President Donald J. Trump talks to members of the press on the South Lawn of the White House Friday, Feb. 7, 2020, prior to boarding Marine One to begin his trip to Charlotte, N.C. (Official White House photo by Joyce N. Boghosian)
President Donald Trump is blasting online newsman Matt Drudge this weekend, as the commander in chief said he's given up on the popular Drudge Report website.
"I gave up on Drudge (a really nice guy) long ago, as have many others," Trump tweeted on Saturday.
"People are dropping off like flies!"
I gave up on Drudge (a really nice guy) long ago, as have many others. People are dropping off like flies! https://t.co/L77SXS2mE8
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 18, 2020
In a rare statement, Drudge fired back at Trump to refute the claim that his online traffic is plummeting.
"The past 30 days has been the most eyeballs in Drudge Report's 26 year-history," Drudge said in an email to CNN.
"Heartbreaking that it has been under such tragic circumstances."
WND examined Drudge's traffic ranking on Alexa.com, and found that in the past 90 days, the website's traffic initially surged, likely due to coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, but has been on a slight downward trend since March 16.
Screenshot of the Drudge Report's traffic as monitored by Alexa.com
On Jan. 19, the Drudge Report ranked at No. 907 among all websites in the world. Its most recent peak in mid-March was 806, and it has since dropped to 874 as of April 17. The Drudge Report currently ranks at No. 203 of all websites based in the United States.
By comparison the New York Times site currently ranks at No. 77 in the world, and No. 18 in the U.S.; FoxNews.com ranks at No. 229 in the world and No. 48 in the U.S.; and the New York Post ranks at No. 491 in the world and No. 114 in America.
Matt Drudge, founder of the Drudge Report (Photo: Twitter)
The Drudge Report soared to instant popularity in the 1990s when it posted coverage of President Bill Clinton's sexual affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, after Newsweek magazine refused to publish its own reporting of the scandal.
CNN noted: "Drudge supported Trump during the 2016 presidential election and in the early days of the Trump presidency was even a frequent visitor to the White House. But since the summer of 2019, the Drudge Report has spotlighted a significant amount of negative news about the Trump.
"It's unclear what precisely caused the shift in the Drudge Report's coverage. A person close to Drudge himself told CNN in October 2019 that he had grown exasperated with the president."
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