Mark Levin Slams Drudge as ‘Propagandist For the Police State’ Over Trump Taxes Banner — After Days of Brutal Musk Coverage
Fox News host Mark Levin tore into the popular right-of-center news aggregator Matt Drudge on Tuesday, after his Drudge Report website ran a banner headline covering House Democrats finally getting their hands on former President Donald Trump’s tax returns.
Levin wrote on Twitter, “Matt Drudge, propagandist for the police state” and linked to the website which read, “NEXT: TAX RETURNS,” under a photo of a downcast Trump.
The headline linked to a story from the Hill, which read, “After years of fighting for it, Democrats may release Trump tax return information.”
Drudge also led with a headline at the top left of his page from the New York Times, which read, “Release of Trump Financials Could Herald New Era for Taxpayer Privacy…” – the combination of which clearly incensed Levin.
Ben Kew, a writer at far-right HumanEvents.com, also commented on Drudge’s latest headline, writing, “The Drudge Report must be one of the very few major media outlets to have not just shifted, but flipped its editorial line a full 180 degrees.”
“Whether he sold it or became an overnight liberal, Matt Drudge BETRAYED his loyal audience,” Kew added.
Critical coverage of Trump, however, is nothing new for Drudge. In August of this year, as speculation mounts that the Department of Justice would indict Trump for taking home classified materials from the White House, Drudge’s banner read, “Trump Indictment Watch,” under an image of Trump in an orange jumpsuit.
While the highly trafficked, conservative news aggregator played a crucial role in boosting Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, the site has had more mixed coverage of Trump in recent years, which at times led to attacks from Trump.
In September 2020 Trump tweeted, “Our people have all left Drudge. He is a confused MESS, has no clue what happened. Down 51%. @DRUDGE They like REVOLVER and others!”
In the past week, Drudge has also raised some eyebrows on both the left and right over his coverage of Twitter owner and CEO Elon Musk.
While covering Musk’s stunning suspensions of journalists last week, Drudge ran the headline, “OFF WITH THEIR TWEETS!” He followed that up with “MANIC MUSK PURGES REPORTERS” and “IS HE TRIPPING ON DRUGS?”
Bloomberg’s Tim Stenovec commented on the headlines, writing, “Drudge Report sure is something right now.” CNN’s former media guru, Brian Stelter, added, “Drudge having some fun this morning.”
