Drudge Report

• Drudge Report Moved from Center to Lean Left Following April 2026 Small Group Editorial Review
• Drudge Report Curates More Left-Wing Outlets: 2025 Analysis
• Drudge Report Bias Rating Moved from Lean Right to Center Following 2023 AllSides Bias Analysis and Editorial Review
• Drudge Report Rated Lean Right in Aug. 2018 Editorial Review

Drudge Report Moved from Center to  Lean Left Following April 2026 Small Group Editorial Review

Drudge Report was rated Lean Left (-2.56) in an April 2026 Small Group Editorial Review by a panel of expert left, center and right reviewers.  

In addition, Drudge Report was rated Center (-0.91) in our 2025 news aggregator analysis, in which AllSides reviewed how many outlets from the left, center, and right were curated by Drudge. Combining these two pieces of data, the new, overall bias rating for Drudge Report is Lean Left (-1.74). This is a change from the outlet’s previous rating of Center (0.93).  

While panelists varied on the types of story choices they most commonly noticed, they unanimously agreed that the headlines and rhetorical framing were frequently on the left. The most consistent pattern noted across panelists was pervasive sensationalism and word choice, particularly stories about President Donald Trump. Reviewers pointed to headlines that included wording like, "MAGA Down," "Tired-Looking Trump," “Master of Disaster” and "YOU'RE FIRED", as examples of negative word choice, which is closer to opinion/editorializing territory. The Center reviewer described the homepage as presenting the world as "melting down" with Trump as "an evil idiot," rating the outlet to the Left.

All three panelists noted the outlet's use of the nickname "the Don" in headlines when referring to Trump, though they differed on intent. The Center reviewer interpreted it as implying Trump being painted as a dictator or mob boss, while the Lean Right reviewer initially wasn't sure if it was a pro-Trump nickname but, upon further review, concluded it was clearly sarcastic. The outlet draws heavily from left-leaning sources for its linked stories, according to the Lean Right reviewer, including CNN, NBC and the AP.

Story choice/bias by omission was a significant driver of bias, with the Center reviewer noting the absence of center or right-leaning stories, such as Trump signaling a war could end soon, rising stocks or a new plan to resolve the DHS standoff, which were reported by other news outlets during the days that Drudge was reviewed. 

But economic and job market stories were seen as largely Center by the Lean Left reviewer, which “despite the sensational language, there were enough center- and left-leaning stories to reign it in for me,” the panelist said.

The Lean Right reviewer observed that Drudge, once strongly pro-conservative and pro-MAGA, appears to have shifted significantly since 2020.

Articles reviewed included: 

• SMITH: Tired-looking Trump has run out of things to say…
  • Left panelist: “Headline on Drudge is Left bias, very sensational, critical of Trump to a comical degree. Article from The Telegraph which is LR - interesting contrast.”
• NATO ALLIES REBUFF THE DON via Bloomberg
  • Center panelist: “Anti Trump story choice. Sensationalist headline.”
  • “The article itself focuses on opposition to the U.S. and reluctance to work with it… what about those who are willing to work with the U.S.?”
  • Lean Right Panelist: The panelist noted Mindreading/Spin in the article: “They hope to avoid antagonizing the US commander in chief and keep him from undermining Ukraine’s war effort against Russia.”
• TINA BROWN: TRUMP THE MASTER OF DISASTER
  • Lean Right Panelist: “Tina Brown’s substack, founding editor in chief of The Daily Beast (Left). L story choice.”
• Spring break bills skyrocket for Americans vacationing at beach…
  • Left Panelist: “Center story choice and headline - it's sensational, but kind of center sensational? (it’s an interesting economic story that doesn’t take hits at either side politically - exploring the luxury hotel building industry). The story comes from Bloomberg (LL), but the article itself is fairly Center. This surprised me a lot, as I expected this to be about Iran impacting travel costs.”

Additional articles reviewed included:

• White-collar bloodbath deepens as bots becomes top reason for layoffs…
• Tariffs fail to deliver for manufacturers…
• MAGA DOWN: TRUMP 31% APPROVAL ON ECONOMY…
• President accused of trying to bully judges to their faces!
• AIRLINES OUT OF FUEL IN WEEKS?
• NYT: The People Trump Pardoned Are on a Crime Spree…
• Utah to require studying Bible in public schools…
• Supremes rule against ban on 'conversion therapy' for LGBTQ
• The Don Dismantles Office That Provides 'Early Warning' For Financial Crisis

Drudge Report Curates More Left-Wing Outlets: 2025 Analysis

An AllSides analysis of news aggregator Drudge Report in August 2025 found that it displayed more sources with an AllSides Media Bias Rating™ on the left than the center or right. 

In August 2025, Drudge Report curated:

• 20% from outlets AllSides rates Left 
• 37% from outlets rated Lean Left 
• 22% Center
• 2% Right
• 9% Lean Right

Notably, Drudge Report writes its own headlines. AllSides rates Drudge Report Center (on the right side), because while it relies on sources on the left, its editorializing tends to be more on the right, and it selects stories of interest to those on the right. (Vote on Drudge's rating at the top of this page).

Note: Percentages are rounded to whole numbers; totals may not sum exactly due to rounding.

The results of the August 2025 AllSides Drudge Report analysis were fairly consistent with AllSides’ 2023 analysis of Drudge Report. While its curation of both sources on the left and right increased, its curation of sources on the left increased more, leading to sources on the left appearing 45% more than those on the right.

Of the 218 total articles analyzed, the top five sources appearing the most often were Wall Street Journal News (Center bias), New York Times News (Lean Left bias), Associated Press (Left bias), Mediaite (Lean Left bias), and The Mirror (Left bias).

Drudge Report Bias Rating Moved from Lean Right to Center Following AllSides Bias Analysis and Editorial Review

In June 2023, AllSides moved Drudge Report’s AllSides Media Bias Rating™ from Lean Right to Center. An April-May 2023 AllSides Drudge Report Bias Analysis found the news aggregator displayed articles from news sources with an AllSides Media Bias Rating™ on the left much more than outlets in the center or on the right, resulting in a -0.80 rating on the AllSides Media Bias Meter (close to Lean Left). However, the results lead to an Editorial Review of Drudge Report. We found that while Drudge Report curates mostly from outlets on the left, it often changes headlines and chooses stories that will appeal to a right-wing audience. Therefore, the AllSides review panel issued an overall AllSides Media Bias Rating™ of Center (+0.93) for Drudge Report, which is close to Lean Right.  

The Editorial Review found Drudge Report displayed bias by sensationalist story choices and word choices, though the sensationalism was often nonpartisan in nature.

Bias Analysis Summary

AllSides analyzed the source of 280 articles that appeared on DrudgeReport.com’s homepage April 26 to May 9, 2023. Of those, 49% of articles came from sources on the left and 10% from sources on the right – indicating a curation bent to the left of center.

On the homepage, 3% of articles were from Left-rated sources, 46% from Lean Left-rated sources, 26% from Center sources, 7% from Lean Right sources, 3% from Right-rated sources, and 14% from sources not rated by AllSides.

The top sources curated on Drudge Report were the following (note: ratings at the time of analysis; some ratings may have changed): the Washington Post (Lean Left), The Associated Press (Lean Left), Wall Street Journal (Center),  CNBC (Center), Bloomberg (Lean Left), the New York Times (Lean Left), Mediaite (Lean Left), The New York Post (Lean Right), Reuters (Center), and CNN (Lean Left).

Editorial Review Summary

The Editorial Review found numerous examples of sensationalism in story choice and word choice. Reviewers on the right and center agreed that even though the articles were often sourced from outlets on the left, the story choice largely appealed to conservative or right-of-center narratives. 

Reviewers on the left and center noted that Drudge Report seemed anti-establishment, anti-Biden, anti-Elon Musk, anti-Trump, but pro-LGBT and pro-Desantis. 

A reviewer on the left said, “I dont think it’s meant to be serious, it’s meant to be fun.”

The reviewers noted that Drudge Report displayed bias that does not fit easily into AllSides bias rating system, as it relies more on sensationalism than overt partisanship. 

As of early 2024, AllSides found the majority of news aggregators analyzed Lean Left, including Google News, Apple News, and Bing News.

Drudge Report Rated Lean Right in Aug. 2018 Editorial Review

Drudge Report was given a Lean Right AllSides Media Bias Rating following an Editorial Review in August 2018.

Despite its reputation as being very right/conservative, the AllSides panel noted that the Drudge Report regularly features news stories that are mostly being covered by outlets AllSides rates on the left. The panel found that the Drudge Report often aggregated stories from outlets we rated as Left or Lean Left at the time of review, including The Huffington Post, The Washington Post, NBC, and more. While the Drudge Report did feature news stories and articles from sources on the left, it also featured lots of stories from sources with a Right, Lean Right, or Center AllSides Media Bias Rating™, including Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, and Breitbart.

In fact, upon first looking at the Drudge Report, at least one member of the AllSides panel initially thought that the Drudge Report might warrant a Lean Left or Center bias rating. This initial instinct is consistent with a 2005 UCLA study which found the Drudge Report has a Lean Left media bias; read more about that study here.

The AllSides editorial panel noted that the Drudge Report often uses sensational stories or language in its headlines and the stories it chooses to feature. Some members of the AllSides panel expressed concerns about the Drudge Report publishing sensationalist or fake news.

Drudge Report is a news aggregation website. Run by Matt Drudge with the help of Joseph Curl and Charles Hurt, the site consists mainly of links to stories from the United States and international mainstream media about politics, entertainment, and current events, as well as links to many columnists. Occasionally, Drudge authors new stories himself based on tips. The Report originated in 1996 as a weekly subscriber-based email dispatch. It was the first news source to break the Monica Lewinsky scandal to the public after Newsweek decided not to publish the story.

Drudge met Andrew Breitbart in Los Angeles during the 1990s and became his mentor, with Breitbart later helping to run the Drudge Report. 

UCLA Study on Drudge Report Finds Center/Lean Left Bias Due to Aggregation

A 2005 UCLA study found that Drudge Report has a center/lean left bias, due to the website aggregating news from other media outlets. The study's lead author was Tim Groseclose, formerly UCLA faculty and currently Adam Smith Chair at George Mason University's Mercatus Center.

The study authors wrote (emphasis ours):

Another result, which appears anomalous, is not so anomalous upon further examination. This is the estimate for the Drudge Report, which at 60.4, places it approximately in the middle of our mix of media outlets and approximately as liberal as a typical Southern Democrat, such as John Breaux (D-LA). We should emphasize that this estimate reflects both the news flashes that Matt Drudge reports and the news stories to which his site links on other web sites. In fact, of the entire 311 think-tank citations we found in the Drudge Report, only five came from reports written by Matt Drudge. Thus, for all intents and purposes, our estimate for the DrudgeReport refers only to the articles to which the Report links on other web sites. Although the conventional wisdom often asserts that the Drudge Report is relatively conservative, we believe that the conventional wisdom would also assert that—if confined only to the news stories to which the Report links on other web sites—this set would have a slant approximately equal to the average slant of all media outlets, since, after all, it is comprised of stories from a broad mix of such outlets.

Previous AllSides Media Bias Ratings™ for Drudge Report

AllSides previously rated The Drudge Report as having a Right media bias. We switched its bias rating to Lean Right following the Aug. 2018 Editorial Review.

Third-Party Accusations of Bias

The Drudge Report has been criticized in the past for running stories that were hoaxes, poorly sourced, or unfactual, including a theory that Barack Obama was not a U.S. citizen, a hoax about a former prostitute who claimed her son was fathered by Bill Clinton, and a false statement that an undocumented immigrant started the October 2017 Northern California wildfires.

Bias of Drudge Report's Audience

According to a 2014 Pew Research study, the clear majority of Drudge Report's audience (74%) is right-of-center (by comparison, 26% of all Pew panelists were right-of-center). 8% of  Drudge Report's audience is left or left-of-center (compared with 38% of all respondents to the survey). Roughly 18% of Drudge Report's audience holds political values consistent with the political center or exhibit mixed values (compared with 36% of all panelists).