''Breitbart News Network'' (known commonly as ''Breitbart News'', ''Breitbart'', or ''Breitbart.com'') is an
American far-right
In United States politics, the radical right is a political preference that leans towards extreme conservatism, white supremacism, or other right-wing to far-right ideologies in a hierarchical structure paired with conspiratorial rhetoric alongs ...
[Multiple sources:
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website founded in mid-2007 by
American conservative
Conservatism in the United States is a political and social philosophy based on a belief in limited government, individualism, traditionalism, republicanism, and limited federal governmental power in relation to U.S. states. Conservative ...
commentator
Andrew Breitbart
Andrew James Breitbart (; February 1, 1969 – March 1, 2012) was an American conservative journalist, and political commentator who was the founder of ''Breitbart News'' and a co-founder of ''HuffPost''.
After helping in the early stages of '' ...
. ''Breitbart News''s content has been described as
misogynistic
Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced fo ...
,
xenophobic
Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...
, and
racist
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
by academics and journalists. The site has published a number of
conspiracy theories
A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources:
*
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* The term has a nega ...
[Multiple sources:
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*] and intentionally misleading stories.
Posts originating from the ''Breitbart News''
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
page are among the most widely shared political content on Facebook.
Initially conceived as "the ''
Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'' of the right",
''Breitbart News'' later aligned with the
alt-right
The alt-right, an abbreviation of alternative right, is a far-right, white nationalist movement. A largely online phenomenon, the alt-right originated in the United States during the late 2000s before increasing in popularity during the mid-2 ...
, the European
populist right, and the
pan-European nationalist identitarian movement
The Identitarian movement or Identitarianism is a pan-European nationalism, nationalist, far-right political ideology asserting the right of Ethnic groups in Europe, European ethnic groups and white peoples to Western culture and territories c ...
under the management of former executive chairman
Steve Bannon
Stephen Kevin Bannon (born November 27, 1953) is an American media executive, political strategist, and former investment banker. He served as the White House's chief strategist in the administration of U.S. president Donald Trump during t ...
,
[Multiple sources:
*
*
*] who declared the website "the platform for the alt-right" in 2016.
In 2016, ''Breitbart News'' became a virtual rallying spot for supporters of
Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign
The 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump was formally launched on June 16, 2015, at Trump Tower in New York City. Trump was the Republican nominee for President of the United States in the 2016 election, having won the most state prim ...
.
The company's management, together with former staff member
Milo Yiannopoulos
Milo Yiannopoulos (; born Milo Hanrahan, 18 October 1984), who has also published as Milo Andreas Wagner and the mononym Milo, is a British alt-right political commentator. His speeches and writings often ridicule Islam, feminism, social justi ...
, solicited ideas for stories from, and worked to advance and market ideas of
neo-Nazi
Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...
and white supremacist groups and individuals.
After the election, more than 2,000 organizations removed ''Breitbart News'' from ad buys following
Internet activism
Internet activism is the use of electronic communication technologies such as social media, e-mail, and podcasts for various forms of activism to enable faster and more effective communication by citizen movements, the delivery of particular infor ...
campaigns denouncing the site's controversial positions.
''Breitbart News'' has promoted
climate change denial
Climate change denial, or global warming denial, is denial, dismissal, or doubt that contradicts the scientific consensus on climate change, including the extent to which it is caused by humans, its effects on nature and human society, or th ...
and
COVID-19 misinformation
False information, including intentional disinformation and conspiracy theories, about the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic and the origin, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease has been spread through social media, text messaging ...
.
The company is headquartered in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, with bureaus in
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
,
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, and
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. Co-founder
Larry Solov
Laurence Gregory Solov (born May 20, 1968) is an American attorney best known as the co-founder and CEO of Breitbart News.
Early life and education
Solov was born to a Jewish family in Los Angeles, the son of Joanne (''née'' Skolnick), a social ...
is the co-owner (along with Andrew Breitbart's widow Susie Breitbart and the
Mercer family) and CEO, while
Alex Marlow
Alexander Mason Marlow (born January 24, 1986) an American media executive who is currently the editor-in-chief of ''Breitbart News''. Marlow began his career as Andrew Breitbart's editorial assistant, a position which he held for four years. He ...
is the
editor-in-chief
An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies.
The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...
,
Wynton Hall
Wynton C. Hall is an American author and the managing editor and social media director of ''Breitbart News''. He is also the owner of Wynton Hall & Co, a celebrity ghostwriting and communications agency, and a communication strategist for the Gove ...
is
managing editor
A managing editor (ME) is a senior member of a publication's management team. Typically, the managing editor reports directly to the editor-in-chief and oversees all aspects of the publication.
United States
In the United States, a managing edito ...
, and
Joel Pollak
Joel Barry Pollak (born 25 April 1977) is a South African-American conservative political commentator, writer, and attorney. He currently serves as the senior-editor-at-large for Breitbart News.Felsenthal, Carol (1 March 2012)Andrew Breitbart's ...
and
Peter Schweizer
Peter Franz Schweizer (born November 24, 1964) is an American political consultant and writer. He is the president of the Government Accountability Institute (GAI), senior editor-at-large of far-right media organization Breitbart News, and a form ...
are senior
editors-at-large.
History
2005–2012: creation and early years
![Andrew Breitbart by Gage Skidmore 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Andrew_Breitbart_by_Gage_Skidmore_2.jpg)
Andrew Breitbart launched ''Breitbart.com'' as a news aggregator in 2005. The website featured direct links to wire stories at the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
,
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was estab ...
,
Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
, the ''
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'',
TMZ
TMZ is a tabloid news website owned by Fox Corporation. It made its debut on November 8, 2005, originally as a collaboration between AOL and Telepictures, a division of Warner Bros., until Time Warner divested AOL in 2009. On September 13, 202 ...
as well as a number of other outlets. The website's initial growth was largely fueled by links from the ''
Drudge Report
The Drudge Report (stylized as DRUDGE REPORT) is a U.S.-based news aggregation website founded by Matt Drudge, and run with the help of Charles Hurt and Daniel Halper. The site was generally regarded as a conservative publication, though its o ...
''. In 2007, ''Breitbart.com'' launched a video blog, ''Breitbart.tv''.
According to co-founder
Larry Solov
Laurence Gregory Solov (born May 20, 1968) is an American attorney best known as the co-founder and CEO of Breitbart News.
Early life and education
Solov was born to a Jewish family in Los Angeles, the son of Joanne (''née'' Skolnick), a social ...
, the two men were in agreement that the site should be "unapologetically pro-freedom and pro-Israel" during their visit to Israel in 2007. In August 2010, Andrew Breitbart told the Associated Press that he was "committed to the destruction of the old media guard." As part of that commitment, he founded ''Breitbart.com'', a website designed to become "the ''
Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'' of the right" according to ''Breitbart News''s former executive chairman,
Steve Bannon
Stephen Kevin Bannon (born November 27, 1953) is an American media executive, political strategist, and former investment banker. He served as the White House's chief strategist in the administration of U.S. president Donald Trump during t ...
.
''Breitbart News'' exclusively re-posted the
Anthony Weiner sexting scandal
Anthony Weiner is a former member of the United States House of Representatives from New York City who has been involved in multiple sex scandals related to sexting.
The first scandal began when Weiner was a Democratic U.S. Congressman. He use ...
, the
resignation of Shirley Sherrod
On July 19, 2010, Shirley Sherrod was fired from her appointed position as Georgia State Director of Rural Development for the United States Department of Agriculture. Her firing was an administration reaction to media reports on video excerpts fro ...
, and the
ACORN 2009 undercover videos controversy
In 2009, workers at offices of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) were secretly recorded by conservative activists Hannah Giles and James O'Keefe. . Following Andrew Breitbart's death in 2012, the site was redesigned, bringing the formerly distinct "Big" websites under one umbrella website at ''Breitbart.com''.
Billionaire conservative activist
Robert Mercer
Robert Leroy Mercer (born July 11, 1946) is an American hedge fund manager, computer scientist, and political donor. Mercer was an early artificial intelligence researcher and developer and is the former co-CEO of the hedge fund company Renaissan ...
endowed ''Breitbart.com'' with at least $11 million in 2011.
2012–2016: after Andrew Breitbart's death
Bannon assumes leadership
![Joel Pollak](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Joel_Pollak.jpg)
Andrew Breitbart died in March 2012. The website hosted a number of memorials for him. Editors said they intended to carry on his legacy at the website. Following Andrew Breitbart's death, former board member Steve Bannon became executive chairman and
Laurence Solov became CEO. The company also hired
Joel Pollak
Joel Barry Pollak (born 25 April 1977) is a South African-American conservative political commentator, writer, and attorney. He currently serves as the senior-editor-at-large for Breitbart News.Felsenthal, Carol (1 March 2012)Andrew Breitbart's ...
as editor-in-chief and
Alex Marlow
Alexander Mason Marlow (born January 24, 1986) an American media executive who is currently the editor-in-chief of ''Breitbart News''. Marlow began his career as Andrew Breitbart's editorial assistant, a position which he held for four years. He ...
as managing editor. An October 2012 article in ''
BuzzFeed News
''BuzzFeed News'' is an American news website published by BuzzFeed. It has published a number of high-profile scoops, including the Steele dossier, for which it was heavily criticized, and the FinCEN Files. Since its establishment in 2011, it ...
'' suggested there were internal tensions in the organisation in the year after Andrew Breitbart's death as staffers battled for ownership of his legacy.
Before his death, Andrew Breitbart had begun a redesign of the ''Breitbart News'' website to transform it from a links-aggregator into a more tabloid-style website. The redesign was launched shortly after his death in March 2012.
In February 2014, Bannon announced the addition of approximately 12 staff members and the opening of Texas and London-based operations. The new offices were the beginning of an expansion plan that included the addition of a new regional site roughly every 90 days, with new locations to include
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
,
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
, and
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. According to a 2014
Pew Research Center
The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan American think tank (referring to itself as a "fact tank") based in Washington, D.C.
It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the w ...
study, 3% of respondents got their news from ''Breitbart'' in a typical week, and 79% of its audience reported having political values that are right-of-center.
Under Bannon's management, ''Breitbart News'' aligned with the American
alt-right
The alt-right, an abbreviation of alternative right, is a far-right, white nationalist movement. A largely online phenomenon, the alt-right originated in the United States during the late 2000s before increasing in popularity during the mid-2 ...
,
the European
populist right,
and the
pan-European nationalist identitarian movement
The Identitarian movement or Identitarianism is a pan-European nationalism, nationalist, far-right political ideology asserting the right of Ethnic groups in Europe, European ethnic groups and white peoples to Western culture and territories c ...
.
Bannon declared the website "the platform for the alt-right" in 2016,
but denied all allegations of
racism
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
and later stated that he rejected what he called the "
ethno-nationalist
Ethnic nationalism, also known as ethnonationalism, is a form of nationalism wherein the nation and nationality are defined in terms of ethnicity, with emphasis on an ethnocentric (and in some cases an ethnocratic) approach to various politic ...
" tendencies of the alt-right movement.
One of Bannon's coworkers said he wasn't referring to
Richard Spencer but instead to "the trolls on
Reddit
Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images ...
or
4Chan
4chan is an anonymous English-language imageboard website. Launched by Christopher "moot" Poole in October 2003, the site hosts boards dedicated to a wide variety of topics, from anime and manga to video games, cooking, weapons, television, ...
." The owners of ''Breitbart News'' deny that their website has any connection to the alt-right or has ever supported
racist
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
or
white supremacist
White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other Race (human classification), races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any Power (social and polit ...
views.
Anthony R. DiMaggio has described these denials as "
gaslighting
Gaslighting is a colloquialism, loosely defined as manipulating someone so as to make them question their own reality. The term derives from the title of the 1944 American film ''Gaslight'', which was based on the 1938 British theatre play ''Gas ...
".
''Breitbart News'' spokesperson Kurt Bardella stated in 2015 that the site "is a for-profit operation". The company's investors include computer scientist and hedge fund CEO Robert Mercer.
Editors commented in 2015 that the site is a "private company and we don't comment on who our investors or backers are."
According to the ''Los Angeles Times'', web traffic is vital to the company as it supports itself from advertising revenue.
Support for Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign
![Alexander Marlow by Gage Skidmore](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Alexander_Marlow_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg)
''Breitbart News'' strongly supported
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
in the 2016 United States presidential election. In July 2015, ''
Politico
''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...
'' reported that
Ted Cruz
Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas from ...
"likely has the Republican presidential field's deepest relationship with the Breitbart machine."
In August 2015, an article in BuzzFeed reported that several anonymous ''Breitbart News'' staffers claimed that Donald Trump had paid for favorable coverage on the site. The site's management strongly denied the charge.
In March 2016,
Lloyd Grove
Lloyd Bennett Grove is editor at large for ''The Daily Beast'', an American news reporting and opinion website focusing on politics and pop culture. He is also a frequent contributor to ''New York''. He was a gossip columnist for ''New York Daily ...
of ''
The Daily Beast
''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008.
It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...
'' characterized the website as "Trump-friendly", writing that ''Breitbart News'' "regularly savages the GOP establishment, the media elite, the Washington consultant class, and the
Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
Channel."
On March 11, 2016, ''Breitbart News'' reporter
Michelle Fields
Michelle Fields (born January 10, 1988) is an American political journalist who formerly wrote for ''The Huffington Post'', and was a reporter for ''Breitbart News'', as well as a Fox News contributor. After graduating from college, Fields was hi ...
filed a battery complaint against Donald Trump's campaign manager,
Corey Lewandowski
Corey R. Lewandowski (; born September 18, 1973) is an American political operative, lobbyist, political commentator and author who is politically associated primarily with Donald Trump. He was the first campaign manager of Trump's 2016 presid ...
, alleging that Lewandowski had grabbed her and bruised her while she was attempting to ask a question at an event.
After claiming that ''Breitbart News''s management was not sufficiently supportive of Fields, ''Breitbart''s editor-at-large
Ben Shapiro
Benjamin Aaron Shapiro (born January 15, 1984) is an American attorney, businessman, columnist, conservative political commentator, and media personality. At age 17, he became the youngest nationally syndicated columnist in the United States. ...
and Fields resigned.
A ''Breitbart News'' article published on March 14, 2016, accused Shapiro of betraying ''Breitbart News''s readers; the article was subsequently removed from the website. Editor-at-large Joel Pollak apologized for writing the article, saying he had done so in an attempt "to make light of a significant company event".
The website's spokesperson Kurt Bardella also resigned following the incident, objecting to the company's handling of the incident and its favorable coverage of Trump.
By March 14, several top executives and journalists at ''Breitbart News'' had resigned, with ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' saying that "Breitbart's unabashed embrace of Mr. Trump, particularly at the seeming expense of its own reporter, struck them as a betrayal of its mission."
Former employees accused Bannon of having "turned a website founded on anti-authoritarian grounds into a de facto propaganda outlet for Mr. Trump."
![Steve Bannon at 2017 CPAC by Michael Vadon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Steve_Bannon_at_2017_CPAC_by_Michael_Vadon.jpg)
On August 17, 2016, Bannon stepped down from his role as executive chairman to join the
Trump campaign There have been four presidential campaigns waged by Donald Trump for President of the United States. He has additionally mused about running on several other occasions.
Donald Trump presidential campaign may refer to:
* Donald Trump 2000 presid ...
as its new CEO.
On August 25, Trump's opponent
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
criticized him for hiring Bannon as his CEO in her rally in Reno, Nevada. She quoted the
Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white su ...
's view that the site embraces "ideas on the extremist fringe of the conservative right. Racist ideas." She also said that the "de facto merger between Breitbart and the Trump campaign represents a landmark achievement for the alt-right". She also condemned the site as "the Democratic Party's media enemy No. 1" and "racist, radical and offensive".
A 2017 study by the
Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society
The Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society is a research center at Harvard University that focuses on the study of cyberspace. Founded at Harvard Law School, the center traditionally focused on internet-related legal issues. On May 15, 2008, ...
at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
found that ''Breitbart News'' was the most shared source by Trump supporters on Twitter during the election.
2016–present: after the 2016 election
In November 2016, the cereal manufacturer
Kellogg's
The Kellogg Company, doing business as Kellogg's, is an American multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. Kellogg's produces cereal and convenience foods, including crackers and toaste ...
announced they would no longer advertise on ''Breitbart News'', saying the site was not "aligned with
heir
Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officiall ...
values". In response, ''Breitbart'' announced plans to boycott the company.
''Breitbart'' announced they would be willing to go to "war" with Kellogg's over its decision to remove ads from the site.
In January 2017, editor
Julia Hahn
Julia Aviva Hahn (born April 1, 1991) is an American writer. Between 2017 and 2021, she was deputy communications director in the Trump White House.
Early life
Hahn was born to a Jewish family, and grew up in Beverly Hills. She attended Harvard- ...
resigned from ''Breitbart News'' to work as special assistant to president Donald Trump.
Milo Yiannopoulos
Milo Yiannopoulos (; born Milo Hanrahan, 18 October 1984), who has also published as Milo Andreas Wagner and the mononym Milo, is a British alt-right political commentator. His speeches and writings often ridicule Islam, feminism, social justi ...
, who had served as a senior editor of ''Breitbart News'' since 2014, resigned from the company on February 21, 2017 after a video of him making controversial statements in relation to
hebephilia
Hebephilia is the strong, persistent sexual interest by adults in puberty, pubescent children who are in early adolescence, typically ages 11–14 and showing Tanner stages 2 to 3 of physical development. It differs from pedophilia (the primary or ...
surfaced.
Allies of Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior advisor
Jared Kushner
Jared Corey Kushner (born January 10, 1981) is an American businessman and investor. He served as a senior advisor to 45th U.S. president Donald Trump, his father-in-law. Since leaving the White House, Kushner founded Affinity Partners, a pri ...
complained to Trump in April 2017 after ''Breitbart'' published several unflattering articles about Kushner. Shortly afterwards, the site's senior editors asked staffers to stop writing stories critical of Kushner.
Bannon was appointed
White House Chief Strategist
Stephen Kevin Bannon (born November 27, 1953) is an American media executive, political strategist, and former investment banker. He served as the White House's chief strategist in the administration of U.S. president Donald Trump during the ...
in the
administration of US President Donald Trump and served in that role for seven months; he was dismissed from the White House on August 17, 2017.
That same day, he was again appointed executive chairman of ''Breitbart News''.
In January 2018, ''Breitbart News'' announced that Bannon had stepped down from his position as executive chairman.
In October 2019,
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
announced that ''Breitbart News'' would be included as a "trusted source" in its Facebook News feature alongside sources like ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' and ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
''. The decision sparked controversy due to ''Breitbart''
's status as a platform for the alt-right and its reputation for publishing misinformation. In October 2021, ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' reported that Facebook executives resisted removing ''Breitbart News'' from Facebook's News Tab feature to avoid angering Donald Trump and Republican members of Congress, despite criticism from Facebook employees.
Decline in advertisers and readership
From November 2016 to June 2017, ''Breitbart''s readership fell faster than other news sites.
In the two months from April to June 2017, the site lost about 90% of its advertisers. The decline coincided with boycotts aimed at getting advertisers to stop running ads on the site.
The boycotts were mainly organized by the anonymous online group
Sleeping Giants
Sleeping Giants is a social media activism organization aiming to pressure companies into removing advertisements from conservative news outlets. The campaign started in November 2016, shortly after Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 Unite ...
,
which said on June 5 that 2,200 organizations had committed to stop advertising on ''Breitbart News'' (and similar sites) due to its controversial positions.
Soon thereafter, ''Breitbart News'' trimmed prominently displayed, overtly racist content and fired contributor Katie McHugh for posting Islamophobic tweets about the
2017 London Bridge attack
On 3 June 2017, a terrorist vehicle-ramming and stabbing took place in London, England. A van was deliberately driven into pedestrians on London Bridge, and then crashed on Borough High Street, just south of the River Thames. The van's three occ ...
.
By 2019, ''Breitbart'' had lost nearly 75% of its readership, going from 17.3 million at the beginning of 2017 to 4.6 million in May 2019.
Content and coverage
Accuracy and ideology
''Breitbart News'' is a
far-right
Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...
American news, opinion, and commentary website.
Some news outlets describe it as a
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
news outlet or as part of the
alt-right
The alt-right, an abbreviation of alternative right, is a far-right, white nationalist movement. A largely online phenomenon, the alt-right originated in the United States during the late 2000s before increasing in popularity during the mid-2 ...
.
One of the site's objectives is to court
millennial
Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the Western demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000 ...
conservatives. Its consistently conservative editorial positions overlap with the ideological positions of
radical right-wing populist
Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right-wing nationalism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics and populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti-elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establi ...
parties in Europe. It supported Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign,
and political scientist
Matthew Goodwin
Matthew James Goodwin (born 17 December 1981) is a British academic who is Professor of Politics in the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Kent. he is a commisioner of the Social Mobility Commission.
Early life ...
described ''Breitbart News'' as being "ultra-conservative" in orientation.
''Breitbart News'' publishes articles that critique
feminism
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
,
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
, and
immigration
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
.
In August 2017, Joel Pollak, the senior editor-at-large for ''Breitbart News'', described the "mission" of ''Breitbart News'' in this way: "
#WAR has been our motto since the days of Andrew Breitbart, and we use it whenever we go to war against our three main targets, which are, in order:
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
and the
mainstream media
In journalism, mainstream media (MSM) is a term and abbreviation used to refer collectively to the various large mass news media that influence many people and both reflect and shape prevailing currents of thought.Chomsky, Noam, ''"What makes mai ...
, number one; the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
and the institutional
left
Left may refer to:
Music
* ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006
* ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016
* "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996
Direction
* Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right
* L ...
, number two; and the
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
establishment
Establishment may refer to:
* The Establishment, a dominant group or elite that controls a polity or an organization
* The Establishment (club), a 1960s club in London, England
* The Establishment (Pakistan), political terminology for the military ...
in
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
, number three."
''Breitbart News'' has published a number of falsehoods and
conspiracy theories
A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources:
*
*
*
* The term has a nega ...
,
as well as intentionally misleading stories,
including a story that the Obama administration had supported
ISIS
Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...
during insurgency against the Syrian regime.
It has sometimes published these misleading stories as part of an intentional strategy to manipulate media narratives via
disinformation
Disinformation is false information deliberately spread to deceive people. It is sometimes confused with misinformation, which is false information but is not deliberate.
The English word ''disinformation'' comes from the application of the L ...
.
In July 2010,
Shirley Sherrod
Shirley Sherrod (born 1948) is a former Georgia State Director of Rural Development for the United States Department of Agriculture. On July 19, 2010, she became a subject of controversy when parts of a speech she gave were publicized by Breitba ...
was fired from her appointed position as
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
State Director of
Rural Development
Rural development is the process of improving the quality life and economic well-being of people living in rural areas, often relatively isolated and sparsely populated areas.
Rural development has traditionally centered on the exploitation of l ...
for the
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...
.
Her firing was largely in response to coverage in ''Breitbart News'' of video excerpts from her address to an event of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. ...
(NAACP) in March 2010, though it was later picked up by
Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
.
Both NAACP and White House officials apologized for their statements after a longer version of her address was reviewed.
In April 2016, Stephen Piggott wrote in a
Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white su ...
blog that the "outlet has undergone a noticeable shift toward embracing ideas on the extremist fringe of the conservative right" and was using "
racist
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
", "anti-Muslim" and "
anti-immigrant
Opposition to immigration, also known as anti-immigration, has become a significant political ideology in many countries. In the modern sense, immigration refers to the entry of people from one state or territory into another state or territory ...
ideas".
Piggott wrote that the website was openly promoting, and had become associated with, the beliefs of the alt-right.
''Breitbart News'' has published material that has been called
misogynist
Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced fo ...
,
xenophobic
Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...
, and racist.
The owners of ''Breitbart News'' deny their website has any connection to the alt-right.
The
Anti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...
described ''Breitbart News'' as "the premier website of the alt-right" representing "white nationalists and unabashed anti-Semites and racists."
The
Zionist Organization of America
The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) () is an American non-profit pro-Israel organization. Founded in 1897, as the Federation of American Zionists, it was the first official Zionist organization in the United States. Early in the 20th centur ...
rejected accusations of antisemitism, saying that ''Breitbart News'' instead "bravely fights against anti-Semitism" and called for the ADL to apologize. An article in
''The Jewish Daily Forward'' argued that Bannon and Andrew Breitbart are antisemitic. An article by
Shmuley Boteach
Jacob Shmuel Boteach ( ; born November 19, 1966) is an American Orthodox Jewish rabbi, author, and television host. Boteach is the author of 31 books, including the best seller ''Kosher Sex: A Recipe for Passion and Intimacy'', and ''Kosher Jesu ...
in ''
The Hill'' disputed the allegations, arguing that ''Breitbart'' defends Israel against antisemitism. Alex Marlow, editor-in-chief of ''Breitbart News'', denies that ''Breitbart'' is a "hate-site", stating "that we're consistently called anti-Semitic despite the fact that we are overwhelmingly staffed with Jews and are pro-Israel and pro-Jewish. That is
fake news
Fake news is false or misleading information presented as news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person or entity, or making money through advertising revenue.Schlesinger, Robert (April 14, 2017)"Fake news in reality ...
."
''Science'' magazine called ''Breitbart'' "a far-right site that avoids explicit white nationalism."
''Breitbart News'' has had staff members associated with white supremacists. An exposé by ''
BuzzFeed News
''BuzzFeed News'' is an American news website published by BuzzFeed. It has published a number of high-profile scoops, including the Steele dossier, for which it was heavily criticized, and the FinCEN Files. Since its establishment in 2011, it ...
'' published in October 2017 documented how ''Breitbart'' solicited story ideas and copy edits from white supremacists and neo-Nazis via the intermediation of Milo Yiannopoulos. Yiannopoulos, together with other ''Breitbart News'' employees, developed and marketed the values and tactics of these groups and attempted to make them palatable to a broader audience.
According to ''BuzzFeed News'', "These new emails and documents ... clearly show that Breitbart does more than tolerate the most hate-filled, racist voices of the alt-right. It thrives on them, fueling and being fueled by some of the most toxic beliefs on the political spectrum—and clearing the way for them to enter the American mainstream."
In November 2017, British anti-fascism charity
Hope Not Hate
Hope not Hate (stylized as HOPE not hate) is an advocacy group based in the United Kingdom which campaigns against racism and fascism. It has also mounted campaigns against Islamic extremism and antisemitism. It is self-described as a "non-par ...
identified one of the website's writers as an administrator of a far-right
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
group that serves as a platform for fascists and white supremacists.
In 2017, the
Mueller investigation
The Mueller special counsel investigation was an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, links between associates of Donald Trump and Russian officials, and possible obstruction of justice by Trump and his ...
examined the role of ''Breitbart News'' in
Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections
The Russian government interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election with the goals of harming the campaign of Hillary Clinton, boosting the candidacy of Donald Trump, and increasing political and social discord in the United States. Acc ...
and its role in both amplifying stories from Russian media and being amplified by Russian bots in social media. In 2017, a ''Breitbart News'' reporter left the company to join
Sputnik
Sputnik 1 (; see § Etymology) was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space program. It sent a radio signal back to Earth for t ...
.
In a 2017 survey among US readers, ''Breitbart News'' was voted the third least trustworthy source among American readers, with
BuzzFeed
BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III to focus on tracking viral content. Ken ...
and
Occupy Democrats
Occupy Democrats is an American left-wing media outlet built around a Facebook page and corresponding website. Established in 2012, it publishes false information, hyperpartisan content, and clickbait. Posts originating from the Occupy Democrats ...
being lower-ranked.
In an October 2018
Simmons Research
Experian is an American–Irish multinational data analytics and consumer credit reporting company. Experian collects and aggregates information on over 1 billion people and businesses including 235 million individual U.S. consumers and more t ...
survey of 38 news organizations, ''Breitbart News'' was ranked the sixth least trusted news organization by Americans in a tie with the
Daily Kos
Daily Kos ( ) is a group blog and internet forum focused on the U.S. Democratic Party and liberal American politics. The site includes glossaries and other content. It is sometimes considered an example of "netroots" activism.
Daily Kos was f ...
, with the ''
Palmer Report
The ''Palmer Report'' is an American liberal fake news website, founded in 2016 by Bill Palmer. It is known for making unsubstantiated or false claims, producing hyperpartisan content, and publishing conspiracy theories, especially on matte ...
'', Occupy Democrats, ''
InfoWars
''InfoWars'' is an American far-right conspiracy theory and fake news website owned by Alex Jones. It was founded in 1999, and operates under Free Speech Systems LLC.
Talk shows and other content for the site are created primarily in studi ...
'' and ''
The Daily Caller
''The Daily Caller'' is a right-wing news and opinion website based in Washington, D.C. It was founded by now-Fox News host Tucker Carlson and political pundit Neil Patel (political advisor), Neil Patel in 2010. Launched as a "American Conserva ...
'' being lower-ranked. An August 2019 internal Facebook study found that ''Breitbart News'' was the least trusted news source, and also ranked as low-quality, in the sources it looked at across the U.S. and Great Britain.
''Breitbart News'' has published several articles accusing the
English Wikipedia
The English Wikipedia is, along with the Simple English Wikipedia, one of two English-language editions of Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia. It was founded on January 15, 2001, as Wikipedia's first edition, and, as of
, has the most arti ...
of having a
left-wing
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
and
liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
bias, including headlines such as "Five of the best examples of left-wing bias on Wikipedia in 2017".
In March 2018, ''Breitbart News'' responded negatively to a pop-up on Facebook containing content from the Wikipedia article on ''Breitbart News'' that described the news website as "intentionally misleading", resulting in several users attempting to change the article's content.
In September 2018, Wikipedia editors "deprecated" ''Breitbart News'' as a source due to its unreliability; ''Breitbart News'' can still be cited on Wikipedia as an opinion or commentary source. ''Breitbart News'' is also on Wikipedia's
spam blacklist
Various anti-spam techniques are used to prevent email spam (unsolicited bulk email).
No technique is a complete solution to the spam problem, and each has trade-offs between incorrectly rejecting legitimate email (false positives) as opposed to ...
, requiring special permission for links to the website to be used.
Main sections
"Big Hollywood"
In 2008, Andrew Breitbart launched the website ''Big Hollywood'', a group blog by individuals working in
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
. The site was an outgrowth of Breitbart's "Big Hollywood" column in ''
The Washington Times
''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout ...
'', which included issues faced by conservatives working in Hollywood.
In 2009, the site used audio from a conference call to accuse the
National Endowment of the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...
of encouraging artists to create work in support of
President Barack Obama's domestic policy. The Obama Administration and the NEA were accused of potentially violating the
Hatch Act
The Hatch Act of 1939, An Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activities, is a United States federal law. Its main provision prohibits civil service employees in the executive branch of the federal government, except the president and vice pre ...
. The White House acknowledged regrets, and the story led to the resignation of a White House appointee, and new federal guidelines for how federal agencies should interact with potential grantees.
"Big Government"
Andrew Breitbart launched ' on September 10, 2009, with a $25,000 loan from his father.
He hired
Mike Flynn, a former government affairs specialist at the
Reason Foundation
The Reason Foundation is an American libertarian think tank that was founded in 1978. The foundation publishes the magazine ''Reason''. Based in Los Angeles, California, it is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization. According to its web site, the f ...
, as Editor-in-Chief of Big Government. The site premiered with hidden camera video footage taken by
Hannah Giles
In 2009, workers at offices of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) were secretly recorded by conservative activists Hannah Giles and James O'Keefe. and
James O'Keefe
James Edward O'Keefe III (born June 28, 1984) is an American political activist and provocateur who founded Project Veritas, a far-right activist group that uses deceptive editing techniques to attack mainstream media organizations and progr ...
at
Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now
The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) is an international collection of autonomous community-based organizations that advocated for low- and moderate-income families by working on neighborhood safety, voter registrati ...
(ACORN) offices in various cities, attracting nationwide attention resulting in the ACORN 2009 undercover videos controversy. According to law enforcement and media analysts, the videos were heavily edited to create a negative impression of ACORN.
"Big Journalism"
In January 2010, Andrew Breitbart launched "Big Journalism". he told
Mediaite
Mediaite is a news website focusing on politics and the media.Howard PolskinHow the Washington Examiner became a traffic monster ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (May 15, 2020). Founded by Dan Abrams, it is part of the Abrams Media Network.
Conte ...
: "Our goal at Big Journalism is to hold the mainstream media's feet to the fire. There are a lot of stories that they simply don't cover, either because it doesn't fit their world view, or because they're literally innocent of any knowledge that the story even exists, or because they are a dying organization, short-staffed, and thus can't cover stuff like they did before."
[ "Big Journalism" was edited by Michael A. Walsh, a former journalism professor and '']Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine music critic.[
]
"National Security"
''BigPeace.com'', which later became the "National Security" component of ''Breitbart News'', debuted on July 4, 2010. National Security covers foreign policy, the wars in Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
and Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
, terrorism, Islamic extremism
Islamic extremism, Islamist extremism, or radical Islam, is used in reference to extremist beliefs and behaviors which are associated with the Islamic religion. These are controversial terms with varying definitions, ranging from academic unde ...
, espionage, border security, and energy issues.
"Breitbart Tech"
On October 27, 2015, the website launched "Breitbart Tech", a technology journalism
Technology journalism is the activity, or product, of journalists engaged in the preparation of written, visual, audio or multi-media material intended for dissemination through public Media (communication) , media, focusing on technology-relate ...
subsection of the site that focuses on technology, gaming, esports
Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...
, and internet culture
Internet culture is a culture based on the many way people have used computer networks and their use for communication, entertainment, business, and recreation. Some features of Internet culture include online communities, gaming, and social media ...
. It was initially edited by Milo Yiannopoulos, who was recruited by Bannon, until his resignation on February 21, 2017, following the controversy surrounding questionable comments he made regarding hebephilia and the sexuality of children during two podcasts. In July 2016, Yiannopoulos was banned from Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
after racist abuse was directed towards ''Ghostbusters
''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American Supernatural fiction, supernatural comedy film directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and ...
'' actress Leslie Jones following Yiannopoulos's insulting tweets about her. Although Yiannopoulos's Twitter account was removed, ''Breitbart News'' has since republished the full tweet exchange and has published articles criticizing Twitter. Yiannopoulos mostly wrote about cultural issues, particularly Gamergate
Gamergate may refer to:
* Gamergate (ant), a worker ant that can store sperm and reproduce sexually
* Gamergate (harassment campaign), targeting women in the video game industry
* Lt. Gamergate, a character in the ''Adventure Time'' episode " Den ...
.
Radio
''Breitbart News Daily'' began production on Sirius XM Patriot
SiriusXM Patriot is a conservative talk radio channel on Sirius Satellite Radio channel 125 and XM Satellite Radio channel 12 The channel features exclusive hosts such as Cam & Company froNRANews(until June 2018), David Webb, and Andrew Wilkow. It ...
in 2015.
Regional sections
"Breitbart London"
''Breitbart News''s London edition was launched in February 2014. It was headed at the time by executive editor James Delingpole
James Mark Court Delingpole (born 6 August 1965) is an English writer, journalist, and columnist who has written for a number of publications, including the '' Daily Mail'', the '' Daily Express'', ''The Times'', ''The Daily Telegraph'', and ' ...
, described as a "high traffic hire" by ''The Spectator
''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world.
It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...
''s Steerpike column. He co-founded it with Raheem Kassam
Raheem J. Kassam (born 1 August 1986) is a British political activist, former editor-in-chief of ''Breitbart News'' London, and former chief adviser to former UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage. He has been described as far-right an ...
.
"Breitbart Jerusalem"
On November 17, 2015, the website launched "Breitbart Jerusalem", which covers events in Israel and the wider Middle East. It is edited by Israel-based American reporter Aaron Klein
Aaron Klein ( he, אהרון קליין; born 1979) is an American-Israeli conservative political commentator, journalist, strategist, bestselling author, and senior advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He served as campaign manager fo ...
. Rabbi Shmuley Boteach has been an occasional columnist.
"Breitbart Texas"
''Breitbart News''s Texas edition was launched in February 2014 and its editor and managing director at launch was Brandon Darby
Brandon Michael Darby (born November 2, 1976) is an Americans, American conservative blogger and activist. He first became known in the fall of 2005 for actions in New Orleans in efforts to help residents, where he was a co-founder of the Common G ...
.[ ]Michael Quinn Sullivan
Empower Texans was a conservative advocacy group in Texas that was active from 2006 to 2020. It was affiliated with Texans for Fiscal Responsibility and the Empower Texans Foundation. Empower Texans was based in Austin with operations in Dallas, H ...
was a founding contributor.
Notable events
ACORN undercover videos
''Breitbart News'' played a central role in the 2009 ACORN video controversy, which resulted in the reorganization of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), as well as its loss of private and government funding. ''Breitbart News'' contributor Hannah Giles posed as a prostitute fleeing an abusive pimp
Procuring or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp (if male) or a madam (if female, though the term pimp has still ...
and seeking tax and legal advice on how to run an illegal business that included the use of underage girls in the sex trade, while James O'Keefe, another contributor, posed as her boyfriend. They clandestinely videotaped meetings with ACORN staff who "gave advice on house-buying and how to account on tax forms for the woman's income."
Andrew Breitbart paid Giles and O'Keefe $32,000 and $65,000, respectively, to film, edit and blog about the videos. Giles paid $100,000 and O'Keefe paid $50,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by former ACORN employee Juan Carlos Vera regarding the videos.
Subsequent investigations by the Brooklyn District Attorney
The Kings County District Attorney's Office, also known as the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office, is the District attorney, district attorney's office for Kings County, New York, Kings County, coterminous with the Borough of Brooklyn, in New Yo ...
's office and the California Attorney General found the videos were heavily edited in an attempt to make ACORN's responses "appear more sinister", and contributed to the group's demise. Clark Hoyt
Clark Hoyt is an Americans, American journalist who was the ombudsman, public editor of ''The New York Times'', serving as the "readers' representative." He was the newspaper's third public editor, or ombudsman, after Daniel Okrent and Byron Calame ...
, ''The New York Times'' public editor
A public editor is a position existing at some news publications; the person holding this position is responsible for supervising the implementation of proper journalism ethics at that publication. These responsibilities include identifying and ex ...
, wrote, "The videos were heavily edited. The sequence of some conversations was changed. Some workers seemed concerned for Giles, one advising her to get legal help. In two cities, ACORN workers called the police. But the most damning words match the transcripts and the audio, and do not seem out of context." However, a former Massachusetts Attorney General hired to investigate the matter found no pattern of illegal conduct by the ACORN employees and said the news media should have been far more skeptical, demanding the raw video from which the edited versions were produced.
Shirley Sherrod's remarks at NAACP fundraiser
In July 2010, ''Breitbart News'' released an edited video titled "Proof NAACP Awards Racism" which featured USDA official Shirley Sherrod speaking at a NAACP fundraising dinner in March 2010. In the video, Sherrod admits to a racial reluctance to help a white farmer obtain government aid. As a result of the video, the NAACP condemned Sherrod's remarks, and U.S. government officials called on Sherrod to resign, which she did.
The NAACP later posted the longer 43-minute video of the speech.[ In it, Sherrod said her reluctance to help a white man was wrong, and she had ended up assisting him. The NAACP then reversed their rebuke of Sherrod,][ and ]Secretary of Agriculture
The United States secretary of agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other governments.
The department includes several organi ...
Tom Vilsack
Thomas James Vilsack (; born December 13, 1950) is an American politician serving as the 32nd United States Secretary of Agriculture in the Biden administration. He previously served in the role from 2009 to 2017 during the Obama administration. ...
apologized and offered Sherrod a new government position. Andrew Breitbart said that the point of the piece was not to target Sherrod, but said the NAACP audience's reception of some parts of the speech demonstrated the same racism the NAACP's President had accused the Tea Party movement
The Tea Party movement was an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2009. Members of the movement called for lower taxes and for a reduction of the national debt and federal budget defic ...
of harboring. In 2011, Sherrod sued Andrew Breitbart and his business partner Larry O'Connor for defamation
Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...
. In 2015, Sherrod and Andrew Breitbart's estate settled
A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area.
A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer.
Settle ...
the case.[Zoe Tillman]
"Former USDA Official Settles Defamation Suit Against Breitbart Estate"
''National Law Journal'' (October 1, 2015).
Anthony Weiner sexting scandal
On May 28, 2011, ''Breitbart News'''s ''BigJournalism'' website reported on a sexually explicit photo linked on New York Representative Anthony Weiner
Anthony David Weiner (; born September 4, 1964) is an American former politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1999 until his resignation in 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he consistently carried the district with at l ...
's Twitter feed. Weiner initially denied that he had sent a 21-year-old female college student the link to the photograph, but later admitted to inappropriate online relationships. On June 6, ''Breitbart News'' reported other photos Weiner had sent, including one that was sexually explicit. Two days later, the sexually graphic photo was leaked after Andrew Breitbart participated in a radio interview with hosts Opie and Anthony
''Opie and Anthony'' was an American radio show hosted by Gregg Hughes, Gregg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia that aired from March 1995 to July 2014, with comedian Jim Norton (comedian), Jim Norton serving as third mic from 2001. The show origina ...
. Andrew Breitbart stated that the photo was published without his permission. Weiner subsequently resigned from his congressional seat on June 21.
"Friends of Hamas" story
On February 7, 2013, Ben Shapiro published an article on ''Breitbart News'' reporting allegations that former Senator and nominee for United States Secretary of Defense
The United States secretary of defense (SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense, the executive department of the U.S. Armed Forces, and is a high ranking member of the federal cabinet. DoDD 5100.1: Enclosure 2: a The s ...
Chuck Hagel
Charles Timothy Hagel ( born October 4, 1946)[Nebraska
Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...]
) may have been paid to speak at an event sponsored by a group called "Friends of Hamas
Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...
." ''Breitbart News'' said that the story was based on exclusive information from U.S. Senate sources.
An investigation by ''Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
'' reporter David Weigel
David Weigel (born September 26, 1981) is an American journalist. He works for ''Semafor''. Weigel previously covered politics for ''The Washington Post,'' ''Slate,'' and ''Bloomberg Politics'' and is a contributing editor for ''Reason'' magaz ...
failed to confirm the existence of the purported group. On February 19, New York '' Daily News'' reporter Dan Friedman said that the story had originated from a sarcastic comment he had made to a congressional staffer. "Friends of Hamas" was one of several groups which Friedman considered to be so over-the-top as to be implausible and obviously fictitious. He was investigating rumors that Hagel had been paid for speaking to "controversial organizations", and asked sarcastically whether he had addressed "Friends of Hamas." Friedman followed with an email to the congressional staffer asking if Hagel had received a $25,000 fee from "Friends of Hamas" for his speaking engagement. No reply to the email was received, and the next day, ''Breitbart News'' ran a story with the headline "Secret Hagel Donor?: White House Spox Ducks Question on 'Friends of Hamas'."
Shapiro maintained that the report was accurate, claiming that the source was not Friedman. Writers for ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', ''New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
'' magazine and ''The Daily Beast'' criticized ''Breitbart News'' for the "Friends of Hamas" story, calling it "wrong" and "made-up".
Nancy Pelosi/Miley Cyrus ad campaign
In April 2014, ''Breitbart News'' created an advertising campaign to launch ''Breitbart California'', which included posters bearing an image of House minority leader Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...
's head superimposed onto singer Miley Cyrus
Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip hop ...
's body as seen twerking
Twerking (; possibly from 'to work') is a type of dance that came out of the bounce music scene of New Orleans in the late 1980s. Individually performed chiefly but not exclusively by women, performers dance to popular music in a sexually provo ...
on California governor Jerry Brown
Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of S ...
, spoofing the 2013 VMAs. DNC Chairwoman and Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Deborah Wasserman Schultz ( née Wasserman; born September 27, 1966) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from , first elected to Congress in 2004. A member of the Democratic Party, she is a former chair of the Democra ...
denounced the images as disrespectful to women. In response, House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy
Kevin Owen McCarthy (born January 26, 1965) is an American politician, serving as Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives, House Minority Leader in the United States House of Representatives since 2019. A member of the Rep ...
requested that his column be removed from the site.
Misidentification of Loretta Lynch
On November 8, 2014, ''Breitbart News'' posted an article by Warner Todd Huston, which erroneously reported that Loretta Lynch
Loretta Elizabeth Lynch (born May 21, 1959) is an American lawyer who served as the 83rd attorney general of the United States from 2015 to 2017. She was appointed by President Barack Obama to succeed Eric Holder and previously served as the Uni ...
, President Barack Obama's nominee for attorney general, had been part of Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
's defense team during the Whitewater scandal
The Whitewater controversy, Whitewater scandal, Whitewatergate, or simply Whitewater, was an American political controversy during the 1990s. It began with an investigation into the real estate investments of Bill and Hillary Clinton and their ass ...
about the Whitewater Development Corporation
The Whitewater controversy, Whitewater scandal, Whitewatergate, or simply Whitewater, was an American political controversy during the 1990s. It began with an investigation into the real estate investments of Bill and Hillary Clinton and their ass ...
. In fact, the Whitewater lawyer was a different Loretta Lynch. After this mistake was pointed out by ''Talking Points Memo
''Talking Points Memo'' (''TPM'') is a liberal political news and opinion website created and run by Josh Marshall that debuted on November 12, 2000. The name is a reference to the memo (short list) consisting of the issues (points) discussed by ...
'' and Media Matters for America
Media Matters for America (MMfA) is a politically left-leaning 501(c)(3), nonprofit organization and media watchdog group. MMfA was founded in 2004 by journalist and political activist David Brock as a counterweight to the conservative Media Res ...
, ''Breitbart News'' noted that the two Lynches were different people by correcting and appending the original article.[ Andrew Rosenthal of ''The New York Times'' editorial page editor criticized this, writing: "The appended correction didn't really do justice to the scope of the misidentification."]
The ''American Journalism Review
The ''American Journalism Review'' (''AJR'') was an American magazine covering topics in journalism. It was launched in 1977 as the ''Washington Journalism Review'' by journalist Roger Kranz. It ceased publication in 2015.
History and profile
Th ...
'' said "that Breitbart had let the mistaken fact stand in the headline and the article itself," and had published a second story containing the incorrect information on November 9. By November 10, the initial story had been deleted from ''Breitbart.com''. ''PolitiFact
PolitiFact.com is an American nonprofit project operated by the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, with offices there and in Washington, D.C. It began in 2007 as a project of the ''Tampa Bay Times'' (then the ''St. Petersburg Times'' ...
'' rated the claim "Pants on Fire" and noted that the false claim had "already spread to other conspiracy, opinion and conservative news websites", as an example of how fast false information can spread on the Internet.["Breitbart gets the wrong Loretta Lynch in Whitewater claim"](_blank)
Sharockman, Aaron. ''PolitiFact
PolitiFact.com is an American nonprofit project operated by the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, with offices there and in Washington, D.C. It began in 2007 as a project of the ''Tampa Bay Times'' (then the ''St. Petersburg Times'' ...
'', November 10, 2014
Conspiracy theories about President Obama
According to ''The New York Times'', ''Breitbart News'' promoted the falsehood that President Obama was a Kenyan-born Muslim ("birtherism
During Barack Obama's Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign, campaign for president in 2008 United States presidential election, 2008, throughout Presidency of Barack Obama, his presidency and afterwards, there was extensive news coverage ...
"). In ''Devil's Bargain
''Devil's Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, and the Storming of the Presidency'' is a 2017 book by ''Bloomberg Businessweek'' journalist Joshua Green about the partnership between Donald Trump and Steve Bannon that led to their 2016 politi ...
'', however, Joshua Green writes that Breitbart never promoted birtherism. ''Breitbart'' senior editor-at-large Joel Pollak has denied that ''Breitbart News'' had ever "advocated the narrative of 'Birtherism.'"
In June 2016, ''Breitbart News'' falsely claimed President Obama supported terrorists.
In March 2017, ''Breitbart News'' published a story by conservative talk radio
Conservative talk radio is a talk radio format in the United States and other countries devoted to expressing conservative viewpoints of issues, as opposed to progressive talk radio. The definition of conservative talk is generally broad enough ...
host Mark Levin
Mark Reed Levin (; born September 21, 1957) is an American lawyer, author, and radio personality. He is the host of syndicated radio show
Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and rad ...
claiming that Obama had wiretap
Telephone tapping (also wire tapping or wiretapping in American English) is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitorin ...
ped Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign. President Trump repeated the claims on his Twitter feed less than 24 hours after ''Breitbart News'' ran the story.
Conspiracy theories about Hillary Clinton
During the 2016 presidential election, ''Breitbart News'' were accused by ''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' magazine of promoting conspiracy theories including the debunked Pizzagate conspiracy theory
"Pizzagate" is a conspiracy theory that went viral during the 2016 United States presidential election cycle. It has been extensively discredited by a wide range of organizations, including the Washington, D.C. police.
In March 2016, the pe ...
, which alleged that high-ranking Democrats were involved a child sex ring. The website made unconfirmed claims about Hillary Clinton's health, including asserting she had issues caused by a supposed brain injury. A June 2016 ''Breitbart News'' article presented Stone's conspiracy theory that Clinton aide Huma Abedin
Huma Mahmood Abedin ( ur, ; born July 28, 1975) is an American political staffer who was vice chair of Hillary Clinton's Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign, 2016 campaign for President of the United States. Before that, Abedin was deputy ...
was involved with terrorism.
False report of Muslim mob in Germany
On January 3, 2017, ''Breitbart News''s Virginia Hale wrote that "At New Year's Eve celebrations in Dortmund
Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...
a mob of more than 1,000 men chanted ' Allahu Akhbar', launched fireworks at police, and set fire to a historic church". According to Agence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse (AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency.
AFP has regional headquarters in Nicosia, Montevideo, Hong Kong and Washington, D.C ...
, the story gave the impression of "chaotic civil war-like conditions in Germany, caused by Islamist aggressors". The story was later shown to be false; St. Reinold's Church is neither the oldest church in Germany nor was the church set on fire. While 1000 people did gather, which is not unusual on New Year's Eve in a public place, video footage from the scene does not show a "mob", and no policemen were targeted. The official police report recorded an "average to quiet New Year's Eve" with "no spectacular facts to report", while firefighters note an "almost normal weekend night" and state that a "safety net at the Reinoldi church caught fire by a fireworks rocket, but was quickly extinguished". Witness said it was not the church roof that was scorched, but a construction scaffolding on the church's far side, away from the crowd. The group that shouted "Allahu Akbar" consisted of only 50–70 people and was celebrating the ceasefire in Aleppo.
The false story was then subsequently picked up by an Austrian far-right website before it made its way back to Germany where politician Thorsten Hoffmann
Thorsten Hoffmann (born 5 February 1961) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union ( CDU) from Dortmund. From 2015 to 2017, he was a member of the Bundestag.
Career
In 1980, Hoffmann joined the police service. Two years later, h ...
fell for it. In Germany, several newspapers reported on ''Breitbart News'' publishing the hoax and distorting facts. ''Breitbart News'' initially declined to comment, but on January 8 published a story in which it stood by its claims, which had been shown to be false, and refused to admit to any exaggeration. The only correction issued was with regard to the church's age. The follow-up story used a screen capture of different fireworks at the near side of the church, with no scaffolding. ''Ruhr Nachrichten
''Ruhr Nachrichten'' is a daily newspaper that has been published in Dortmund, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after R ...
'', the original outlet and the alleged witness cited by ''Breitbart News'', replied to the update, and stated that ''Breitbart News'' had not contacted them or the firefighters present to verify their story. They also reiterated the accusation against ''Breitbart News'' of exaggerating minor facts to give a false "impression that a 'mob' of 1000 migrants had shot at Christian churches in Dortmund and set them on fire." The newspaper went on to accuse ''Breitbart News'' of not adhering to journalistic ethics
Journalistic ethics and standards comprise principles of ethics and good practice applicable to journalists. This subset of media ethics is known as journalism's professional "code of ethics" and the "canons of journalism". The basic codes and c ...
. ''Ruhr Nachrichten'' also accused ''Breitbart'' of "using our online reports for fake news, hate and propaganda" and published video fragments recorded on site that contradicted ''Breitbart News''s story.
Climate change denial
In November 2016, ''Breitbart News'' published an article summarizing a ''Daily Mail
The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...
'' piece that falsely claimed that record-high global temperatures were unrelated to global warming
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
. The ''Breitbart'' article, by James Delingpole
James Mark Court Delingpole (born 6 August 1965) is an English writer, journalist, and columnist who has written for a number of publications, including the '' Daily Mail'', the '' Daily Express'', ''The Times'', ''The Daily Telegraph'', and ' ...
, was cited by the , for which the latter itself was criticized. ''Weather.com'' condemned the ''Breitbart'' story in an article titled "Note to Breitbart: Earth Is Not Cooling, Climate Change Is Real and Please Stop Using Our Video to Mislead Americans".
In June 2017, ''Breitbart News'' published an article by Dellingpole that claimed that 58 scientific papers disproved anthropogenic climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
. A number of scientists criticized the article, describing it as cherry-picking, derogatory, inaccurate, misleading, and employing flawed reasoning. In April 2019, ''Breitbart News'' published an article that claimed that a scientific study on past climate proved that man-made climate change was a hoax. Climate scientists sharply criticized the article, variously describing it as ignorant, misleading, and misrepresentative of the study's actual findings. In 2020, ''Breitbart News'' falsely claimed that the sea level has remained stable throughout the 20th century.
In November 2021, a study by the Center for Countering Digital Hate
The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) is a British non-profit organisation with offices in London and Washington, DC. It campaigns for big tech firms to stop providing services to individuals who may promote hate and misinformation, ...
described ''Breitbart News'' as being among "ten fringe publishers" that together were responsible for nearly 70 percent of Facebook user interactions with content that denied climate change. Facebook disputed the study's methodology.
Picturing Lukas Podolski in an article about refugees
In August 2017, ''Breitbart News'' featured a picture of professional German soccer player Lukas Podolski
Lukas Josef Podolski (; born Łukasz Józef Podolski, , on 4 June 1985) is a German professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ekstraklasa club Górnik Zabrze. Known for his powerful and accurate left foot, he is known for his explosive ...
in an article entitled "Spanish Police Crack Gang Moving Migrants on Jet-Skis". Podolski is neither a migrant gang member nor a victim of human trafficking. The picture was of Podolski riding a jet-ski in the summer of 2014 in Brazil. ''Breitbart News'' apologized to Podolski after the picture drew attention.
False story about Northern California wildfires
In October 2017, ''Breitbart News'' published a false story claiming that an illegal immigrant
Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...
was arrested in connection with the October 2017 Northern California wildfires
The October 2017 Northern California wildfires, also known as the Northern California firestorm, North Bay Fires, and the Wine Country Fires were a series of 250 wildfires that started burning across the state of California, United States, b ...
. Sonoma County
Sonoma County () is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 488,863. Its county seat and largest city is Santa Rosa, California, Santa Rosa. It is to the n ...
's sheriff department responded to ''Breitbart''s reporting, "This is completely false, bad, wrong information that Breitbart started and is being put out into the public."
COVID-19 misinformation
''Breitbart News'' livestreamed a widely viewed video on July 27, 2020, featuring a group called America's Frontline Doctors
America's Frontline Doctors (AFLDS) is an American right-wing political organization. Affiliated with Tea Party Patriots co-founder Jenny Beth Martin and publicly led by Simone Gold, the group is opposed to measures intended to control the COV ...
, that made dubious claims related to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
and touted hydroxychloroquine
Hydroxychloroquine, sold under the brand name Plaquenil among others, is a medication used to prevent and treat malaria in areas where malaria remains sensitive to chloroquine. Other uses include treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, an ...
as a cure. The group was led by Dr. Simone Gold, reportedly a Trump supporter who has advocated the use of hydroxychloroquine on conservative talk radio and podcasts. President Donald Trump shared several versions of the video with his 84 million Twitter followers before they were taken down. The video was removed by Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
for violating policies against COVID-19 misinformation
Misinformation is incorrect or misleading information. It differs from disinformation, which is ''deliberately'' deceptive. Rumors are information not attributed to any particular source, and so are unreliable and often unverified, but can turn ou ...
. The president's son Donald Trump Jr.
Donald John Trump Jr. (born December 31, 1977) is an American political activist, businessman, author, and former television presenter. He is the eldest child of Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021, and his firs ...
was restricted from Twitter for 12 hours for sharing it. The video event was funded by the right-wing group Tea Party Patriots
The Tea Party Patriots is an American conservative political organization founded in 2009 as part of the Tea Party movement. It is known for organizing citizen opposition to the Affordable Care Act during the presidency of Barack Obama, and more ...
. The video had 14 million views and was shared 600,000 times on Facebook before it was taken down. ''Breitbart'' did not immediately respond to CNBC when asked about the video being removed by Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Voter fraud
In August 2020, a ''Breitbart'' article cited a press release by Michigan secretary of state Jocelyn Benson
Jocelyn Benson (born October 22, 1977) is an American activist, politician, and former academic administrator. She is the 43rd Secretary of State of Michigan. Benson is a former dean of Wayne State University Law School, a co-founder of the Mili ...
about the state rejecting over 800 ballots cast by voters who died before the date of the election. The article was written in a way suggesting that the ballots were not legitimately cast and thus evidence of extensive voter fraud. In fact, the voters in question died after submitting their ballots. The article was shared by Donald Trump Jr.
Donald John Trump Jr. (born December 31, 1977) is an American political activist, businessman, author, and former television presenter. He is the eldest child of Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021, and his firs ...
on Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
.
References
Further reading
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Breitbart.com
Alt-right websites
American news websites
Internet properties established in 2007
Mass media companies of the United States
American political blogs
American conservative websites
2007 establishments in the United States
Climate change denial
Conspiracist media
Xenophobia in North America