#7: Matt Drudge
Much like James O'Keefe and Breitbart.com, Matt Drudge and his website, The Drudge Report, have established an extensive history of promoting completely unsupported shock journalism for which they would later have to apologize.
- 1997: Reported that incoming White House assistant Sidney Blumenthal beat his wife and was covering it up. Drudge apologized and retracted the story the next day.
- 1999: Reported a videotaped "confession" by a former prostitute who claimed that her son was fathered by Bill Clinton. The claim was later revealed to be a hoax.
- 2004: Ran a story claiming John Kerry had an "intern affair". It was removed shortly thereafter.
- 2007: Cited an unnamed "official" source saying that CNN reporter Michael Ware had "heckled" Republican Senators McCain and Graham during a live press conference. Video supplied by The Raw Story later showed that Ware had not said anything.
- Feb. 2008: Published a photo of Barack Obama in Somali tribal dress and claimed it was submitted to them by a Clinton campaign staffer.
- Sept. 2008: Reported that Oprah staffers were "sharply divided on the merits of booking Sarah Palin." Winfrey denied the rumor and stated that there were no plans to use her show as a platform for any candidate.
- Oct. 2008: Published an unconfirmed exclusive story claiming that McCain campaign volunteer Ashley Todd had been attacked by a black man for having a McCain sticker on her car. The story was later confirmed to be a hoax perpetrated by Todd herself.
In the last instance, Drudge printed a retraction of the story, in which it was revealed, not only that the attack had been a hoax, but that Todd had also claimed to have had her tires slashed over her support of Ron Paul earlier that year.
Apart from unrestrained excitement at the idea of slinging mud at Democrats, what possible excuse could Matt Drudge and his flunkies at The Drudge Report possibly have for continually falling for the same nonsense over and over and over again?
And for that matter, what other possible excuse could others offer for continuing to pay any attention to Matt Drudge? He has been playing Chicken Little for the G.O.P. for fifteen years. Are people just visiting his website for laughs, or are there seriously people out there that are stilling willing to believe him?
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