Why has Drudge gone hysterical on the coronavirus?

For about two decades starting with the Lewinsky scandal The Drudge Report was a reliably conservative aggregate news site. As many know, an aggregate site rarely reports news on its own, but publishes links to other stories.

Though balanced enough not to be a robotic cheerleader, Drudge leaned heavily Right. It was, and remains, the most popular aggregate site on the Internet. But for about two years, since the Mueller probe, Drudge has shifted Left. These days, on coverage of the coronavirus, the site seems to have doubled down on his Leftward “the sky is falling” tilt. Why?

Has he discovered the glories of the socialist hordes? Hardly. Has he gone mad? Nope. Does he have something against the president or been paid off by the Democrats? No. Thus, please remove your tinfoil hats.

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The answer is in his origins. He came to prominence during Lewinsky, perhaps the most lurid political scandal in American history up to that point. He published the intimate details of that controversy down to the most personal aspects of the story. And people ate it up.

That’s his key: the more lurid the story the better. He also likes to side with the more hysterically aggrieved party because in their frothing weirdness the moon barkers keep up with stories on a frequent basis and share them just as enthusiastically.

During Lewinsky it was the Right that was aggrieved. During Bush, Drudge played it close to his chest. During Obama, as the Right was once again howling, he went with the flow.

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But now, it is the Left that is howling and has been for over three years. The coronavirus? Can you think of a more lurid “if it bleeds it leads” story?

Thus take Drudge’s hits on Trump as a marketing-inspired compliment and chalk up his gloom and doom coronavirus coverage to his love of clicks and sensationalism.

Does he feel a sense of duty, as most of the nation feels in regards to other coronavirus-related matters, to bring credible information to the public? Nope. Matt Drudge feels a singular sense of duty to the only thing that he has ever really cared about: Matt Drudge.