The Washington Post Highlights How “The Conservative Media Landscape” Is Fueling Right-Wing Outrage Over Paul Ryan's Candidacy For Speaker

A Washington Post article explained that “voices across the conservative media landscape” have fueled right-wing anger at conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus for supporting Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) for Speaker of the House. 

Before Ryan officially decided to run for Speaker conservative media figures attempted to pre-veto him by attacking his policy positions and arguing that he was not conservative enough. Sean Hannity used his talk radio platform and Fox News show to hype alternatives for the position, saying of Ryan, “the job of Speaker is not for him.” Following Ryan's October 20 announcement that he would run if the Republican Party united behind him, conservative media reacted with outrage to Ryan's demands, comparing him to a “King” and “Caesar.” Many of the same figures railing against Ryan had previously spent years calling for the ouster of Speaker John Boehner, who they also had believed was not conservative enough.

In an October 25 Washington Post article, Mike DeBonis noted that the decision to endorse Ryan for the Speaker role has put the House Freedom Caucus “in the unfamiliar position of defending their right flank,” due to anger stoked by “the conservative media landscape.” “Particularly brutal have been the syndicated talk-radio hosts,” DeBonis noted, who have called Ryan “basically John Boehner with better abs” and have argued that “the best the Republican establishment can do; it's just not good enough”:

Things may never be the same for the Freedom Caucus after most of its members moved last week to support Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) as the next House speaker. Suddenly, they may not be conservative enough for some in the party.

The groundswell of support from hard-core conservative voters that emboldened the group as it battled Boehner and the GOP establishment seemed to subside for the first time in months. That has put its members in the unfamiliar position of defending their right flank.

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The anger over Ryan's ascent has been fueled by voices across the conservative media landscape. On the Internet, sites such as Breitbart.com and the Drudge Report have pumped out a steady stream of anti-Ryan stories casting doubt on his record, while such prominent commentators as Erick Erickson, Ann Coulter and Mickey Kaus have sharpened their teeth and urged conservatives to contact lawmakers and tell them to spurn Ryan.

Particularly brutal have been the syndicated talk-radio hosts who have helped foment the anti-establishment outrage that has kept Donald Trump atop the GOP presidential race and forced Jeb Bush, a well-financed mainstream conservative, to undertake a campaign shake-up.

Laura Ingraham last week called Ryan “basically John Boehner with better abs” and featured segment after segment attacking Ryan's positions on trade and immigration. She also mocked his desire to spend his weekends with his family.

Another influential host, Mark Levin, lambasted Ryan as a creature of the establishment elite. “I think it's time, ladies and gentlemen, to choose a speaker from outside the House of Representatives,” he told his audience Wednesday. “This is the best the Republican establishment can do; it's just not good enough.”

And the biggest conservative talker of them all, Rush Limbaugh, on Thursday called Ryan a favorite of the Republican “donor class” and “the new Cantor” -- a reference to former House majority leader Eric Cantor, who was ousted last year in a GOP primary.