Two months ago, if you had told me that conservative publication Breitbart would be the center of attention in attacks against Ted Cruz, I would have laughed. There’s no way. The proud namesake of the late Andrew Breitbart would never turn away from conservative values or participate in yellow journalism. I would have been wrong.
Since the birther issue came up, Breitbart has been front and center in attacks against the Texas Senator and Presidential candidate with attack pieces aimed at casting doubt on him. This has perplexed me since they haven’t been avid supporters of Donald Trump or Marco Rubio, the two most likely beneficiaries of attacks on Cruz. Then, I was told something very astute by an anonymous source within the publication.
Outwardly, the publication enjoys being one of the loudest online voices for conservative principles. They don’t want to change this and there’s little that can cast doubt on their goal of promoting conservative ideas, but there’s a catch. Inwardly, management knows that the publication can be most successful when there are bigger problems with the US government. They realize that they gain the most by being the voice of opposition rather than a cheerleader for a sitting conservative.
When the pieces come together from an inside perspective, it’s clear that the unthinkable is quite possibly true. For the sake of readership, exposure, and revenue, Breitbart stands to lose the most from a Ted Cruz nomination and Presidency. Conversely, they stand to gain the most from a Donald Trump candidacy and would be even better off with the worst-case scenario – a Democratic victory in the general election.
Many pundits have been vocal that Cruz is the most likely nominee and that he, Rubio, or even Ben Carson would be best suited to defeat Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders. Those three scenarios – a Republican President other than Trump – would be damaging to their readership and revenue.
As hard as it is to believe that they would stoop so low as to try to undercut a strong leader who could help America for the sake of their publication’s gain, it’s hard to argue with other publications that point out how Breitbart has gone “full birther” with over 30 stories in the past week alone.
Does this mean that they want a Democrat in the White House? Probably not. The more likely scenario is that they have become, as their own editors and writers have pointed out, the “personal fan club” for Donald Trump. After all, he’s pretty darn liberal outside of immigration which will make him a justifiable target if he’s elected President. In fact, his election would boost them by giving them their standard right-wing viewership while pulling in leftists who will use Breitbart to point out that “even their own right-wing media is against Trump.”
The problem is that they might get their win-win scenario. If Trump wins the nomination and general election, their revenues go up. If Trump wins the nomination and loses the general election, their revenues go up even more. The only thing that could hurt revenues would be a Cruz, Rubio, or Carson victory.
Andrew would be so saddened by what has happened to his organization.