending regular meetings at the White House, talking with Trump himself as well as key advisers like Trump's daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner. Still, his coverage of Trump has acquired a more critical tone of late. "Drudge smells smoke and maybe sees some fire and he is trying to figure out this: Does he put the fire out? Can the fire be put out? Or does he put himself in the position to pour kerosene on the fire and take advantage of that?" said conservative writer John Ziegler, who worked with Drudge on a talk radio show. "So basically, Drudge is trying to figure out if he is the fireman or the arsonist."
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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
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