Mediaite: Scott Walker’s Fold Panders to ‘Nativist’ Breitbart, Worst Elements of Right

From Mediaite Editor-in-Chief Andrew Kirell:

What happens when you hire a communications expert to help with outreach to prominent conservatives only to let her go because the fringes take issue with her? Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walkerand his team are learning the hard way that it only serves to alienate those you need most.

As we’ve reported at Mediaite, the Walker campaign hired social media wiz Liz Mair to help with a nascent presidential campaign. Within 24 hours she resigned,having been attacked from all sides for a series of old tweets disparaging the Iowa GOP caucus and its inflated sense of self-worth.

The bulk of the criticism came from Breitbart’s lead “everything is an ‘EXCLUSIVE’ because I say so” reporter Matt Boyle, who spilled much ink attempting to paint his crusade against Mair as a thorough “vetting” of Walker. That constantly-shrieking element of the right’s contention with Mair? She is an “open borders amnesty advocate” who “mocks Iowa.” The state’s Republican chairman called on Walker to “send her her walking papers.”

In typical latter-day Breitbart.com fashion, Boyle went nativist, ginning up controversy over Mair’s dual citizenship by asking her mind-numbing questions like “Why wasn’t US citizenship good enough? Why did you seek out dual citizenship in the first place?” And for good measure, he wrote an entire piecequoting conservative pundit Michelle Malkin‘s “EXCLUSIVE” support for his campaign against Mair.

Years ago, any such holy war waged by Andrew Breitbart‘s namesake would have focused entirely on taking down a Democratic official, not sniping within the conservative movement with purity tests for skilled communications staffers.

Many prominent conservatives were quick to notice this — and they were not happy. Especially after the outraged forces got their way and Mair resigned.

Read the rest of the story here.