:Drudge Report

The Drudge Report started in 1995 as a gossip column focusing on Hollywood and Washington, D.C.{{cite web|url=http://epic.org/free_speech/blumenthal_v_drudge.html|title=Blumenthal vs Drudge|access-date=December 18, 2006}} Matt Drudge began the email-based newsletter from an apartment in Hollywood, California, using his connections with industry and media insiders to break stories, sometimes before they hit the mainstream media. In its early days Drudge maintained the website from his home in Miami Beach, Florida, with help from assistants in story selection and headline writing. His first assistant was Andrew Breitbart.{{cite news|last=Sappell|first=Joel|title=Hot links served up daily|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=August 4, 2007|url=https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-drudge4aug04,0,4136919,full.story?coll=la-home-center|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080211200049/http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-drudge4aug04,0,4136919,full.story?coll=la-home-center|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 11, 2008|access-date=August 4, 2007}} Breitbart, who described himself as "Matt Drudge's bitch",{{cite web|url=http://www.reason.com/news/show/122048.html |title=Lists: What's Your Source for That? Where Andrew Breitbart gets his information.|access-date=October 1, 2008|publisher=ReasonOnline.com|date=2007-10-02}} worked the afternoon shift at the Drudge Report,{{cite web|url=http://gawker.com/5044885/andrew-breitbart-drudges-human-face|title=Andrew Breitbart: Drudge's Human Face|access-date=September 10, 2008|publisher=Gawker.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080909165225/http://gawker.com/5044885/andrew-breitbart-drudges-human-face|archive-date=September 9, 2008}} at the same time as running his own website, Breitbart News, which provided a conservative perspective for people in the Los Angeles entertainment industry.{{cite news|url=https://observer.com/2008/09/hollywood-infidel/|title=Hollywood Infidel|access-date=October 1, 2008|newspaper=Observer.com|date=2008-09-08}} John Ziegler has said that Drudge blocked Breitbart from posting content critical of Barack Obama during the 2008 campaign for the US presidency.Ziegler, John (March 7, 2012). [http://www.intellectualconservative.com/2012/03/07/matt-drudge-intentionally-ignored-negative-stories-to-help-elect-barack-obama/ Matt Drudge Intentionally Ignored Negative Stories to Help Elect Barack Obama] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318162013/http://www.intellectualconservative.com/2012/03/07/matt-drudge-intentionally-ignored-negative-stories-to-help-elect-barack-obama/|date=March 18, 2012}}. News release. Retrieved March 9, 2012.

In May 2010, Drudge added former Washington Times columnist Joseph Curl to the Drudge Report staff.{{Cite news |last=Beyerstein |first=Lindsay |date=2012-04-26 |title=Matt Drudge's rescue mission |url=https://www.salon.com/2012/04/26/matt_drudges_rescue_mission/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426133338/http://www.salon.com/2012/04/26/matt_drudges_rescue_mission/ |archive-date=2012-04-26 |work=Salon}} In 2011, he added to the staff Charles Hurt, most recently the Washington bureau chief of the New York Post and a columnist for The Washington Times. Curl, who served as morning shift editor, left the site in 2014 and, with Drudge's blessing, in January 2015 launched his own aggregator Right Read, for The Washington Times.Calderone, Michael (January 5, 2015). [https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/05/joseph-curl-drudge-report-right-read_n_6418204.html Former Drudge Report Editor Launches Politics-Focused Site 'Right Read']. HuffPost. Retrieved January 6, 2015.

Drudge, who began his website in 1997 as a supplement to his $10 per year e-mail newsletter,{{cite web |url=http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/comment/Profile-Matt-Drudge--Webmaster.3834340.jp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080329154002/http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/comment/Profile-Matt-Drudge--Webmaster.3834340.jp |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 29, 2008 |title=Profile: Matt Drudge – Webmaster of pork pies – Scotland on Sunday |publisher=scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com |access-date=March 13, 2009 }} received national attention in 1996 when he broke the news that Jack Kemp would be Republican Bob Dole's running mate in the 1996 US presidential election. In 1998, Drudge made national waves when he broke the news that Newsweek magazine had information on an inappropriate relationship between "a White House intern" and President Bill Clinton—the Monica Lewinsky scandal—but was withholding publication.{{cite web| last = Drudge| first = Matt| title = Newsweek Kills Story On White House Intern| publisher = The Drudge Report |date=January 17, 1998 |url=http://www.drudgereport.com/ml.htm| access-date = October 5, 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060901114541/http://www.drudgereport.com/ml.htm |archive-date = September 1, 2006}}{{cite news |last=Johnson |first =Glen |title=Newsweek got, held scoop on Clinton story |publisher =AP/Denver Rocky Mountain News |date=January 23, 1998 |url =http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-5261149.html| access-date = April 5, 2007 }}{{dead link|date=February 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{Cite news |last=McClintick |first=David |title=Town Crier for the New Age |publisher=Brill's Content |access-date=July 23, 2010 |date=November 1998 |url=http://www.brillscontent.com/features/cryer_1198.html |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20000819015036/http://www.brillscontent.com/features/cryer_1198.html |archive-date = August 19, 2000}} After Drudge's report came out, Newsweek published the story.{{cite magazine |last=Fineman |first=Howard |author2=Karen Breslau |title=Sex, Lies and the President |magazine=Newsweek |date=February 2, 1998 |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=NWEC&p_theme=nwec&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EC05F711C09BB0F&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |access-date=April 5, 2007}}

The Drudge Report site consists mainly of selected{{cite book | title=The lawyer's guide to fact finding on the Internet| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FOyDyI-yHm4C&pg=PA203| last=Carole A.| first=Levitt|author2=Mark E. Rosch| year=2006| page=198| publisher=American Bar Association|quote=Along with the links comes Drudge's own (conservative) opinions on the news stories he chooses to highlight. | isbn=978-1-59031-671-9}} hyperlinks to news websites all over the world, each link carrying a headline written by Drudge or his editors. The linked stories are generally hosted on the external websites of mainstream media outlets. It occasionally includes stories written by Drudge himself, usually two or three paragraphs in length. They generally concern a story about to be published in a major magazine or newspaper. Drudge occasionally publishes Nielsen, Arbitron, and BookScan ratings, or early election exit polls which are otherwise not made available to the public.

In April 2009, the Associated Press announced that it would be examining the fair use doctrine, used by sites like Google and the Drudge Report to justify the use of AP content without payment.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ap7-2009apr07,0,2878784.story |title=Associated Press accuses online news outlets of 'misappropriation' | newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=April 8, 2009 |first=David |last=Sarno |date=April 7, 2009}}{{and then what|date=July 2024}}

On May 4, 2009, the US Attorney General's office issued a warning to employees in Massachusetts not to visit the Drudge Report and other sites because of malicious code contained in some of the advertising on the website.{{cite web |url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22574.html |title=U.S. Attorney's office tells employees not to log on to Drudge Report |publisher=Politico |access-date=May 16, 2009}} In March 2010, antivirus company Avast! warned that advertising at the Drudge Report, The New York Times, Yahoo, Google, MySpace and other sites carried malware that could infect computers. "The most compromised ad delivery platforms were Yield Manager and Fimserve, but a number of smaller ad systems, including Myspace, were also found to be delivering malware on a lesser scale," said Avast Virus Labs.{{cite web |url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20000898-245.html |title=Malware delivered by Yahoo, Fox, Google ads |website=CNET |access-date=April 15, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100603002501/http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20000898-245.html |archive-date=June 3, 2010 |url-status=live }}

The site's design has seen few changes since its debut in 1997. Drudge has experimented with temporary, relatively minor design tweaks, including using all black-and-white pictures for a period in August 2017{{cite news|url=https://www.axios.com/inside-drudges-new-look-2471319917.html|title=Inside Drudge's new look|first=Mike|last=Allen|work=Axios|date=August 10, 2017|access-date=August 10, 2017}} and using colored text for holidays instead of the standard black throughout the site's existence; in all cases, the basic layout remained consistent throughout its existence.{{citation needed|date=August 2017}} It remains entirely written in unscripted HTML, with a mostly monochromatic color scheme of black boldface monospaced font text on a plain white background. The Drudge Report has been described by Cheryl Woodard, co-founder of PC, Macworld, PC World and Publish magazines, as "a big, haphazard mishmash of links and photos"{{cite book | last = Woodard | first = Cheryl |author2=Lucia Hwang | title = Every nonprofit's guide to publishing |publisher=Nolo |year=2007 | page = 185 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=npBsx7qBBr4C&pg=PA185 |isbn=978-1-4133-0658-3}} and by Dan Rahmel as "popular despite a plain appearance".{{cite book | title=Beginning Joomla!: From Novice to Professional| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fLV0bCdBIVMC&pg=PA217| last=Rahmel| first=Dan| year=2007| page=217| publisher=Apress| isbn=978-1-59059-848-1}}

The Drudge Report website is simple and, according to Paul Armstrong of webwithoutwords.com, retro in feel.{{cite web |url=http://webwithoutwords.com/blog/drudge_report/ |title=The Drudge Report |publisher=webwithoutwords.com |access-date=April 13, 2009 |quote=Drudge Report succeeds in having that web "retro" feel of something stuck in the early 90s |archive-date=January 30, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090130032627/http://webwithoutwords.com/blog/drudge_report/ |url-status=dead }} Jason Fried of Basecamp called it "one of the best designed sites on the web".{{cite web |last=Fried |first=Jason |date=November 19, 2008 |title=Why the Drudge Report is one of the best designed sites on the web |url=https://signalvnoise.com/posts/1407-why-the-drudge-report-is-one-of-the-best-designed-sites-on-the-web |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081231031207/http://37signals.com/svn/posts/1407-why-the-drudge-report-is-one-of-the-best-designed-sites-on-the-web |archive-date=December 31, 2008 |access-date=April 13, 2009 |website=37Signals}} It consists of a banner headline and a number of other selected headlines in three columns in monospaced font. Most link to an outside source, usually the online edition of a newspaper, which hosts the story. When no such source is available, either because the story is "developing",{{Cite news |last=Kurtz |first=Howard |date=July 15, 2004 |title=A Touching Moment |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51302-2004Jul15.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070807213227/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51302-2004Jul15.html |archive-date=August 7, 2007 |work=The Washington Post |quote=The next day, Matt Drudge followed suit with his own 'developing' Kerry-Edwards 'story' titled, 'Can't keep hands off each other.'}} with little known details at the time, or is an exclusive scoop, a special page is created on the Drudge Report servers, which contains text and sometimes images.

Stories on the site are ascribed different levels of importance, which Matt Drudge rates at his editorial discretion. The Report almost always holds one major story above the masthead logo, usually just one sentence hyperlinked to the most important story of the day. Other stories surrounding the main headline can be found in the upper left-hand side of the page and link to more specific articles dealing with aspects of the headline story. The standard story, either the headline or links below the logo, is written in black.{{cite news | last=Malone | first=Michael S. | date=March 1, 2007 | title=Silicon Insider: Surfing Upstream | work=ABC News | access-date=July 4, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304065821/http://abcnews.go.com/Business/IndustryInfo/story?id=2915370 | archive-date=March 4, 2016 | url-status=usurped | url=https://abcnews.go.com/Business/IndustryInfo/story?id=2915370 | quote=On a given day, the Drudge Report may contain thirty or forty sentence-long headlines, the most important ones in red, all under a single major headline in large bold type. On the really big breaking stories, especially the ones still emerging, Drudge will even post a flashing siren on the screen.}}

The majority of stories are laid out in three columns beneath the masthead. At the bottom of each column are various links: newspapers and magazines in the left column, columnists in the middle column, and a collection of wire service links and miscellaneous links to archives, e-mail, site stats, and a box to submit anonymous tips at the right. "Weather Action," a static page of links to weather data, and "Quake Sheet," with earthquake monitoring, each have their own hosted page on the Drudge Report servers. The newest stories and those Drudge considers most important are in red, all under a single major headline in large bold type. For especially important breaking stories, especially if they are still emerging, Drudge places art of a flashing red light on the screen.

Although the site initially featured very few images, it is now usually illustrated with five or six photographs. Generally the images, like the linked headlines, are hotlinked from the servers of other news agencies.{{citation needed|date=August 2017}}

A study in 2005 placed the Drudge Report "slightly left of center". "One thing people should keep in mind is that our data for the Drudge Report was based almost entirely on the articles that the Drudge Report lists on other Web sites", said Timothy Groseclose, the head of the study. "Very little was based on the stories that Matt Drudge himself wrote. The fact that the Drudge Report appears left of center is merely a reflection of the overall bias of the media."{{Cite press release |title=Media Bias Is Real, Finds UCLA Political Scientist |date=2025-12-14 |publisher=University of California, Los Angeles |url=http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/Media-Bias-Is-Real-Finds-UCLA-6664.aspx |quote=...Fox News' "Special Report With Brit Hume" and the Drudge Report — were in a statistical dead heat in the race for the most centrist news outlet. Of the print media, USA Today was the most centrist. |last1=Sullivan |first1=Meg |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100315074555/http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/Media-Bias-Is-Real-Finds-UCLA-6664.aspx |archive-date=2010-03-15}} Professor Mark Liberman critiqued the statistical model used in this study on the basis that model assumed conservative politicians do not care about the ideological position of think tanks they cite, while liberal politicians do.{{cite web| last = Liberman| first = Mark| title = Multiplying ideologies considered harmful| publisher = Language Log|date=December 23, 2005| url = http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002724.html| access-date = November 6, 2006}}{{cite web| last = Liberman| first = Mark| title = Linguistics, politics, mathematics| publisher = Language Log|date=December 22, 2005| url = http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002723.html| access-date = November 6, 2006}} The study was also criticized by media watchdog Spinwatch for its methodology and its authors' ties to conservative think tanks.{{cite web

|url=http://www.spinwatch.org.uk/latest-news-mainmenu-10/157-us-politics/2468-flawed-ucla-led-study-on-medias-liberal-bias |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101101195631/http://www.spinwatch.org.uk/latest-news-mainmenu-10/157-us-politics/2468-flawed-ucla-led-study-on-medias-liberal-bias |archive-date= November 1, 2010 |title=Flawed UCLA-led study on medias liberal bias |publisher=www.spinwatch.org.uk |access-date=March 7, 2009}}

In 2009, Matt Drudge said that he is a conservative, but "more of a populist".[https://books.google.com/books?id=wAmrSGSMrdIC&pg=PA72&lpg=PA72 The Architect: Karl Rove and the Dream of Absolute Power] Random House Digital 2007, page 72{{cite news| last = Sokol| first = Brett| title = The Drudge Retort| newspaper = Miami New Times| date = June 28, 2001| url = http://www.miaminewtimes.com/Issues/2001-06-28/news/feature.html| access-date = November 1, 2006| quote = Matt Drudge: "I am a conservative"| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050829141236/http://www.miaminewtimes.com/issues/2001-06-28/news/feature.html| archive-date = August 29, 2005}} Some had regarded the Drudge Report as conservative in tone,{{cite web |url=http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20081012/SUB/310129950 |title=Liberal media's voice grows stronger |publisher=Crainsnewyork.com |access-date=March 19, 2009 |quote=On the Web, The Huffington Post has become a leading news and opinion site just three years after launching. Modeled after conservative news aggregator The Drudge Report"|date=2008-10-11 }}{{cite news|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1a46682a-9c73-11dd-a42e-000077b07658.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1a46682a-9c73-11dd-a42e-000077b07658.html |archive-date=December 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Will a funny thing happen on the way to Washington?|access-date=October 29, 2008|publisher=The Financial Times|work=Edward Luce|date=October 21, 2008|quote=...the conservative Drudge Report...}}{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/27/mccain-labels-obama-redistributor/|title=McCain labels Obama 'the redistributor'|access-date=October 29, 2008|publisher=The Washington Times|work=Stephen Dinan|quote=..the conservative Drudge Report...}}{{cite web|url=http://www.editorandpublisher.com|title=MoveOn.org Targets AP's Fournier for Alleged Pro-McCain Bias|access-date=September 10, 2008|publisher=Editor and Publisher (pay site)|quote=...the Drudge Report ....and numerous other conservative sites}}{{cite web|url=https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/84800/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20090304030424/http://www.mediapost.com/publications/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=84800|url-status=live|archive-date=March 4, 2009|title=Drudge Retort Considers Lawsuit Against AP|access-date=December 9, 2008|publisher=MediaPost NY|quote=...the conservative Drudge Report}}{{cite news|url=http://cjonline.com/stories/111508/loc_356232379.shtml|title=A weekly look at what's getting the most looks online|access-date=December 9, 2008|newspaper=The Topeka Capital-Journal|quote=...the Drudge Report, a popular conservative Web site.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090321060503/http://cjonline.com/stories/111508/loc_356232379.shtml|archive-date=March 21, 2009|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} and it has been referred to in the media as "a conservative news aggregator".{{cite magazine|url=http://washingtonexaminer.com/is-there-room-for-another-drudge-report/article/2559741|title=Is there room for another Drudge Report?|access-date=April 23, 2015|magazine=Washington Examiner|quote=is there a need for another conservative news aggregator? Drudge has dominated the field since the late 1990s.|date=2015-02-03}} In 2008, Richard Siklos, an editor of Fortune magazine, called the Drudge Report a "conservative bullhorn".{{cite news |url=https://money.cnn.com/2008/06/06/technology/drudge_report.fortune/index.htm?section=money_news_newsmakers|title=The Web 2.0-defying logic of Drudge|access-date=June 28, 2008|publisher=CNN|author=Richard Siklos | date=June 6, 2008}} Peter Wallsten, writing in the Los Angeles Times, labeled Drudge a "well-known conservative warrior".{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-house-stimulus-assess29-2009jan29,0,5515444.story|title=New political era? Same as the old one | newspaper=Los Angeles Times | access-date=February 7, 2009|last=Wallsten|first=Peter |quote=...well-known conservative warriors such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Matt Drudge... | date=January 29, 2009}} Saul Hansell, writing in The New York Times, referred to him as a "conservative muckraker";{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/16/business/media/16ap.html?ref=technology |title=The Associated Press to Set Guidelines for Using Its Articles in Blogs |newspaper=New York Times |access-date=February 21, 2009 | first=Saul | last=Hansell | date=June 16, 2008 }} and Glenn Greenwald was quoted in New York magazine in August 2007 as calling him a "right-wing hack".{{cite news |last=Weiss |first=Philip |date=August 24, 2007 |title=Watching Matt Drudge |url=https://nymag.com/news/media/36617/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070828223800/http://nymag.com/news/media/36617/ |archive-date=2007-08-28 |access-date=August 19, 2019 |magazine=New York Magazine}}

Jesse Swick of The New Republic notes that the Drudge Report frequently links to stories that cast doubt upon global warming. "[Drudge] loves a press release from Senator Inhofe almost as much as he loves taking pot shots at Al Gore ... It's like flashing tasty images of popcorn and sodas between frames at movie theaters, only much less subtle."{{cite magazine | title = It's Always Snowing on the Drudge Report | date = December 9, 2009 | url = http://www.tnr.com/blog/the-plank/drudges-meteorology-fetish | magazine=The New Republic | access-date = April 24, 2011}} Ben Shapiro wrote, "The American left can't restrict Internet usage or ban talk radio, so it de-legitimizes these news sources. Ripping alternative news sources as illegitimate is the left's only remaining option—it cannot compete with the right wing in the new media ... They call Matt Drudge a muckraker and a yellow journalist."{{cite web |url=http://townhall.com/columnists/BenShapiro/2002/10/16/left_behind_the_democratization_of_the_media |title=Ben Shapiro : Left behind: the democratization of the media |date=October 16, 2002 |publisher=Townhall.com |access-date=April 14, 2009 |archive-date=September 7, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907020501/http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BenShapiro/2002/10/16/left_behind_the_democratization_of_the_media |url-status=dead }}

In 2015 and 2016, Drudge repeatedly featured pro-Trump headlines during the Republican Party presidential primaries, leading Salon and Politico to describe Drudge as "all in" for Trump.{{cite web|url=http://www.salon.com/2015/12/25/matt_drudge_might_elect_donald_trump_the_gop_front_runners_secret_weapon_is_the_conservative_media_icon/|title=Matt Drudge might elect Donald Trump: The GOP front-runner's secret weapon is the conservative media icon|first=Jimmy|last=LaSalvia|date=December 25, 2015|work=Salon}}{{cite web|url=http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/drudge-report-donald-trump-221857|title=Drudge goes all in for Trump|last=McCaskill|first=Nolan D.|date=April 12, 2016|work=Politico}} During the impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump of 2019, the Drudge Report began aggregating what CNN Business called "an overwhelming amount of negative news for the Trump White House". CNN speculated that this meant there had been a falling out.{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/09/media/matt-drudge-trump-impeachment/index.html|title=Matt Drudge, an influential figure in conservative media, sours on Trump as he faces impeachment|last=Darcy|first=Oliver|work=CNN Business|date=October 10, 2019|access-date=October 27, 2019}} In 2019, Rasmussen Reports reported that Matt Drudge had sold the site and was no longer involved in its operations, which would also explain the change in editorial direction; however, that reporting was not confirmed.

{{cite news|url=https://www.bizpacreview.com/2019/12/08/rasmussen-on-drudge-report-we-dont-think-matt-is-there-anymore-word-is-he-sold-just-waiting-for-confirmation-862052|title=Rasmussen on Drudge Report: ‘We don’t think Matt is there anymore, word is he sold, just waiting for confirmation’|date=December 8, 2019|first=Vivek|last=Saxena|work=bizpacreview.com|publisher=Starboard Media|access-date=May 4, 2025}}

{{cite news |last=Rosen |first=Armin |date=November 24, 2020 |title=Matt Drudge Logs Off |url=https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/matt-drudge-logs-off |work=Tablet |location= |access-date=January 5, 2021}}

By 2020, some prominent conservatives—including President Donald Trump—had concluded that the Drudge Report had abandoned its alleged conservative ideology, with Fox News primetime host Tucker Carlson stating, "Matt Drudge is now firmly a man of the progressive left."{{Cite web|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/media/509017-tucker-carlson-matt-drudge-is-now-firmly-a-man-of-the-progressive-left|title=Tucker Carlson: 'Matt Drudge is now firmly a man of the progressive left'|first=Jesse|last=Byrnes|date=July 25, 2020|website=TheHill}} In 2020, Austrian social scientist Christian Fuchs of the University of Westminster described the Drudge Report as an alt-right website.{{Cite journal |last=Fuchs |first=Christian |date=20 July 2020 |title=Towards a critical theory of communication as renewal and update of Marxist humanism in the age of digital capitalism |journal=Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour |language=en |volume=50 |issue=3 |pages=335–356 |doi=10.1111/jtsb.12247 |issn=0021-8308 |quote=Examples of alt-right websites are Breitbart, Drudge Report, InfoWars, Daily Caller, Daily Wire, and WorldNetDaily. |s2cid=225578399|doi-access=free |url=https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/download/8eb60ec00f2cfd80b5cf4c752bb8238c28da4084cb8fcf1f8afd229e80738656/1632833/jtsb.12247.pdf }}

Matt Drudge's business entity in Florida is a privately owned limited liability company called Digital, LLC.{{cite web |url=http://search.sunbiz.org/Inquiry/CorporationSearch/SearchResultDetail?inquirytype=EntityName&directionType=Initial&searchNameOrder=DIGITAL%20L140001554980&aggregateId=flal-l14000155498-981cab62-062f-4469-bded-1c80d420f870&searchTerm=Digital%20LLC&listNameOrder=DIGITAL%20H053500 |title=Florida Department of State Division of Corporations - Digital, LLC |access-date=November 28, 2020}}{{cite web |url=https://www.floridacompanysearch.com/company/L14000155498/ |title=Florida Companies Directory - Digital, LLC |website=floridacompanysearch.com |access-date=November 28, 2020}}{{cite web |url=https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_fl/L14000155498 |title=OpenCorporates - Digital, LLC |website=opencorporates.com |access-date=November 28, 2020}} Drudge applied for and was granted a U.S. Trademark registration for the phrase "Drudge Report" on January 15, 2019, filed on May 15, 2018.{{cite web |url=https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=87922097&caseType=SERIAL_NO&searchType=statusSearch |title=U.S. Patent and Trademark Office - Drudge Report |website=uspto.gov |access-date=November 28, 2020}}{{cite web |url=https://trademark.trademarkia.com/drudge-report-87922097.html |title=DRUDGE REPORT Trademark Information |website=trademarkia.com |access-date=November 28, 2020}} The registration excludes the word "Report" from protection outside of the exact two-word phrase use and is for "standard characters without claim to any particular font style, size, or color."

Revenue for the Drudge Report is driven by advertising that was managed for 20 years by Intermarkets, Inc. During the summer of 2019, after many years of being known for "changing nothing" about the website, Drudge advertising shifted to a new company by the name of Granite Cubed. The current ownership, strategy and outlook for the Drudge Report is held close as private information.{{cite web|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/drudge-report-ad-revenue |title=The Drudge Report Just Made A Huge Change To How It Makes Money |publisher=Buzzfeednews.com |date=2019-08-15 |access-date=2020-04-23}}

In October 2019, the Drudge Report began linking to articles which were increasingly critical of Trump, reportedly the result of Drudge himself becoming "exasperated" by the president.{{Cite web|author=Oliver Darcy|title=Conservative news mogul Matt Drudge fires back at Trump, says his web traffic is at record levels|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/18/media/matt-drudge-trump/index.html|access-date=2020-11-25|website=CNN|date=April 18, 2020}} This coincided with a near 30% decrease in traffic metrics for the Drudge website in the last months of 2019—from a 90 day-ago ranking of #637 in global internet engagement as of July to #844 in December.{{Cite web|url=https://disrn.com/news/drudge-report-has-lost-almost-30-of-its-traffic-since-turning-on-trump|title=Drudge Report has lost almost 30 percent of its traffic in recent months amid turn on Trump|website=Disrn|date=March 16, 2020 }} The site's readership briefly rebounded in March 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic escalated, but continued to decline to new record lows as the year went on.{{cite web|last=Darcy |first=Oliver |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/18/media/matt-drudge-trump/index.html |title=Conservative news mogul Matt Drudge fires back at Trump, says his web traffic is at record levels |publisher=CNN |date=2020-04-18 |access-date=2020-04-23}}

After a Comscore data report showing a year over year decline of 38 percent from August 2019 to August 2020, President Trump tweeted, "Such an honor! Drudge is down 40% plus since he became Fake News. Most importantly, he's bleeding profusely, and is no longer "hot". But others are! Lost ALL Trumpers."{{cite news |last=Ellefson |first=Lindsey |url=https://www.thewrap.com/trump-drudge-report-audience-down/ |title=Trump's Right: Drudge Report's Audience Is Down Nearly 40% From Last Year |work=TheWrap |date=2020-09-14 |access-date=2020-09-23 }}

In 2006, Mark Halperin wrote that "Drudge's coverage affects the media's political coverage", effectively steering it towards what Halperin calls "the most salacious aspects of American politics". In The Way To Win, a book written by Halperin and John Harris, Drudge is called "the Walter Cronkite of his era".{{cite book | last = Halpernin | first = Mark |author2=John F. Harris | title = The Way To Win | url = https://archive.org/details/waytowintakingwh00halp | url-access = registration | publisher = Random House|date=October 2006 | isbn = 978-1-4000-6447-2 }} Democratic Party strategist Chris Lehane also said in 2006 "phones start ringing" whenever Drudge breaks a story, and Mark McKinnon, a former media advisor to George W. Bush, said that he checked the site 30–40 times per day.{{cite news| title = Drudge Report Sets Tone for National Political Coverage| work=ABC News | date = October 1, 2006 | url = https://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=2514276&page=1| access-date = October 1, 2006}}

Wallsten analyzed the data derived from a detailed content analysis of print, broadcast and blog discussions during the last five weeks of the 2008 campaign. Rather than the broad impact posited by professional political observers, Wallsten found that, even on issues where the site should be expected to have its largest impact, the stories highlighted on the Drudge Report exert a fairly inconsistent influence over what traditional media outlets chose to cover. Specifically, the time series analysis presented by Wallsten shows evidence of a "Drudge effect" on print and broadcast coverage for only five of the 10 political scandals that received the most attention on the Drudge Report between September 30 and November 3, 2008.{{cite news | url=http://sites.utexas.edu/straussinstitute/2012/09/11/the-drudge-report-has-a-limited-effect-on-what-stories-the-media-cover/ | location=Texas | first=Kevin | last=Wallsten | title=Drudge's world? The Drudge Report's influence on media coverage. | date=2011 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017074336/http://sites.utexas.edu/straussinstitute/2012/09/11/the-drudge-report-has-a-limited-effect-on-what-stories-the-media-cover/ | archive-date=October 17, 2015 }}

Matt Drudge has been criticized by other media news personalities: Bill O'Reilly twice called Drudge a "threat to democracy" in response to Drudge disclosing his book sales figures,{{cite web| last = Drudge| first = Matt| title = Host Unhinged After Sales Figures Revealed; Calls Drudge 'Threat To Democracy'| publisher = Drudge Report| date = December 18, 2003 | url = http://www.drudgereportarchives.com/data/2003/12/18/20031218_150408_mattbc1.htm | access-date = March 26, 2007}} and Keith Olbermann referred to Drudge as "an idiot with a modem".{{cite news| last = Kurtz| first = Howard| title = MSNBC Pundit Rises With Clinton Crises| pages = E1| newspaper = The Washington Post| date = September 15, 1998 | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/olbermann091598.htm| access-date = October 1, 2006}}

Drudge, along with his website, was labeled one of the "Top 10 anti-Barack Obama conservatives" by the US editor of The Daily Telegraph in February 2009.{{cite news |url=http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyharnden/8740337/Top_10_antiBarack_Obama_conservatives/

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090915190752/http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyharnden/8740337/Top_10_antiBarack_Obama_conservatives/

|url-status=dead

|archive-date=September 15, 2009

|title=Top 10 anti-Barack Obama conservatives |first=Toby |last=Harnden |publisher=blogs.telegraph.co.uk |access-date=March 3, 2009

|quote=Drudge's deft selection of links helps build a conservative case against Obama every day. | location=London | date=February 27, 2009}}

In addition to its media influence, the Drudge Report has influenced design elements on other sites, some with opposing viewpoints{{cite web|url=http://www.drudge.com/|title=Drudge Retort|access-date=January 24, 2009|year=2009}} and some which use the same format for listing news. A left-leaning{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/16/business/media/16ap.html?ref=technology| title=The Associated Press to Set Guidelines for Using Its Articles in Blogs| newspaper=New York Times| access-date=March 21, 2009| quote=The Drudge Retort was initially started as a left-leaning parody of the much larger Drudge Report, run by the conservative muckraker Matt Drudge. | first=Saul | last=Hansell | date=June 16, 2008}} parody site called Drudge Retort was founded in 1998 as "a send-up of Mr. Drudge's breathless style".{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/08/nyregion/public-lives.html|title= Pen With Meaning |access-date=October 1, 2008|newspaper=New York Times | first=James | last=Barron | date=January 8, 1999}}{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/20/AR2008062002567_pf.html|title=Drudge Retort's Retort To AP: Personal Issue Resolved But 'Larger Conflict' Remains|access-date=October 1, 2008|newspaper=The Washington Post | first=Staci D. | last=Kramer}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/08/27/technology/news-watch-from-the-drudge-report-to-the-drudge-retort.html?emc=rss&partner=rssnyt|title=From the Drudge Report To the Drudge Retort|access-date=October 1, 2008|newspaper=New York Times| first=Matt | last=Richtel | date=August 27, 1998}} According to online analytics data for April 2010 from the Newspaper Marketing Agency, the Drudge Report was then—now over ten years ago—the number one site referrer for all online UK commercial newspaper websites.{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/pda/2010/jun/28/interactive-newspaper-uk-traffic-source | access-date=June 27, 2016 | newspaper=The Guardian | first=Robert | last=Andrews | title=PaidContent: where UK newspapers get their traffic | date=June 28, 2010}}

The Drudge Report originally attained prominence when it was the first to report what came to be known as the Lewinsky scandal. It published the story on January 17, 1998, showing that Newsweek had turned down the story.[http://www.drudgereportarchives.com/data/2002/01/17/20020117_175502_ml.htm "Newsweek Kills Story on White House Intern"], Drudge Report, January 17, 1998{{cite news |last=Drudge |first=Matt |author-link=Matt Drudge |date=January 2003 |title=5 YEARS AGO: INTERNET ROCKS U.S. PRESIDENCY, MEDIA |url=http://drudgereport.com/ml.htm |work=Drudge Report |publication-place=Miami Beach, FL |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030124024139/http://drudgereport.com/ml.htm |archive-date=January 24, 2003 |quote=What began exclusively in this space on January 17, 1998, and continued exclusively for more than 72 hours, launched a million headlines and directly led to an impeachment count of a sitting United States president.}}

In October 2007, during the early months of the Democratic primary for the 2008 presidential campaign, the Drudge Report broke a story, "Queen of the Quarter: Hillary Crushes Obama in Surprise Fund-Raising Surge," and, "$27 Million, Sources Tell Drudge Report." The New York Times said, "Within minutes, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's fund-raising success was injected via Drudge into the day's political news on the Internet and cable television."{{Cite news |last=Rutenberg |first=Jim |date=2007-10-22 |title=The Drudge Report warms to the Clinton camp, or is it vice versa? |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/22/world/americas/22iht-drudge.1.7992199.html |access-date=2022-04-06 |issn=0362-4331}}

During the 2004 US presidential campaign, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth group made claims about John Kerry's war record, which were mentioned by Drudge and investigated by major newspapers and TV networks. The book Unfit for Command: Swiftboat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry became a best-seller in part due to its promotion in the Drudge Report.

Drudge{{cite web |url=http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2008/02/200852514445714214.html |title=Obama plays down photo row |publisher=english.aljazeera.net |access-date=March 3, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080804152036/http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2008/02/200852514445714214.html |archive-date=August 4, 2008 |url-status=dead}} published a photo of Barack Obama in Somali tribal dress on February 25, 2008,[http://www.drudgereportarchives.com/data/2008/02/25/20080225_115348_flashoa.htm "Clinton Staffers Circulate 'Dressed' Obama"], Drudge Report, February 27, 2008 and reported that the photo had been sent to him by a Clinton campaign staffer.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1579833/Barack-Obama-tribal-photo-sent-to-Drudge-Report-by-Hillary-Clinton-staff.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1579833/Barack-Obama-tribal-photo-sent-to-Drudge-Report-by-Hillary-Clinton-staff.html |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Barack Obama tribal photo 'sent to Drudge Report by Hillary Clinton staff' |first=Alex |last=Spillius |date=February 25, 2008 |work=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=May 7, 2012 |location=London}}{{cbignore}} The publication of the photograph resulted in a brief war of words between the Clinton and Obama campaign organizations.

On February 28, 2008, Drudge published an article noting that Prince Harry was serving with his regiment in Afghanistan. Prince Harry was ten weeks into a front-line deployment in Afghanistan that was subject to a voluntary news blackout by the UK press.{{cite news |url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2008/02/news_blackout.html |title=News black-out |access-date=March 2, 2008 |date=February 29, 2008 |work=BBC News}} The blackout was designed to protect Prince Harry and the men serving with him from being specifically targeted by the Taliban. An Australian weekly women's magazine New Idea had broken the story in January,{{cite news | url = http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23296278-5016558,00.html | title = New Idea defends claims it endangered Prince Harry | access-date = February 29, 2008 | date = February 29, 2008 | newspaper = The Daily Telegraph (Australia)}} but it was not followed up at the time. The New Idea editors claimed ignorance of any news blackout.{{cite web | url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/02/29/2176274.htm | archive-url=https://archive.today/20121231051450/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/02/29/2176274.htm | url-status=dead | archive-date=December 31, 2012 | title=New Idea pleads ignorance on Harry embargo | access-date=March 1, 2008 | publisher=ABC Australia News| date=2008-02-29 }} Then a German newspaper Berliner Kurier published a short piece on February 28, also before Drudge.{{cite news|url=http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=29&ContentID=60689 |title=Frontline Harry a well-kept secret |access-date=February 29, 2008 |newspaper=The West Australian |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080304211611/http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=29 |archive-date=March 4, 2008}}

Drudge subsequently claimed the report as an exclusive. Chief of the General Staff Sir Richard Dannatt, professional head of the British Army, said: "I am very disappointed that foreign websites have decided to run this story without consulting us".{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7269787.stm | title=Harry leak disappoints army chief | access-date=February 29, 2008 | work=BBC News | date=February 28, 2008}} The Prince's tour of duty was prematurely ended, since his unit might have been targeted by large-scale suicide attacks intended to kill the Prince.

{{cite news | author1-last=Norton-Taylor | author1-first=Richard | author2-last=Gillan | author2-first=Audrey | url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/feb/29/military.monarchy | title=Army prepares to evacuate Harry after news blackout fails | newspaper=The Guardian | date=February 29, 2008 | access-date=June 17, 2016}}

On March 9, 2010, The Senate Sergeant-at-Arms claimed that the site was "responsible for the many viruses popping up throughout the Senate...Please avoid using [this] site until the Senate resolves this issue...The Senate has been swamped the last couples {{sic}} days with this issue." The Drudge Report countered stating that "it served more than 29 million pages Monday without an e-mail complaint about 'pop ups,' or the site serving 'viruses'."{{cite news| url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/sen-inhofe-says-no-evidence-of-virus-on-drudge-suggests-warning-was-political| title=Senate Staffers Warned to Stay Clear of Drudge Report| access-date=March 9, 2010 | publisher=Fox News| date=February 28, 2008}}

Research by the media magazine Brill's Content in 1998 cast doubt on the accuracy of the majority of the "exclusives" claimed by the Drudge Report. Of the 51 stories claimed as exclusives from January to September 1998, the magazine found that 31 (61%) were truly exclusive stories. Of those, 32% were untrue, 36% were true and the remaining 32% were of debatable accuracy.

In 1997, the Drudge Report reported that incoming White House assistant Sidney Blumenthal may have been perpetrating domestic violence. Drudge retracted the story the next day and apologized, saying that he was given bad information, but Blumenthal filed a $30 million libel lawsuit, Blumenthal v. Drudge, in the District of Columbia. After four years, Blumenthal dropped his lawsuit, saying that the suit had cost him tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees. He agreed to pay $2,500 to Drudge's Los Angeles attorney for travel costs, claiming that Drudge was "backed by unlimited funds from political supporters who use a tax-exempt foundation."{{cite news | last =Kurtz| first =Howard| title =Clinton Aide Settles Libel Suit Against Matt Drudge – at a Cost| page =C01| newspaper =The Washington Post| date =May 2, 2001| url =https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A30046-2001May1| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20180810151323/https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A30046-2001May1/| url-status =dead| archive-date =August 10, 2018| access-date = April 11, 2007 }}{{cite web| last = Drudge| first = Matt| title = May Day: Lawsuit Against Drudge Dropped; Blumenthal Pays Cash To Get Out!| publisher = Drudge Report| date = May 1, 2001| url = http://drudgereport.com/$2500.htm | access-date = December 15, 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20010506000105/http://drudgereport.com/$2500.htm |archive-date = May 6, 2001}}{{cite web|url=http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/9420.html|title=Online Matt Drudge Libel Suit Comes to 'Wimpy Conclusion'|access-date=July 30, 2007|publisher=Newsfactor.com|year=2001|author=Tim McDonald|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070823062024/http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/9420.html|archive-date=August 23, 2007}} The Individual Rights Foundation, led by conservative activist David Horowitz, paid Drudge's legal fees in the Blumenthal lawsuit. Judge Paul Friedman, a Bill Clinton appointee, noted in the judgment that Drudge "is not a reporter, a journalist, or a newsgatherer. He is, as he admits himself, simply a purveyor of gossip."{{cite web|url=http://www.techlawjournal.com/courts/drudge/80423opin.htm|title=Blumenthal vs Drudge|access-date=December 18, 2006|publisher=Tech Law Journal|year=1998}}

During the 2004 presidential campaign, the Drudge Report ran a story in which general Wesley Clark claimed that the John Kerry campaign would implode over an intern affair. The Drudge Report reported that other news outlets were investigating the alleged affair, but removed it from the site shortly afterward when the other news outlets dropped their investigations.{{cite magazine |last=Polier |first=Alexandra |title=John Kerry intern scandal – Alexandra Polier's account |magazine=New York Magazine |date=June 7, 2004 |url=https://nymag.com/nymetro/news/politics/national/features/9221/index5.html |access-date = June 7, 2004}}

In 1999, the Drudge Report announced that it had viewed a videotape which was the basis of a Star magazine and Hard Copy story. Under the headline, "Woman Names Bill Clinton Father Of Son In Shocking Video Confession", Drudge reported a videotaped "confession" by a former prostitute who claimed that her son was fathered by Bill Clinton.[http://www.drudgereportarchives.com/dsp/specialReports_pc_carden_detail.htm?reportID=%7BB5E2DC5F-DCB0-4A4A-AD05-95EF060CBA36%7D Special Reports Personal Collection.] Drudge Report Archives. Retrieved on April 2, 2007 After a paternity test using a sample of Clinton's DNA found on the dress belonging to Monica Lewinsky, a Star source told Time magazine that "there was no match, not even close."{{cite news|last=Hetherington|first=James|url=https://www.newsweek.com/man-claiming-bill-clintons-son-wants-another-dna-test-980618|title=Man Claiming to be Bill Clinton's Son Wants Second DNA Test|work=Newsweek|date=June 18, 2018|access-date=August 19, 2019}} Drudge reported these findings in 1999, but during the 2016 presidential election Drudge revived the story that the child, Danney Williams, then a 30 year old man, really was Clinton's illegitimate son by twisting established facts.{{cite news|last=Borchers|first=Callum|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/10/16/matt-drudge-may-have-lost-his-grip-on-reality/|title=Danney Williams is not Bill Clinton's son, no matter what Matt Drudge tells you|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=August 19, 2019}}

On April 1, 2007, the Drudge Report cited an unnamed "official" source claiming that CNN reporter Michael Ware had "heckled" Republican senators McCain and Graham during a live press conference:{{cite news |first=Matt |last=Drudge |date=April 2, 2007 |url=http://www.drudgereportarchives.com/data/2007/04/01/20070401_175303_flash.htm | title=McCain heckled by CNN reporter |publisher= Drudge Report | access-date =April 2, 2007 }}

{{blockquote|An official at the press conference called Ware's conduct "outrageous," saying, "here you have two United States Senators in Baghdad giving first-hand reports while Ware is laughing and mocking their comments. I've never witnessed such disrespect. This guy is an activist not a reporter."|Matthew Drudge|Drudge Report}}

However, a video hosted by Rawstory showed that Ware did not make a sound nor ask any question during the press conference.*{{cite news |last1=Roston |first1=Michael |last2=Edwards |first2=David |title=CNN reporter slams Drudge's charge that he 'heckled' McCain; Exclusive video confirms his claim |url=http://rawstory.com/news/2007/CNN_reporter_slams_Drudges_charge_that_0402.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070406173653/http://rawstory.com/news/2007/CNN_reporter_slams_Drudges_charge_that_0402.html |archive-date=April 6, 2007 |publisher=Rawstory |date=April 2, 2007 |access-date=August 13, 2017}}

• {{Cite news |last=Memmott |first=Mark |date=April 2, 2007 |title=CNN's Ware fires back at Drudge report about 'heckling' |url=http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/04/cnns_ware_fires.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007181114/http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/04/cnns_ware_fires.html |archive-date=October 7, 2008 |department=On Deadline (blog) |work=USA Today |access-date=August 13, 2017}}

On September 5, 2008, the Drudge Report reported that The Oprah Winfrey Show staffers were "sharply divided on the merits of booking Sarah Palin." Drudge said that he had obtained the information from an anonymous source. Winfrey responded in a written statement to news outlets by saying, "The item in today's Drudge Report is categorically untrue. There has been absolutely no discussion about having Sarah Palin on my show. At the beginning of this presidential campaign when I decided that I was going to take my first public stance in support of a candidate, I made the decision not to use my show as a platform for any of the candidates." Oprah Winfrey's public statement came after she had already endorsed Barack Obama for president on Larry King Live in 2007.{{cite news |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/oprah-denies-report-shes-balking-at-having-palin-on-show |title=Oprah Denies Report She's Balking at Having Palin on Show |publisher=Fox News |access-date=February 20, 2009 | date=September 5, 2008}} Drudge was accused by some commentators of planting a false story for political ends.*{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/sep/07/uselections2008.sarahpalin1?gusrc=rss&feed=global |title=US election: Storm as Oprah says no to Palin interview |newspaper=The Guardian |last=Harris |first=Paul |quote=Some experts believe the issue, initially reported on Drudge ... was a media ploy to drag Winfrey's backing of Obama into the election and show a media bias against the Republicans | access-date=June 27, 2016 |date=September 7, 2008}}

• {{cite news | url=http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/05/03/oprah-endorses-obama-2/?scp=1&sq=oprah%20obama%20endorsement&st=cse | date=May 3, 2007 | title=Oprah Endorses Obama | first=Jeff | last=Zeleny | newspaper=New York Times | access-date=June 27, 2016}}

On October 23, 2008, the Drudge Report published an unconfirmed exclusive story regarding Ashley Todd, a 20-year-old employee{{cite web|url=http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/analysis/506|title=Ashley Todd, PA Racist Hoax "Victim," Was Paid Organizer for College Republican National Committee, Not a Volunteer|access-date=October 29, 2008|publisher=BuzzFlash.com|author=Meg White|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081030014151/http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/analysis/506|archive-date=October 30, 2008|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} of the College Republican National Committee (CRNC) and John McCain volunteer who had allegedly been attacked by a black male for having a McCain sticker on her car in Pittsburgh. The story was reported without a link but as "developing", with the headline "Shock: McCain Volunteer Attacked and Mutilated in Pittsburgh – 'B' carved into 20 yr old Woman's Face."{{Cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-feldman/drudge-puts-dangerous-spi_b_137342.html|title=Drudge Puts Dangerous Spin on Mugging, Implies Violence Targeting McCain Volunteers|access-date=October 23, 2008 | work=Huffington Post|first=Jeffrey|last=Feldman|date=October 23, 2008}} The story set off a "storm of media attention"{{cite news |url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08299/922849-53.stm/ |title=McCain volunteer admits to hoax |publisher=www.post-gazette.com |access-date=March 3, 2009 |quote=One photo appeared on The Drudge Report on Thursday, setting off a storm of media attention. | first=Michael A. | last=Fuoco | date=October 25, 2008}} and was repeated by some conservative bloggers and radio talk-show hosts, all citing the Drudge Report as their source. It was also reported in newspapers and on television around the world.{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna27405321 |title=Countdown with Keith Olbermann |date=October 24, 2008|work=NBC News |access-date=March 3, 2009}} The story was confirmed to be a hoax perpetrated by Todd and, according to Talking Points Memo, spread to reporters by McCain's Pennsylvania communications director.{{cite web |url=http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/10/mccain_aide_gave_reporters_inc.php |title=McCain Campaign Pushed Now-Discredited Attack Story |publisher=TPM |date=October 24, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081025161605/http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/10/mccain_aide_gave_reporters_inc.php |archive-date=October 25, 2008 }}

The Drudge Report printed a retraction, including links to the news stories detailing that the attack had been a hoax, and that Todd had performed a similar "attack" on herself while volunteering in a local Ron Paul grassroots group. She was later asked to leave the group because of the hoax.

The Drudge Report included some articles intimating that U.S. president Barack Obama was not an American citizen.*{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/28/business/media/28birth.html|title='Birthers' Fanned Flames of Conspiracy for Years|last=Stelter|first=Brian|date=April 27, 2011|work=The New York Times|access-date=October 20, 2017|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}

• {{Cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-birth-certificate-release-wont-kill-birther-movement/|title=Obama birth certificate release won't kill "birther" movement|access-date=October 20, 2017|language=en}}

On August 8, 2016, the Drudge Report displayed a photo depicting two men helping Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton ascend a set of stairs during a campaign stop in South Carolina on February 27, 2016. Afterward, several Twitter accounts in support of Republican nominee Donald Trump used the photo with the hashtag #HillaryHealth.{{cite news|title=Hillary health myth: From Twitter theories to a Trump speech - BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-37090082|access-date=August 22, 2016|date=August 19, 2016}} The use of the photo was criticized by several commentators for presenting a dated photograph out of context to mislead readers.{{cite news|last1=Stelter|first1=Brian|title=Drudge Report misleads readers with Hillary Clinton photo|url=https://money.cnn.com/2016/08/08/media/drudge-report-hillary-clinton-fall/|access-date=August 8, 2016|work=CNNMoney|date=August 8, 2016}}{{cite news|last1=Weigel|first1=David|title=Armed with junk science and old photos, critics question #HillarysHealth|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/08/08/armed-with-junk-science-and-old-photos-critics-question-hillaryshealth/|access-date=August 8, 2016|newspaper=Washington Post|date=August 8, 2016}}

On October 3, 2016, the Drudge Report published a dubious claim that Bill Clinton had an illegitimate child named Danney Williams, an allegation that the site had reported as debunked in 1999 based on a Time magazine article.*{{cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/10/3/13147842/bill-clinton-son-danney-williams|title=Drudge Report is spreading a conspiracy about Bill Clinton it debunked in 1999|website=Vox|date=October 3, 2016|first=Tara|last=Golshan}}

• {{cite web|url=http://www.snopes.com/bill-clinton-illegitimate-son/|title=Paternity Jest|website=Snopes.com|date=October 3, 2016|first=David|last=Emery}}

On December 30, 2016, an article listed on the Drudge Report accused the United States federal government of attempting to bring down its website with a denial-of-service attack.{{cite news|last1=Silva|first1=Cristina|title=US Government Attacks Drudge Report? Conservative Website Down Because Of Distributed Denial Of Service Attack, Matt Drudge Tweets|url=http://www.ibtimes.com/us-government-attacks-drudge-report-conservative-website-down-because-distributed-2467391|access-date=December 30, 2016|work=International Business Times|date=December 29, 2016}}{{cite news|last1=Hadley|first1=Greg|title=Matt Drudge suggests US government behind cyberattack on 'Drudge Report'|url=http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/article123692789.html|access-date=December 30, 2016|work=The Sacramento Bee|date=December 29, 2016}} Beginning roughly one week earlier, DDoS attacks had repeatedly taken the site offline for extended periods. Cybersecurity analysts speculated that the attack was on the scale of the 2016 Dyn cyberattack and suggested that only a small number of groups would have the ability to take down a highly trafficked site for extended lengths of time.{{cite news|last1=Darcy|first1=Oliver|title=Someone is trying to take down the Drudge Report, and it's a mystery who's behind it|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/hackers-ddos-drudge-report-2017-1?op=1|work=Business Insider|date=January 8, 2017}}

The Drudge Report included articles about the debunked Pizzagate conspiracy theory,{{Cite news|url=http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/michael-flynn-conspiracy-pizzeria-trump-232227|title=Flynn under fire for fake news|work=POLITICO|access-date=October 20, 2017}} as well as conspiracy theories about the murder of Seth Rich.{{Cite news|url=https://money.cnn.com/2017/08/10/media/seth-rich-fox-news-timeline/index.html|title=Exclusive: The chaos behind the scenes of Fox News' now-retracted Seth Rich story|last=Darcy|first=Oliver|work=CNNMoney|access-date=October 20, 2017}}

In October 2017, Drudge Report included articles with conspiracy theories about the 2017 Las Vegas shooting.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/09/business/media/las-vegas-massacre-infowars-conspiracy.html|title=Las Vegas Massacre Gives InfoWars More Conspiracy Fodder|last=Grynbaum|first=Michael M.|date=October 9, 2017|work=The New York Times|access-date=October 20, 2017|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}

In October 2017, the Drudge Report shared a dubious Breitbart News story claiming that an illegal alien caused the October 2017 Northern California wildfires.{{cite web|url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/briannasacks/no-an-undocumented-immigrant-did-not-start-the-deadly|title=Breitbart Made Up False Story That Immigrant Started Deadly Sonoma Wildfires, Sheriff's Office Says|last=Ansari|first=Brianna Sacks, Talal|website=BuzzFeed|date=October 19, 2017 |access-date=October 20, 2017}} The story was rebutted by the Sonoma County's sheriff department, which stated, "This is completely false, bad, wrong information that Breitbart started and is being put out into the public."

In June 2018, the Drudge Report displayed a headline and photo pairing that some perceived as a suggestion that migrant children who had been separated from their parents were violent criminals. The photo was actually that of a group of Syrian children holding toy guns.{{Cite news |last=Evon |first=Dan |title=Were Gun-Toting Children Photographed on the United States Border? |url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/gun-toting-children-photographed-united-states-border/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207130926/https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/gun-toting-children-photographed-united-states-border/ |archive-date=2021-12-07 |access-date=2018-06-19 |work=Snopes |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |last=Frej |first=Willa |date=2018-06-19 |title=Drudge Report Used Photo Of Children In Syria To Depict U.S. Border Crisis |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/drudge-report-syria-us-border-photo_us_5b28cee0e4b0f0b9e9a4bc87 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190630223200/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/drudge-report-syria-us-border-photo_n_5b28cee0e4b0f0b9e9a4bc87 |archive-date=2019-06-30 |access-date=2018-06-19 |work=HuffPost |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |last=Lopez |first=German |date=June 18, 2018 |title=The Drudge Report chose a very misleading photo for a child immigration story |url=https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/6/18/17475356/drudge-report-immigration-families-children-trump |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618192958/https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/6/18/17475356/drudge-report-immigration-families-children-trump |archive-date=2018-06-18 |access-date=2018-06-19 |work=Vox}}

• "Drudge Retort", a parody website

{{reflist|30em}}

{{Sister project links}}

• {{Official website}}

• Archives:
• {{cite web

|url = http://www.drudgereportarchive.com

|title = Drudge Report Archive

|date = December 1998

|access-date = October 10, 2014

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141017042522/http://www.drudgereportarchive.com/

|archive-date = October 17, 2014

|url-status = dead

|df = mdy-all

}}

• {{cite web |url= http://drudgereport.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011101001543/http://drudgereport.com/

|archive-date=November 1, 2001

|url-status=dead

|title= Internet Archive (less comprehensive)

|date= December 10, 1997}}

• {{cite web |url= http://www.drudgereportarchives.com/

|title= Drudge Report Archives

|date= November 2001}}

Category:American news websites

Category:Clinton–Lewinsky scandal

Category:News aggregators

Category:American conservative websites

Category:Conservatism in the United States

Category:Internet properties established in 1995

Category:1995 establishments in Florida