Ted Cruz accused the Drudge Report of transforming into “an attack site” for Republican front-runner Donald Trump’s campaign in the past month, telling a conservative radio host this week that Drudge just promotes “whatever the Trump campaign is pushing that day.”
A POLITICO analysis of more than 300 Drudge banners this year reveals that Cruz has a strong argument: Matt Drudge’s conservative aggregation site has largely pushed banner pieces publicizing Trump favorably and in recent days either criticizing or deriding Cruz, a stark shift from 2015, when he appeared to be ambivalent toward the billionaire businessman.
Trump dominated the media after announcing his campaign last June, depriving most of his Republican rivals of the airtime and coverage necessary to run successful campaigns. But he was largely a bit player on Drudge Report in 2015, POLITICO reported on Jan. 1 after analyzing the latter half of last year in Drudge banners. The real estate mogul often played some role in whatever Drudge’s top story was, but the headlines were usually regarding his poll numbers or other indicators of his popularity — not a full-on embrace of his point of view.
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