Do you remember when you first heard of Matt Drudge and the Drudge Report? I certainly do. It was back in 1997 when his website was the first to tell the sordid tale of Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. Drudge reported, “Newsweek Kills Story on White House Intern,” and it was off to the races for the conservative news aggregator, which has surpassed the New York Times in web traffic.

Fast forward nearly 20 years to the 2016 election, and Matt Drudge heartily supported Donald Trump. In fact, after the inauguration, the website ran the simple headline, “AMERICA AGAIN.” You don’t get much more enthusiastic than that.

But that was then. Lately, his support for Trump seems to be waning, leading up to a recent Washington Post article with this headline:

“Matt Drudge played a major role in the Clinton impeachment — now he’s back for another round.” 

Of course, some might say, it’s the WaPo snooping for more impeachment support. Look here — even Matt Drudge doesn’t like Trump anymore!

The WaPo pointed out that on Tuesday, after the impeachment announcement, Drudge headlines read:

“COMPLAINT ALLEGES COVER-UP”

“DEMS SPEED IT UP”

“IMPEACHMENT 2019”

As of Saturday morning, I found that while the website’s headlines focused on a new mob movie featuring a Goodfellas crew redux, its upper left corner showed these sub-headlines in red: “Impeachment 2019: Pompeo subpoenaed,” and “First White House Republican backs inquiry.” Plus, leaks, and leaks, and more leaks.

But this isn’t the first time that the elusive journo’s wavering has been noticed; in fact, it’s been buzzing for the past two years.

Alarmed and angry Trump supporters in the Twitterverse also claim that Drudge has been waffling for some time now — even delving in conspiracies.

Twitter: screenshot.

Lots of curious minds have been questioning the website and its founder, even calling radio talk shows.

Late in the summer, a caller to radio host Rush Limbaugh asked what happened:

“Yes, sir. Quick question about Matt Drudge. I want to get your take on Drudge and the doom and gloom Drudge seems to hot link every single day now for like the last year or so. And the question is, sir, do you think Drudge is now a Never Trumper?”

And for once, Limbaugh admitted he really didn’t have an answer:

“He literally could be either mad at Trump, let down, disappointed by Trump, any number of things. I actually don’t know, ’cause I don’t.”

Über-Trump supporter Don Surber, who has contributed to the American Spectator and has written glowing books about Trump, was also suspicious:

“Another Friday and another hamfisted attempt by the Drudge Report to undermine support for President Donald John Trump. A week ago, Matt Drudge was sure that the trade war with Red China was going to do The Donald in because the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down. A week before that Drudge had us in a recession not caused by Red China. . . .” 

“That’s when Drudge’s tone toward the president shifted. Among the upper-left headlines on August 5 was this one: “After pair of mass shootings, Trump remains out of sight . . .” August 6 featured a “Bubble Popping?” warning regarding the stock market and the U.S. economy in general — a key indicator of Trump’s re-election chances. August 8 included an upper-left Rasmussen poll showing only 47 percent approval for Trump — a relatively low number compared to Rasmussen’s customary daily figures.”

“Drudge Mocks WaPo For Its Coverage of Him”

Except, there is no quote by the elusive webmeister “mocking” the WaPo. Instead, the Daily Caller presented this Drudge headline as his “sarcasm:”

“WASH POST SHOCK: DRUDGE COVERING IMPEACHMENT!”

And that’s it. Daily Caller also pointed fingers at staff, who are just as secretive as their boss. So here’s another trip down the rabbit hole.

“The piece assumed the headlines were written by the “elusive” Drudge himself. But were they? As secretive as his employees always are, he does have people working for him who could’ve easily splashed those rather straightforward Trump impeachment headlines on Drudge.”

Coulda this, coulda that. The truth is that no one knows what’s going on in Matt Drudge’s brain except the man himself. But when you’ve lost the loyalty of the Drudge Report, it makes you wonder what he might know that we don’t.

Featured image: WikimediaCommons/cropped/CC BY-SA 2.0.