Former Breitbart News chairman Stephen K. Bannon interviews Donald Trump, Jr. on Feb. 8, 2016 in Manchester, New Hampshire | Getty Breitbart's most vicious attacks on GOP leaders The conservative site — whose executive is now Trump's campaign CEO — has regularly lashed Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell and others.

Donald Trump’s relationships with the Republican Party’s elite have been lukewarm at best.

It doesn't appear that Trump's decision to name Stephen Bannon, Breitbart News chairman, as his campaign chief executive will help.


Breitbart, the conservative news outlet that has been among Trump's top boosters, has repeatedly trashed GOP leaders including House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Arizona Sen. John McCain. Trump initially withheld support for Ryan and McCain in their primary races before endorsing them, and the party elite has not shied from blasting Trump when they disagree with him.

Here’s a breakdown of how Breitbart has viciously attacked Trump’s most vocal critics.

Paul Ryan

Ryan has been a frequent target, and the conservative website hit him especially hard during his primary race against Paul Nehlen, a big Trump supporter. The site called Ryan “desperate,” said he was “failing” his leadership test, and accused Ryan of “running scared” in the days before his election. Ryan crushed Nehlen in the race, beating him 84 percent to 16 percent.

In May, the site attacked Ryan for sending his children to a Catholic school while advocating accepting Muslim immigrants to the U.S.

“However, a Breitbart News investigation now reveals that while Paul Ryan wants no ‘religious test’ for who gets admitted into America, Ryan sends his children to a private school that uses a 'religious test' in its admissions process,” the site wrote.

Mitch McConnell

Breitbart has slammed the Senate majority leader, a Hillary Clinton sympathizer and accusing the Kentucky senator of being more hostile toward Trump than his Democratic rival. Examples of headlines include “Mitch McConnell Praises Hillary Clinton — Day After Benghazi Report” and “Mitch McConnell: Hillary ‘Intelligent and Capable,’ Trump ‘Clearly Needs to Change.’”

One article theorized that McConnell and other Republican leaders have not fully supported Trump because Trump would threaten their relationships with donors. “The GOP elite will never support Trump because their pursuit of power has caused them to be more aligned the other establishment team — Hillary’s Democrats — than with Trump’s Republicans. The GOP elite could survive a Hillary win, but odds of surviving a Trump win are far less,” the site wrote.

John McCain

The senator from Arizona has long been a target of Breitbart, which has blasted him for his push for immigration reform and his criticisms of Trump. The site has called him “the poster boy for establishment illegal immigration dishonesty” and blamed him for Republicans losing elections.

The site said McCain appeared on CNN “with a fistful of red herrings designed to seek favor with his friends in the media by 'othering' Donald Trump as a threat to all that [is] holy and virtuous in America.”

Breitbart also published a piece by Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert in which the representative endorsed McCain’s primary challenger, Kelli Ward. Gohmert said voting for his opponent would save the U.S. from McCain’s “wrongheaded, misguided, heavy-handed judgment.”

Ben Sasse

One of the most active dissenters of Trump, the Nebraska senator has been called “weak” and a “coward” by Breitbart. The site ridiculed him in May when the Nebraska GOP Convention reprimanded him for being a part of the Never Trump movement. The site has also falsely attacked Sasse for supporting a Democrat-backed gun control bill that the senator has vocally opposed.