Rubio Dismisses Breitbart News As“Not A Credible Source” For Story About His Immigration Stance

Rubio: Breitbart News Is “Not A Credible Source” And Its Stories Are “Basically Conspiracy Theories.” In a February 20 interview on Fox News, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) claimed that a report from Breitbart News should be dismissed because Breitbart is “not a credible source.” Rubio went on to criticize the conservative news site by saying its articles are “basically conspiracy theories and often times manipulated”:

NEIL CAVUTO (HOST): You have former ICE officials now, who are saying that your push for enforcement along the border hasn't been consistent. That when you were a part of that Gang of Eight, that you were not making it a priority. When they questioned this Chris Crane, who ran this council group of officers, said that“not one of the changes we suggested was made to the bill before Senator Rubio introducedit,”that he tried and failed with you repeatedly, that your heart wasn't in it.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL): Yeah, number one, that's not true and he's not an ICE official. He's the head of a union. And it's being reported on a website that's not a credible source. It's the same website that said, Neil, that you guys gave me the questions to the debate because one of the members of my staff has a family member that runs --

CAVUTO: So this was at Breitbart, so you don't give it any credence,or his remarks any credence?

RUBIO: We don't even credential them for our events. This is the same website that reported that Fox News -- and that you,and youguys,inyour debate -- gave me the questions to the debate so I could prepare. You know that that's not true. So, I literally don't even talk about the things they report because they're basically conspiracy theories and often times manipulated. [Fox News, The Cost of Freedom, 2/20/16]

Breitbart News Is Notably Pro-Trump

Washington Post: Breitbart “Heralded Trump's Polling Dominance And Defended His Most Incendiary Remarks” While Also Featuring “Aggressive Coverage Of Trump's GOP Rivals.” In a February 1 article titied “Breitbart News: The conservative outlet taking swings at all of Donald Trump's opponents,” The Washington Post detailed Donald Trump's relationship with the outlet, writing, “Breitbart has not merely heralded Trump's polling dominance and defended his most incendiary remarks; it also has scrutinized the rest of the Republican field”:

With a combat metaphor in mind, it's easier to understand the site's aggressive coverage of Trump's GOP rivals. Breitbart has not merely heralded Trump's polling dominance and defended his most incendiary remarks; it also has scrutinized the rest of the Republican field to a point where, if you didn't know better, you might think some stories were coming from a liberal media outlet. [The Washington Post, 2/1/16]

BuzzFeed: Breitbart Employees “Believe Trump Has Provided Undisclosed Financial Backing To The Outlet In Exchange For Glowing Coverage.” BuzzFeed News reporter McKay Coppins noted in August 2015 how Breitbart News “has set itself apart” from other conservative media outlets “by plastering its homepage with fawning headlines” about Donald Trump. He also reported that “many inside the company believe Trump has provided undisclosed financial backing to the outlet in exchange for glowing coverage”:

As Donald Trump faces a growing backlash from conservative media over his recent attacks on a Fox News host, one prominent right-wing outlet remains firmly in his corner: Breitbart News, which has set itself apart by plastering its homepage with fawning headlines about the candidate, and all-caps assaults on his critics.

But not everyone within the website's editorial ranks is on board with Breitbart's boosterism, and many inside the company believe Trump has provided undisclosed financial backing to the outlet in exchange for glowing coverage, as I report in my forthcoming book about the GOP and 2016, The Wilderness.

According to four sources with knowledge of the situation, editors and writers at the outlet have privately complained since at least last year that the company's top management was allowing Trump to turn Breitbart into his own fan website --using it to hype his political prospects and attack his enemies. One current editor called the water-carrying “despicable” and “embarrassing,” and said he was told by an executive last year that the company had a financial arrangement with Trump. A second Breitbart staffer said he had heard a similar description of the site's relationship with the billionaire but didn't know the details; and a third source at the company said he knew of several instances when managers had overruled editors at Trump's behest. Additionally, a conservative communications operative who works closely with Breitbart described conversations in which “multiple writers and editors” said Trump was paying for the ability to shape coverage, and added that one staffer claimed to have seen documentation of the “pay for play.” [BuzzFeed News, 8/9/15]

However, Rubio Published A Piece On Breitbart News Just Days Before He Denounced The Website

Three Days Before His Comments, Rubio Published A Piece On Breitbart News. Despite his February 20 comments, Rubio has published three pieces on Breitbart News in the past year, including a piece just three days before in which he hyped the supposed need to act “decisively and courageously” to decrease the national debt. [Breitbart News, 2/17/16, 10/22/15, 7/14/15]