John Zeigler at Mediaite has a strongly-worded column on the paradox of prominent conservatives like Rush Limbaugh gushing over Trump who gives every appearance of being an erstwhile liberal masquerading in this election cycle as a conservative.
Here are some excerpts from Zeigler's essay which should, of course, be read in its entirety:
To fully understand how and why the “conservative” (I use that term loosely) media willingly enabled this hostile takeover of the Republican Party, you primarily need to comprehend what a fraud the entire industry is. In short, the vast majority of “conservative” media is simply just a business cynically disguised as a cause....I could understand supporting Trump were there no good alternatives for conservative voters in the Republican race, but there were, and still are. Scott Walker was a great candidate, Marco Rubio and Carly Fiorina were also outstanding, and Ted Cruz is excellent. Why, then, the almost complete blackout for the last six months of these candidates by people like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and their total focus on Donald Trump? Why do individuals like Ben Carson and Jerry Falwell, Jr., men who stand for civility and morality in politics and public life, endorse a man who has coarsened our public discourse and who openly boasts of adulterous relationships? Why do Bill O'Reilly, Matt Drudge, Ann Coulter, Breitbart.com and others fawn over a man who until the day before yesterday held political positions they disdain?
It is my view that ... the “conservative” media had their most influence on Trump eventually getting the nomination [when he first announced his candidacy]. Trump’s campaign was like a rocket ship where the most perilous moments are during liftoff. If the conservative base had not accepted him a serious or credible candidate, then he would have quickly crashed and burned because, without traction, the media oxygen which would fuel his flight would have immediately evaporated....
[T]his made it much easier for “conservative” media icons like Limbaugh, Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, and even Levin to “play with fire” during the dull summer months of 2015 and seriously entertain the concept of a Trump candidacy. It can not be overstated that, given Trump’s very liberal history and lack of credentials, just how impossible this would have been for them to have even considered this reaction to his candidacy if Trump did not bring them celebrity/ratings during a down period....
[A]s the fire they created began to spread and gain strength, it became impossible for anyone to control, even if they wanted to. In short, once the average Trump supporter bought into the bogus “conservative” media narrative about him which absolved all his many past sins, he was basically unstoppable. After all, if he really wasn’t one of “us,” or was somehow bad for the “cause,” surely Rush, or Sean, or Bill, or Mark, or Matt would tell them that. Right?!
Once his liftoff was given clearance from conservative heavyweights, the Trump phenomenon went into orbit with his total domination of the news media. Desperately thirsting for the ratings he brought them, the cable news networks (even the liberals at CNN and MSNBC) shattered all semblances of journalistic standards by allowing him to appear for unprecedented amounts of time, usually unfettered. This sucked up all the oxygen from all the other candidates in the far-too-crowded field. It also allowed Trump to laughably claim he was self-funding his campaign when in reality he was hardly needing to spend a dime because of all the free airtime he was given (this is just one of dozens of key lies Trump has told, which the “conservative” media has conveniently ignored).
This created a self-perpetuating symbiotic relationship between his free airtime and his poll numbers. The more potential Trump voters saw him being taken seriously in the media, the more they gained the courage to tell pollsters that they supported him. The more he rose in the polls, the better excuse the networks had for having Trump on. They pretended that it was because he was now the “GOP Frontrunner,” when it was really just because he was much better for their ratings than interviewing any of the serious candidates....
[T]he conservative media doesn’t want to see their cash cow killed, especially since they have basically already budgeted for the record revenue a Trump vs. Hillary campaign would likely create....
Hannity effectively became an arm of the Trump campaign. Limbaugh continued to defend him. Drudge waged a vicious overt war against Rubio and Ted Cruz and made sure (much like he did with Rev. Wright in his 2008 bid to protect Obama during the primaries) that no negative Trump stories could get any real traction....
It should be noted that the nature of Trump’s fervent fans added even more fuel to why the “conservative” media went into the tank for Trump. They are not only the most passionate, but they are also the least rational. You cannot reason with them and they will simply tune you out if they don’t like what you are saying about their hero.
Of course, the “conservative” media doesn’t really care if Trump beats Hillary. They “win” either way. They get great ratings through November and “worst case” they end up with Hillary to provide them with easy content for at least the next four years. Pathetically, that’s all they really care about....
With all the talk of dismantling the “evil establishment” in this election cycle, for conservatives to ever win a presidential election again, the REAL “establishment” which needs to be shattered is that of the elite “conservative” media. While the Republican establishment is weak and incompetent, at least most of them are not overtly working for the other side.
Jim Geraghty, in commenting on Zeigler's piece, says this:
Finally, while the major conservative media entities named in John Zeigler’s essay would probably vehemently deny that they let clubby groupthink, a desire for ratings and other bad influences alter their judgment, there is this remaining unexplained about-face from some of the biggest names in the conservative movement. From about 2009 to early 2015, to be praised in conservative media, you had to be indisputably conservative. Even a longtime record of voting conservatively didn’t protect you if you were seen as flinching in a tough fight. Mike Castle? Unacceptable! Mitch McConnell? Sellout! John Boehner? Worthless! Thad Cochran? Everything that’s wrong with the Senate! Lindsey Graham, Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan? Useless squishes!Either these prominent conservatives are, in fact, (1) a bunch of unprincipled hucksters who simply exploit the conservatism of their audience for their own ratings and profit or (2) they know something about Trump that no one else does and which they're not sharing with us, or (3) they're just stupid. I don't believe (2) or (3), and I don't want to believe (1). Nevertheless, unless there's another possibility that I'm missing I don't see how (1) can be avoided.
Then in mid-2015, along comes Trump, with his long history of donating to the Democrats, support for Planned Parenthood, affirmative action, gun control, and a national health-care system, even friendship with Al Sharpton . . . and some of the biggest names on television and radio are perfectly fine with him.