Breitbart News

Founder Andrew Breitbart Opposed Birtherism and Trump

• Andrew Breitbart was a sharp critic of the “birther” movement when it was led by Donald Trump. “Conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart is a political gladiator. […] So it was a surprise to discover this past week that Breitbart has redirected some of his prodigious anger. As part of his book tour, Breitbart gave a series of interviews - some with the ‘Democrat-Media Complex’ he loves to demonize - criticizing his fellow conservatives. […] To test the newly fratricidal Breitbart, I went to his book talk at the Heritage Foundation on Thursday and invited him to dispense more friendly fire. He obliged, with complaints about Beck's rally on the Mall and the birther movement. [… The most obvious is the birther dispute, in which figures such as Donald Trump and Sarah Palin perpetuate the calumny that Obama wasn't born in the United States while Republican leaders urge sanity. […] I asked him to expand on his earlier criticism of friends - including his complaints about Beck's rally on the Mall in August. Breitbart obliged, taking issue with those who think the Tea Party ‘is really about God’ and those who claim ‘Obama may not have been born in the United States.’” (Washington Post, Dana Milbank, April 24, 2011)
• During the 2012 campaign, Andrew Breitbart published a book warning conservatives that if they didn’t learn to play the media “the way that Donald Trump is playing the election cycle, we’re going to probably get a celebrity candidate. “It's only a few weeks since Barack Obama declared his candidacy for re-election, and already the right is winning the best-seller list. […] Andrew Breitbart storms to No. 14 with ‘Righteous Indignation: Excuse Me While I Save the World!’ In a recent interview with ‘The O'Reilly Factor,’ Breitbart -- the gadfly proprietor of the Web sites Big Government, Big Journalism, Big Hollywood and Big Peace (which has called for Congressional hearings into ‘the religion of peace’) -- exhorted the dull but serious Republican contenders to neutralize Donald Trump before it's too late. ‘Celebrity is everything in this country’” Breitbart said. ‘And if these guys don't learn how to play the media the way that Barack Obama played the media last election cycle and the way that Donald Trump is playing the election cycle, we're going to probably get a celebrity candidate.’” (New York Times, May 8, 2011)

Breitbart News Has Close Ties to Political White Supremacism

• Former Breitbart CEO Steven Bannon, who was also briefly CEO of Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign, once boasted that Breitbart was a “platform” for the white supremacist movement then-known as the “alt-right,” a comment which the news site later tried to repudiate. “Since Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election, Los Angeles-based Breitbart has experienced a backlash from some advertisers who say that the online site conflicts with their corporate values. Breitbart took a pro-Trump stance during the campaign, supporting the Republican candidate's views on immigration and national security. The company's executive chairman, Steve Bannon, who is on a leave of absence, was Trump's campaign manager and has been named chief White House strategist. Although Bannon was quoted in Mother Jones as saying Breitbart is a platform for the alt-right -- the ultraconservative movement associated with white nationalism -- the news site has denied accusations that it engages in racist rhetoric. The company has stated that it isn't affiliated with the alt-right and that the brand of nationalism it espouses is political, not racial.” (Los Angeles Times, December 1, 2016)

Breitbart's Business Practices and Financial Support Are Secret

• The economic impact of advertisers withdrawing sponsorship of Breitbart was hard to ascertain because the company is privately held and does not have to report its business performance. “In October, the site drew 19.2 million unique visitors, up nearly 50% from 12.9 million visitors in the same month last year, according to data from ComScore. […]It remains unclear how much the loss in ad revenue will hurt Breitbart. The media company is privately held and doesn't discuss its business operations. But Chief Executive Larry Solov recently told the Los Angeles Times that the company relies on advertising for the majority of its revenue and that it uses multiple ad networks. The company said Wednesday that Kellogg's decision ‘will make virtually no revenue impact.’” (Los Angeles Times, December 1, 2016)
• Conservative billionaire Robert Mercer was rumored to be a key source of financial support for Breitbart News. “Breitbart is rumored to receive significant backing from hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer, who has been a key supporter of Trump. The site was founded a decade ago by journalist Andrew Breitbart, who died in 2012, and has an editorial staff of about 100 worldwide.” (Los Angeles Times, December 1, 2016)

Breitbart Advertisers Have Withdrawn Sponsorship

• Following the 2016 election, many advertisers withdrew their sponsorship of Breitbart News. “The Breitbart News Network has long prided itself on running inflammatory articles designed to trigger sensitive liberals. But since the election of Donald Trump, the conservative media company has also managed to trigger some of its advertisers, which have yanked their ads from the irreverent site in objection to its content. After recent decisions by companies such as the Kellogg Co. and Allstate to pull their ads, a number of German companies have followed suit, including BMW, T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom and the restaurant chain Vapiano.” (Los Angeles Times, December 8, 2016)
• Efforts to pressure advertisers to withdraw support from Breitbart were led by activism on Twitter, including the Sleeping Giants account. “In recent weeks, a number of anti-Breitbart efforts have emerged on Twitter -- including the account Sleeping Giants and the German hashtag #KeinGeldFuerRechts (No Money for the Right) -- that are aiming to pressure companies whose ads appear on Breitbart into boycotting the site. Sleeping Giants has said that Breitbart is a fake news site that engages in racist rhetoric. In response, Breitbart says left-wing activists are intolerant of conservative views and are attempting to censor them.” (Los Angeles Times, December 8, 2016)
• Many of the companies featured on Breitbart News claimed they were unaware that their money was being used to buy ads on Breitbart News. “Some advertisers have said they didn't know that their ads ran on Breitbart, and that they only discovered it after receiving screenshots from consumers and Twitter users. Many companies rely on third-party ad networks and exchanges to place their ads on sites. As a result, they aren't always aware of where their ads end up appearing.” (Los Angeles Times, December 8, 2016)
• Breitbart responded to the post-election withdrawal of advertising sponsors by calling for the boycott of Kellog’s, one of many companies that severed ties with the website. “The Breitbart News Network is seeing some of its advertisers head for the exit doors and is responding in typical Breitbart fashion: by going on the counteroffensive, labeling one of them as "un-American" and calling it a war on conservatism. […] Breitbart is fighting back at one of the advertisers -- the breakfast cereal maker Kellogg Co. -- by launching a Twitter campaign #DumpKelloggs that encourages its readers to sign a petition and boycott the maker of such favorites as Froot Loops and Apple Jacks. On Wednesday, Breitbart placed an article about its #DumpKellogs campaign in the top slot of its homepage. By early afternoon, the article had drawn more than 6,000 reader comments, many in support of the boycott. ‘Kellogg's decision to blacklist one of the largest conservative media outlets in America is economic censorship of mainstream conservative political discourse. That is as un-American as it gets,’ Breitbart said in a statement.” (Los Angeles Times, December 1, 2016)
• Allstate and AppNexus also withdrew advertising from Breitbart News, with a spokesman for AppNexus noting that the sit’s content “violates our hate speech prohibition.” “Other companies that have pulled their ads from Breitbart in recent weeks include insurance giant Allstate and the ad exchange AppNexus. ‘We determined that the site violates our hate speech prohibition,’ said Josh Zeitz, a spokesman for AppNexus. He said that Breitbart was never a direct client but that some of AppNexus' technology partners made Breitbart's inventory available on its exchange.” (Los Angeles Times, December 1, 2016)

Other Links of Interest

The FBI has released investigative material related to an investigation of online attacks targeting Breitbart News. FBI Vault