The Daily 202: Breitbart exodus highlights schism over Trump within conservative media

Donald Trump speaks last night in West Chester, Ohio. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

THE BIG IDEA:

Breitbart News reporter Michelle Fields and editor-at-large Ben Shapiro resigned last night to protest how the conservative web site has handled the alleged assault on Fields by Donald Trump’s campaign manager.

“I don’t think they took my side,” Fields told The Post’s Sarah Kaplan early this morning. “They were protecting Trump more than me.”

Breitbart spokesman Kurt Bardella already resigned Friday after the site published a story by a senior editor casting doubt on Fields’s version of last week’s incident, which was witnessed by a Washington Post reporter.

Sources tell the 202 that more resignations are imminent.

-- The turmoil at the site is a reflection of the degree to which the Republican civil war has also divided the conservative media.

Old guard publications like the Weekly Standard and National Review have been sounding alarm bells about the front-runner, warning in often apocalyptic terms about what his nomination would mean for the GOP and the country. Fox News’s coverage has also been markedly critical. Such stinging rebukes might have been fatal for Trump in elections past, but many grassroots activists now see these institutions as mouthpieces of the very Republican establishment that they want to topple.

Breitbart, a news site founded by the late activist Andrew Breitbart, has been Trump’s biggest cheerleader for months, churning out a stream of positive stories about him and ripping establishment figures like Marco Rubio.

“Breitbart has unfortunately become Trump’s Pravda,” Shapiro said in a statement announcing his resignation. “No media outlet worth its salt would throw over their own reporter and bad mouth her on their front page in order to protect the candidate.”

Breitbart has not responded yet, and there’s nothing on the site this morning about the shake-up. The lead story is a characteristically fawning piece by Matthew Boyle about Trump’s rally in Boca Raton last night.

The tenor of their coverage, even before the Fields incident, made Breitbart’s own reporters uncomfortable and has drawn widespread mockery from right-leaning commentators. Radio host Glenn Beck last month even compared Steve Bannon, who runs Breitbart, to Hitler propagandist Joseph Goebbels.

As she tried to ask Trump a question after his press conference in Florida last Tuesday, Corey Lewandowski allegedly grabbed Fields by the arm and yanked her away. Lewandowski denied that he touched her and counter-attacked, saying that she’s an attention-seeker. Fields has filed a police report.

Remarkably, none of the four Sunday show hosts who interviewed Trump yesterday asked him about the incident.He denied it in the spin room after the debate last Thursday.

There is a great deal of frustration among movement conservatives that Breitbart does not subscribe to or advance traditional orthodoxies:

Many conservative pundits came to the defense of the journalists who resigned:

This is the top editor at National Review:

One final straw for Shapiro and Fields was when Breitbart's senior editor-at-large, Joel Pollak, ordered staff not to defend Fields. Via BuzzFeed:

If you haven't been following this story, our video team produced an explainer on the contorversy:

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING:

John Kasich campaigns in Strongsville, Ohio, yesterday. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

OHIO, OHIO, OHIO—

Many of Marco Rubio’s close allies and top donors now believe he will lose the Florida GOP primary tomorrow. If that happens, it will be almost impossible for the senator to continue as a viable candidate. Money will dry up, and establishment figures who have rallied behind him will demand that he get out.

Polls show the winner-take-all contest in Ohio is up for grabs, though, so Trump and his antagonists are focusing their firepower on the Buckeye State in the final day. Ohio will award all 66 of its delegates to whoever gets the most votes, just as Florida will give all 99 of its delegates to whoever wins there. John Kasich says he will drop out if he loses Ohio, which ups the ante.

Trump canceled a big Florida rally scheduled for tonight so he can spend more time in Ohio.

Mitt Romney will stump with Kasich in Ohio today. The former Massachusetts governor is not endorsing a candidate, but he's offered rhetorical support for all three of the remaining Republican alternatives. Romney and Kasich will appear together in North Canton and Westerville. Sarah Palin, meanwhile, will campaign on Trump’s behalf at The Villages in Florida this afternoon.

Kasich stepped up his criticism of Trump at a town hall in the state last night, saying that foreign enemies will use footage from his raucous rallies as a “propaganda tool.” (David Weigel)

A Quinnipiac University poll out this morning shows Trump and Kasich tied in Ohio at 38 percent, with Cruz at 16 percent and Rubio at 3 percent. (Trump leads Rubio 46-22 in Florida.)

Separate polling published yesterday by NBC, the Wall Street Journal and Marist showed Kasich leading Trump by 6 points in Ohio (39-33). Also, Trump is crushing Rubio by 19 points in Florida (43-22) and has the lead in Illinois, with 34 to 25 percent for second-place Ted Cruz. Hillary Clinton led Bernie Sanders in all three states, though by just 6 points in Illinois. Her leads in Florida and Ohio are more comfortable, at 27 points and 20 points, respectively.

John Boehner endorsed Kasich this weekend. The former Speaker, who represented Ohio for 25 years in the House, joins "a coalition of the formers" backing a politician who has been on the national stage for more than 30 years.

The Cincinnati Enquirer’s Editorial Board is urging Ohio residents not to vote for Trump. “No amount of grandstanding or bullying can return the economic security that so many in this country have lost over the past decade,” says the board. “Slogans and walls won’t fix the complex problems of our time.”

But, but, but: Kasich’s path is still highly problematic, even if he wins Ohio and Rubio drops out after losing Florida: “After Tuesday, 1,463 of the 2,472 Republican delegates will have been chosen. If Kasich were to win every one of the remaining delegates, improbable as that is, he would still be short of the 1,237 needed for nomination,” Dan Balz and Philip Rucker note. “His hope likely depends on winning a brutal floor fight with Trump and Cruz at the convention in July in Cleveland.” In an interview on his bus, Kasich said he thinks everyone will be short: “And at that point, I think they start looking at who can do the job, who can win in the fall.”

-- Besides Florida and Ohio, the other primaries tomorrow are in Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina. (And there’s a GOP caucus in the Northern Marianas Islands.)

— ZIGNAL VISUAL: Kasich rising on social media. From Jan. 1 to March 8, there was only one day in which mentions of Kasich outnumbered those of Rubio. But, in the last week, our analytics partners at Zignal Labsa have seen a reversal. The Florida senator has struggled to stay in the conversation, and the Ohio governor is getting more attention ahead of Tuesday's do-or-die primaries.

This charts mentions since the start of the year:

This charts mentions since the start of last week:

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) introduces Hillary Clinton at the Ohio Democratic Party Legacy Dinner in Columbus last night. (Photo by Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

-- Clinton and Sanders appeared at The Ohio State University for a town hall that aired on CNN:

Both argued they are best positioned to defeat Trump in a general election. Clinton cited her 25 years in politics and “thick skin.” Sanders pointed to his ability to mobilize young voters. Both candidates used strong language to condemn the Republican front-runner: Clinton described the real estate mogul’s whole campaign as one big act of “political arson.” Sanders called Trump a “pathological liar.”

An exonerated death row inmate challenged Clinton over her support for the death penalty: “I came perilously close to my own execution … In light of the fact that there are documented cases of innocent people who have been executed in our country, I would like to know how you can still take your stance on the death penalty,” said Ricky Jackson, who served the longest-ever prison sentence for a wrongful murder conviction. In response, Clinton clarified that she believes capital punishment should be reserved only for special cases, citing the Oklahoma City bombing as an example. (Abby Phillip)

Sanders attacked Clinton’s support for trade deals: The Vermont senator said Clinton’s past support of deals like NAFTA have hurt the middle class. “Trade is a positive thing. … Of course we’re going to do trade,” said Sanders. “But trade policies have got to be policies that work for the people of our country.”

On criminal justice: Clinton said African American incarceration rates were unacceptable and promised to replace the “school to prison pipeline.” Sanders railed against police killings, vowing to hold officers accountable. “Any police officer who breaks the law … must be held accountable,” he said. Period.”

GET SMART FAST:​​

A second ex-State Department employee has refused to talk to congressional committees about Hillary Clinton's email server set-up. John Bentel, a now-retired State employee who presided over IT issues for senior staff, is refusing to answer questions by the Senate Homeland Security and Judiciary GOP staff. The GOP chairs are considering ways to compel him to testify. (Politico)

-- Obama could announce his Supreme Court pick as early as this week. In case you missed it: Sources tell The Post that the president has narrowed his choice down to three finalists.

-- March Madness: The field of 68 has been set. The #1 seeds are North Carolina, Virginia, Oregon and Kansas. (A round-up of The Post's coverage is here. Get a PDF of the bracket here.)

-- When The Revolution and The Reaction Collide, Trump vs. Sanders:

The news this weekend was dominated by violence at Trump’s rallies. An event Friday was canceled at the last minute because of fears about large-scale protests. Many of Trump’s supporters feel marginalized and like the country is no longer serving them. On the other side, many of Sanders’s supporters feel like government is not responsive to them and the rising American electorate at all. This has helped set the stage for clashes.

Trump was defiant and tried to blame Sanders’s supporters for stirring up trouble. He even said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” yesterday that he has instructed his staff to look into paying legal fees for a 78-year-old white man who has been charged with sucker-punching a 26-year-old black protester at a rally last week.

“This man cannot stop lying,” Sanders said on the same show. “I would hope my supporters will not disrupt meetings. We have millions of supporters, and people do things. But it was not our campaign. … This is a man who keeps implying violence, and then you end up getting what you see.”

Rubio didn’t mention Trump, but he bemoaned “images we have not seen since the 1960s” at a stop in Florida yesterday: “Do we really want to live in a country where Americans hate each other? Where people are incapable of talking through an issue?”

While Trump’s three rivals are denouncing him to varying degrees for the recent violence, some Republicans notably came to his defense. Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), for example, wrote a blog post last night that said: “I’ve expressed my share of concern and criticism of Donald Trump’s style and demeanor as a presidential candidate, but to blame one person’s violence on another’s words seems desperate and unbecoming. Piling on the frontrunner is a rich political tradition, but to rationalize attempts to stifle free speech is not a Republican tradition and I suspect will serve to strengthen the standing of Donald Trump. I hope more Republican leaders condemn those who would deny free speech to Donald Trump and defend those interested in hearing him.”

Meanwhile, journalist Carl Bernstein called Trump “a neo-fascist” on CNN yesterday: “It’s a difficult term and the word ‘neo,’ meaning ‘new,’ has a lot to do with it. A new kind of fascist in our culture, dealing with an authoritarian, demagogic point of view, nativist, anti-immigrant, racism, bigotry that he appeals to, and I think we need to look at the past. And I’m not talking about Hitlerism and genocide, and I’m not making a direct parallel to Mussolini -- but a kind of American fascism that we haven't seen before, different than George Wallace, who was merely a racist. … I think he's a neo-fascist in the sense of his appeal and methodology that has to do with authoritarianism, nativism [and] incitement which we're seeing now. … It's a term I’ve never used to describe a living American politician.”

Bernie and Jane Sanders in Tampa on March 10. (Reuters/Scott Audette)

MORE ON THE DEMOCRATIC RACE:

Sanders is trying to use momentum from his Michigan win to perform well in other Midwestern contests tomorrow. His team thinks, if they can do well in Illinois tomorrow, they’ll be well positioned to win races in more favorable states, including Arizona on March 22. Two changes in Sanders’s approach, noted by John Wager:

-- “For Jane Sanders, a more visible role on the trail:” “Yet Jane’s search to find her place in her husband’s campaign has been as much of a journey as the insurgent White House bid itself. Jane is quick to offer a hug, talk about grandchildren — anything outside of politics, for that matter — and ask people about their experiences. Bernie Sanders is beloved by his supporters, but few accuse him of being warm and fuzzy. ‘It helps to have me with him,’ she said, explaining their dynamic. ‘He feels more comfortable and relaxed – we’re best friends and colleagues.’”

-- “Sanders has gotten nastier. Does it help explain his staying power?:" “When Sanders launched his long-shot bid, there were two words that rarely crossed his lips: Hillary Clinton. Now he can’t seem to stop talking about her — and not much of what he says is very nice. Compared with the Republican race, the Democratic contest remains relatively tame. But the Sanders who is fighting to remain relevant against Clinton sounds quite different from the Sanders whose chief antagonist was the ‘billionaire class’ when he debuted on the campaign trail … and in Sanders’s case, he risks damaging his brand as an anti-establishment politician who has boasted about never running negative television ads and pledged to stay positive.”

MORE ON THE REPUBLICAN RACE:

Trump shakes hands with Jerry Falwell Jr., the leader of the nation’s largest Christian university, during a campaign event in Sioux City, Iowa, on Jan. 31. (Reuters/Dave Kaup)

-- Jerry Falwell Jr. defended his support for Trump during an interview with the Liberty University student newspaper: “God called King David a man after God’s own heart even though he was an adulterer and a murderer. You have to choose the leader that would make the best king or president and not necessarily someone who would be a good pastor. We’re not voting for pastor-in-chief. It means sometimes we have to choose a person who has the qualities to lead and who can protect our country and bring us back to economic vitality, and it might not be the person we call when we need somebody to give us spiritual counsel.”

-- Family Research Council President Tony Perkins refused to commit to back Trump in a general election, saying he is “very concerned” that a Trump nomination could depress turnout from Christian conservative voters. (Tom Hamburger)

-- “Trump’s Illinois campaign director has been sidelined after the national campaign grew furious over what sources described as a lack of organization in the state in the run-up to Tuesday’s primary,” Politico reports. “Instead, two others have assumed duties that were held by Springfield-area attorney Kent Gray, who is also running for state representative.”

-- Trump also tweeted a video suggesting (with no evidence) that a protester who tried to charge the stage at one of his events on Saturday is linked with ISIS. Asked about it on Meet the Press, he said: “All I know is what’s on the internet.”

Then, at a rally yesterday in Ohio, Trump denied that he ever said POWs aren’t war heroes because they got captured. Keith Maupin, whose son was killed in Iraq after being taken prisoner, asked the candidate about his comments on John McCain. In July, Trump said: "He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured." But, on Sunday, Trump said: "Oh no, no, no. I never did that." He added, “They are heroes. Just so you understand. They're real heroes."

-- Conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly endorsed Trump, saying the businessman has the “courage and the energy … to do what the grass roots want him to do.” (David Weigel and Jose A. DelReal)

-- Rubio barely beat Kasich in D.C.’s Republican primary on Saturday, winning 37.3 percent to Kasich’s 35.5 percent. With 19 delegates at stake, voters waited in line for as long as three hours to cast ballots. (Katherine Shaver, Clarence Williams and Martin Weil)

-- There is another batch of congressional primaries tomorrow that will gauge how vulnerable GOP incumbents might be in the midst of the Trump Tornado. “Mitch McConnell, in particular, is paying close attention to these House and Senate primaries, the margins that the incumbents win by and what they did to win,” Paul Kane reports. “These early tests will help clarify how rocky things will be for Republicans in the fall, when McConnell’s Senate majority will hang in the balance and, depending on the environment, Paul Ryan’s huge cushion in the House could be reduced to the narrowest of margins. If the establishment canaries can survive, Republican leaders may be a little bit reassured that they can run successful congressional races later this year, independent of whoever tops the GOP ticket in November. So far, the first clutch of incumbents battled through their March 1 primaries without any casualties.”

WAPO HIGHLIGHTS:

-- “Trump has profited from foreign labor he says is killing U.S. jobs,” by Rosalind S. Helderman and Tom Hamburger: “Trump wanted to market a line of men’s clothing that would bear his name. He told people working with him to help find a company known for producing quality merchandise on a mass scale. In the end, Trump signed on with Phillips-Van Heusen, a manufacturer of affordable shirts produced in factories in 85 countries … The 2004 deal – the first of many arrangements in which Trump attached his name to products made by foreign workers and sold in the U.S. -- is relevant today as he wages a populist campaign in which he accuses companies of killing U.S. jobs. The contradiction between Trump’s business decisions and his political agenda illustrates the sometimes-awkward transformation of an aggressive, profit-oriented marketer into a firebrand champion of the struggling working class. ‘Finding the biggest company … was important to him,’ said Jeff Danzer, [who] brokered the deal. ‘Finding a company that made in America was never something that was specified.’”

Rick Snyder speaks in Flint last month. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

-- “Michigan Gov. Snyder confronts the perils of running government like a business,” by Lenny Bernstein and Joby Warrick: “Republican Rick Snyder called himself #onetoughnerd when he swept into the governor’s office in 2010, winning election easily after pledging to run Michigan more like the businesses that generated his substantial wealth. Yet now, as he prepares for congressional hearings on the water-contamination debacle in Flint, Mich., a new Twitter hashtag to describe Snyder might be #onedonedude … As the national spotlight falls on Snyder during his testimony Thursday, his predicament is more than just another political fall from grace. Nine people are dead from Legionnaires’ disease that may be linked to Flint’s tainted water and thousands may have been poisoned for life by lead. All of it is being laid at the feet of a man who promised to manage the state more competently than traditional politicians. ‘We were an experiment in their philosophy of government,’ said Jim Ananich, the state Senate minority leader, who lives in Flint. ‘But unfortunately, it failed.’”

-- "House GOP makes one more big push to get a budget," by Kelsey Snell: "House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wisc.) has been working for weeks with House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-Ga.) to convince hard line conservatives to back a budget that includes $30 billion in new spending that was agreed to last year as part of a bipartisan deal. Republican leaders hope to devote much of the next few days to convincing conservatives to back the spending blueprint with Price’s committee tentatively scheduled to vote on a proposal later this week, according to several GOP aides. Key to the sales pitch is a plan to offset the cost of the increased spending for the annual appropriations bills by slashing funding or finding savings elsewhere in the budget, such as in Medicaid and social services grant programs."

SOCIAL MEDIA SPEED READ:

Check out this photo of Sanders hugging Danny DeVito:

Among the other photos going viral:

Here's a sign spotted along the D.C. marathon route:

Pete Rose endorsed Trump:

New York Jets Center Nick Mangold attended a Trump rally to show his support:

Trump went after Kasich on Twitter:

Trump Winery employees are not eager to discuss the campaign:

John Legend tangled with Donald Trump, Jr.:

Coulter called for Trump supporters to hit back harder at protestors:

Richard Trumka slammed Mike Lee for endorsing Cruz:

Commentary's John Podhoretz, a conservative pundit, and The New Republic's Editor-in-Chief, Gabriel Snyder, got into a lengthy Twitter spat after TNR published a lengthy, negative piece about Cruz called "A Most Hated Man":

Sanders supporters went after Clinton for her healthcare attack:

John Boehner seems to be enjoying his life outside politics:

DAYBOOK:

On the campaign trail: Candidates are all over the map today. Here is the rundown:

At the White House: President Obama speaks at the Chief of Missions conference. Later, the Obamas welcome the cast of Hamilton for a performance at the White House.

On Capitol Hill: The Senate meets at 3 p.m. The House meets at 2 p.m. for legislative business. Fourteen suspension votes are scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

NEWS YOU CAN USE IF YOU LIVE IN D.C.:

Jacai Colson, 28, a four-year veteran of the Prince George County police force, was killed when a gunman opened fire. (Prince George County police department/Handout via Reuters)

-- A Prince George’s County police officer was shot and killed outside the department's headquarters in Landover. Two suspects are in custody. One witness saw a man dressed in black firing a handgun at the police station. “He fired one shot, and then he started pacing back and forth, then fired another shot,” said Lascelles Grant, a nurse. “Then police came pouring out.” The details of what exactly prompted the shooting remains unclear." (Michael Laris, Faiz Siddiqui and Lynh Bui)

-- Another cool and rainy Monday. The Capital Weather Gang forecasts: It’s a cloudy and pretty bleak day overall. While rain should be patchy and light, not amounting to a whole lot, drizzle should hang around much of day. Highs only reach the mid-50s or so.

Donna Edwards, helps Christopher Fleming, 10, tie his shoe while she campaigns in Baltimore. (Photo by Rachel Weiner/The Washington Post)

-- “With 2 candidates from D.C. suburbs, Maryland Senate race is all about Baltimore,” by Rachel Weiner: “On a recent Saturday in Baltimore, Rep. Chris Van Hollen spent the morning at a ceremony for black veterans, the afternoon at a celebration of Black History Month and the evening at a basketball game between two historically black universities. Across town, Rep. Donna F. Edwards, convened a meeting of 50 female supporters … Charm City has become the key battleground in Maryland’s competitive Democratic Senate primary, thanks to a lack of homegrown candidates. With polls showing Van Hollen winning his base of Montgomery County and Edwards her home of Prince George’s County, both candidates are focusing firepower on Baltimore, whose voters are up for grabs. Each candidate has made more than 100 appearances in Baltimore since the campaign began. Edwards ‘looks like our core voting demographic,’ said a professor. But Van Hollen has the endorsements of Baltimore politicians, and makes friends with tenacity. ‘I like his style,’ said a voter. ‘I think he’s for the folks.’”

-- Two contenders for the Democratic nomination in Maryland’s 8th Congressional District released dueling internal polls this weekend, with Kathleen Matthews and David Trone each claiming to be closely trailing Sen. Jamie B. Raskin for second place. (Bill Turque)

VIDEOS OF THE DAY:

Johnny Depp did a fabulous Trump impression (and a brief Reagan impression, too) after calling Trump a "brat":

SNL spoofed Ben Carson's Trump endorsement and Sanders talking about his Michigan win (Larry David is back!):

SNL also did a Clinton campaign ad where she tries to imitate Sanders:

A man tried to rush the stage at a Trump rally in Dayton, Ohio:

The cast of the West Wing reunited for a veterans PSA:

CBS reporter Sopan Deb recalled his arrest Friday night at a Trump rally (great footage included):

Obama said "Thanks, Obama" during his appearance at SXSW:

Here are some scenes of chaos at the Trump rally on Friday night: