White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon, the former chairman of Breitbart News, is still trying to control the site's coverage, according to a report by Business Insider. And Breitbart is none too happy about it.
According to the two sources, Bannon was so furious that he phoned Boyle after the story was published and unloaded on him. Boyle hadn't sought to notify Bannon he was publishing the story in advance, the sources said.Bannon further aggravated Boyle that week when he instructed him not to publish additional articles critical of Priebus, prompting the Washington editor to tell others that Bannon had betrayed Breitbart and was guilty of “treason,” according to a source.
The drama is interesting, but what really matters is the coverage. Did Boyle grumble privately but follow Bannon's orders, nevertheless?
For a while, perhaps, but as Darcy notes, Breitbart this week has taken aim at some of the Republican establishment figures (personified by Priebus, the party's former chairman) with whom Trump's team has sought to project harmony on a health-care overhaul.
Breitbart quickly branded the GOP proposal “Obamacare 2.0.” Boyle dedicated an entire article Tuesday to calling out White House press secretary Sean Spicer for claiming inaccurately that the bill supported by Trump represents a repeal of the Affordable Care Act. (As we've noted, it does not.)
Breitbart's Twitter account mocked House Speaker Paul D. Ryan as a “gymbro.”
Paul Ryan the type of gymbro to wear wrist straps for benching https://t.co/a2yqDkN7D2
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) March 8, 2017
The Business Insider report includes this gem of a quote from one of Darcy's unnamed sources: “The thing about Boyle is you can't stop him. You can't control him.”
It sure looks as if people at Breitbart are trying to get a message out there, and that message goes something like this: Our brand is built on being renegades. No one tells us what to do — not even the old boss who works for the president we helped elect.
It is worth noting that opposing the Republican health-care plan and slamming its supporters are not the gutsiest moves in the world. Many conservatives are doing the same. Breitbart has shied away from directly criticizing Trump for backing the bill, which would be far bolder.
The question is whether Breitbart will eventually go rogue and take direct shots at the president.
