Conservative Site RedState Boots Anti-Trump Staffers in 'Mass Firing,' Says Former Editor

Salem Media Group, the owner of the conservative website RedState, has let go top editorial talent from the site in what RedState’s founder and former editor Erick Erickson is calling a “mass firing.”

Erickson also wrote that writers who were critical of President Trump were primarily the ones dismissed, saying, “those insufficiently loyal to the President were fired.”

“The site name will linger, but RedState is all but dead now. I have invited the fired writers here,” Erickson wrote via The Maven. “Thankfully, Salem is retaining some very good writers who have long been at RedState, but today engaged in a mass purge of most of the writers.”

Mass firing at RedState today by Salem/Townhall. Very sad to see, but not really surprising given Salem's direction. And, finally, after all these years, they've turned off my account.

— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) April 27, 2018

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According to CNN, Townhall Media — RedState’s parent company owned by Salem — froze the site and locked bloggers out of their accounts. Townhall has not yet responded to TheWrap for comment.

The Daily Beast is reporting that Caleb Howe is one of the writers fired, and he tweeted Friday, “There is a right way to do something and a f—ed up way.”

Additionally, Patrick Frey, who writes under the pseudonym Patterico, confirmed via Twitter that the “mass firing” was true and that he was one of the ones let go because he was a critic of Trump.

The rumors are true. There has been a mass firing at RedState, and those let go (including me) are all Trump critics. His supporters remain.

— Patterico (@Patterico) April 27, 2018

Patterico added that he was grateful to Townhall for the chance to write for RedState and that “they have the right to fire anyone they want.”

“However, any opinion site that fires people en masse because of a particular point of view is sending a message. The message is: this point of view will no longer be tolerated at this Web site,” he tweeted.

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RedState is an influential conservative website launched in 2004, founded and run by Erickson until his departure in 2015. Erickson was additionally critical of the direction RedState had taken in recent years, adding that Salem’s radio and other media properties had also had to avoid criticisms of Trump.

“Since the Salem purchase of Eagle Publishing, the grassroots focus went away as did the community building aspect in favor of clickbait with analysis,” Erickson wrote. “This is not a surprise as the same thing appears to have happened in Salem’s radio properties and one of its hosts has told me he felt he had to be quiet about his Trump criticisms on his national radio show.”

5 Times Trump and His Supporters Flipped on Julian Assange's WikiLeaks (Photos)

Over the years, Republicans — particularly Donald Trump supporters — have done a 180 (or a full 360) in their remarks about WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange. When he leaked on Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016, some Republicans said he was doing America a great service. But now the Trump administration is poised to attempt to convict Assange and WikiLeaks for their leaking activities. Here are five times Trump and his supporters have flipped on the matter.
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In 2010, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said this about Assange: “He is an anti-American operative with blood on his hands. His past posting of classified documents revealed the identity of more than 100 Afghan sources to the Taliban. Why was he not pursued with the same urgency we pursue al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders?”
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In 2016, though, Palin changed her tune. She posted an apology to Assange on Facebook. “I apologize for condemning Assange when he published my infamous (and proven noncontroversial, relatively boring) emails years ago,” she wrote.
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Way back when, Fox News host Sean Hannity said what Assange was doing was “waging his war on America” and called for his arrest. He also said WikiLeaks stealing and publishing classified documents put lives at risk, as Media Matters reported.
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When Assange started leaking emails from the Clinton campaign, though, Hannity became very friendly. He even brought the WikiLeaks founder onto his show for an interview, saying “America owes you a debt of gratitude.”
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Back in 2010, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said Assange was a terrorist. “Information warfare is warfare. Julian Assange is engaged in warfare. Information terrorism, which leads to people getting killed is terrorism. And Julian Assange is engaged in terrorism.”
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But after the second 2016 presidential debate, Gingrich was on Team Assange. He touted WikiLeaks in the press and even recorded a Facebook video attacking the media for ignoring WikiLeaks documents about Clinton.
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When WikiLeaks leaked diplomatic cables in 2010, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee advocated for executing U.S. citizens for treason if they worked with the organization.
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Once WikiLeaks turned its attention to Clinton, though, Huckabee was ready to discuss Hillary Clinton’s “criminal enterprise,” as he called it, on “Hannity.” He didn’t, however, have anything to say about where the leaks came from or whether the leakers should be brought up on treason charges.
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Trump had strong words for Wikileaks in 2010. As CNN reported, in an interview with radio host Brian Kilmeade, Trump said of Wikileaks, “I think it's disgraceful, I think there should be like death penalty or something.”
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During the campaign, though, Trump’s support for WikiLeaks was hard to miss. He tweeted over and over again about things WikiLeaks documents about the Clinton campaign, and said at one campaign rally in October, “WikiLeaks has provided things that are unbelievable.”
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While Trump repeatedly tweeted about documents released by WikiLeaks aimed at damaging Clinton, he also tweeted it was the “dishonest media” that claimed he was in agreement with WikiLeaks.
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Republicans were fans of WikiLeaks during the election, but now the U.S. is looking to charge members of the organization

Over the years, Republicans — particularly Donald Trump supporters — have done a 180 (or a full 360) in their remarks about WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange. When he leaked on Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016, some Republicans said he was doing America a great service. But now the Trump administration is poised to attempt to convict Assange and WikiLeaks for their leaking activities. Here are five times Trump and his supporters have flipped on the matter.

View In Gallery

5 Times Trump and His Supporters Flipped on Julian Assange's WikiLeaks (Photos)

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