Getty Media How the Conservative Media Became Trump’s Lapdogs We used to complain about how the press sucked up to Obama. And look at us now.

Amanda Carpenter is a CNN contributor, former Communications Director for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and Speechwriter for Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC).



For years, conservatives breathlessly accused the media of being too easy on President Barack Obama and acting like a bunch of sycophantic boot-lickers for his administration. Turns out, some only wanted the chance to try it out for themselves once a Republican was in office.

The Trump administration, with all its ethical mishaps and conflicts, presents conservatives the perfect opportunity to establish themselves as a tough, new vanguard of right-of-center journalism. Unfortunately, right-wing trolls and fanboys with press passes seem more interested in racking up brownie points with POTUS and nursing grudges against liberal media competitors.


Sadly these media personalities—easily found in places such as Breitbart and Fox News—have become exactly what they hated their mainstream media foes for being: biased cheerleaders all too willing to ignore any misdeeds by the president in the name of helping him enact his agenda. Some of those who used to be the conservative movement’s most loyal government watchdogs are nothing but lapdogs now for Trump.

Breitbart News, the alt-right website that Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon ran until last year, is the most obvious example. Its writers fumed over how gently the liberal media treated Obama, even resorting to splashy pranks to prove their point. This is the website that heralded James O’Keefe’s ACORN sting, in which the provocateur went to great lengths impersonating a pimp. The website’s founder, the late Andrew Breitbart, once laced on a pair of roller skates to cruise through a union protest, mocking participants and recording their reactions on camera. And, who can forget how Breitbart hijacked a news conference from former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D.-N.Y.) to shame the media for questioning the stories Breitbart broke regarding the lewd photos the congressman exchanged with young women online?

So how is Breitbart News holding the Trump administration’s feet to the fire?

Writer Matt Boyle began an Oval Office interview with this question: “The first thing I wanted to get is your reaction to the Oscars last night—the big mistake with the Best Picture award and what did you think about that?” Boyle then said, “The big thing I kind of wanted to zone in on right off the bat is ‘the opposition party,’ the media.” “Opposition party” is the same memorable term Bannon, soon after he was ensconced in the White House, used to label media outlets he deemed insufficiently friendly. Meaning that Boyle used his precious time with the president to air out a talking point spun up by his former employer who now works for the president. The closed feedback loop is so circular it resembles a dot. It all blurs together with no discernable beginning or end.

When not parroting talking points or providing the president with an open microphone, Breitbart News gins up stories about those it finds disloyal to the president. See: House Speaker Paul Ryan (R.-Wis.), who, a recent article noted, “is still the speaker” as though his days were numbered. The same piece accused Ryan—who was reelected speaker in January with only one dissenting Republican vote—of “abandoning” Trump no less than nine times, sending the message that he owes the GOP president nothing less than total fealty.

Trump also has allies at Fox News, but perhaps none greater than Sean Hannity, who has probably complained about the “biased media” more times in his life than most people breathe. The funny thing is, the invective is all too easily applied to Hannity, as well. But at least he recognizes the double standard, declaring on his radio program, “I’m not a journalist, I’m a talk show host.”

Last week, Hannity welcomed to his show Monica Crowley, the Fox News commentator who was set to take a job as a top national security communications aide in the Trump administration. That is, until POLITICO Magazine and CNN discovered numerous incidents of plagiarism over her career, including her dissertation for her Columbia University Ph.D.

It should have been a clarifying interview to find out what happened inside the Trump White House and why she didn’t take the prominent position. Crowley is well known and a respected role model for many Republican women. Besides, plagiarism doesn’t necessarily preclude one from accepting an official paycheck. Hannity wasn’t interested in finding out what happened, though. To neutral observers, it was a pretty clear case of plagiarism—but to Hannity, Crowley was the victim of a “straight-up political hit job,” and anyone with questions about it could “go straight to hell.” Hannity may not be a journalist, but for a talk show host he’s still providing the Trump White House with a healthy amount of cover.

Breitbart and Hannity’s fellow water carriers are easy to spot, especially in the White House briefing room, where the Portland-based radio host and Trump supporter Lars Larson began one of his questions by referring to White House press secretary Sean Spicer as “Commander Spicer.” Somehow, one got the feeling Larson wasn’t referring to Spicer’s history as a naval reservist in using the reverent title.

Gateway Pundit, a fringe conservative website that has increased its tolerance for conspiracy theories as it has embraced Trump, is another outlet all too eager to advance the Trump agenda—and now has a coveted seat in the White House briefing room. This week, the New Yorker spotlighted Gateway Pundit’s head honcho Jim Hoft, who gleefully wondered how many times his White House reporter, Lucian Wintrich, could work the phrase “fake news” into a televised question for Spicer to answer. “He’s there to troll,” Hoft acknowledged. When Wintrich asked whether he should “have a couple of backup questions that are specifically about policy,’ Hoft scoffed. “Policy schmolicy,” he said.

That’s not to say there are not a good number of conservatives who remain interested in policy and holding the Trump administration accountable. The Washington Examiner, where Tim Carney recently wrote about how “it’s literally pay to play at Mar-a-Lago,” comes to mind. The stable of writers at The Federalist provides tough perspective, such as a recent column on how Trump’s economic nationalism leads to the kind of Big Government that conservatives are supposed to despise. Even Mark Levin, the beloved conservative radio host credited as being the source for Trump’s wild wiretapping claims, is often critical of the president’s populist impulses.

Those media figures, however, are not likely to score one-on-one interviews with the president while so many other right-leaning outlets will so blatantly do his bidding. Hannity often says, “Journalism is dead in America.” He should know. He and the Matt Boyles and Jim Hofts of the world are trying awfully hard to kill it.