It turns out that the Republican fracture isn’t limited to the party itself. Conservative media heavyweights are fighting their own war of words and forming themselves into pro-Trump and anti-Trump parties, breaking old alliances, and testing long-standing friendships. Theses spats have been on the slow-burn for months, but have recently fired up the airwaves and the internet like never before.
Involved are three names that you’ll likely recognize: Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Sean Hannity.
Firmly on team Trump is Fox News talking head Sean Hannity.
Frustrated by the lack of united GOP support for his main man, Hannity said Tuesday that he would hold Trump skeptics like Glenn Beck and conservative publication The National Review” personally accountable if Hillary Clinton wins the election.
Anti-Trump journalist Bill Kristol used a literary analogy to describe the events:
Hannity has become Lady Macbeth: Gradually becoming more unhinged as the man in whom he believes falters. https://t.co/8QeqOs9T2Y
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) August 30, 2016
Glenn Beck has tried to play down any feuding, but the fact remains that he is not a fan of Donald Trump. On Wednesday he said a Clinton administration would be “cyanide for the Republic,” but that Trump as President “may be worse.” Beck was a Ted Cruz guy during the primaries, and has continually criticized Trump during the past year.
So what’s happening here? Beck said:
“All of us feel like we’re trapped in a barn fire… so we don’t know what to do.”
Even Rush Limbaugh isn’t escaping the fire. Considered the quintessential conservative talk radio host, he is under harsh criticism from his own kind for the way he’s handled the primary and election cycles.
Instead of questioning Trump’s tactics and pointing out his many logical fallacies, Limbaugh made a practice of ignoring them.
An exchange on his show has come to typify the problem some portions of the conservative media have with others: their willingness to ignore what’s right in front of them. Take Limbaugh on the deportation of immigrants:
“You know, I could choose a path here to try to mollify you, but I never took him seriously on this!”
The listener was not amused:
“But this is why Trump is going to get annihilated. Because nobody called him out early on about his absurd policies.”
News conglomerates like Fox cater to right-wing viewers with a certain single-mindedness, like preaching to the choir. It’s how they make lots and lots of money. It’s a conservative safe-zone. But many critics, conservative and neutral alike, argue that this approach is failing to reach the all-important independent voting populous, who are turned off by all the propaganda.
Now, it may be too late.
Listen to that exchange with Limbaugh and a listener here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xS5RAQ0198
Feature image via Youtube screengrab
