Think of a powder keg just waiting for the right moment to explode.
On Monday night, former Breitbart News publicist Chad Wilkinson snapped at former Breitbart News publicist Kurt Bardella after Bardella cheered on MSNBC’s Ari Melber.
“Is there a smarter host to untangle the #MuellerReport #BarrLetter than @AriMelber?” Bardella wondered aloud on Twitter.
It just so happens that Wilkinson, CEO of Liberty Media Strategies, which specializes in crisis PR, had an answer for him. And he was so enraged that he attacked Bardella twice in one tweet.
“@KurtBardella @AriMelber @KurtBardella you got some stink following you around. First you were at Breitbart during the Bannon reign, now you switch to the left, killed the media. Just try not to kill country music,” Wilkinson replied.
He soon added, “You guys were wrong. Stop trying to justify your hyperbole. You handed 2020 to Trump on a silver platter. Worst is the actual damage you did to legitimate journalism. Go away.”
It appears these two guys didn’t cross paths at Breitbart News.
Wilkinson, who worked at Breitbart in 2016 and 2017 and has since left, has not returned an email request for comment.
But Bardella had a funny response when I reached him by phone.
“I have no idea who that is,” he told The Mirror. “I haven’t talked to anyone from that world in two years. I’ve never talked to the guy, met the guy, don’t even know who he is. Apparently he doesn’t have anything better to do than follow me on Twitter.”
Since leaving Breitbart News, Wilkinson has become pretty ‘lucy goosey’ with his online personality.
To give you a sense of this, a few days ago, he railed on a random woman on Twitter who was distraught over special counsel Robert Mueller‘s report, which found no reason to declare that President Donald Trump colluded with Russia during the election.
MSNBC “Morning Joe” co-host Joe Scarborough tweeted, “Memo to Journalists: It is GOOD NEWS for America when someone as respected as Robert Mueller takes two years to methodically determine that the sitting president of the United States did not conspire with Russia. Take a breath.”
The woman replied, “Not to me. I have watched MSNBC live every day for 2 years. From Morning Joe to 11th Hour. Waiting for this day. Disappointed. They got away with it and always will. Two years of life wasted hoping. Unfollowing everyone and turning the TV off because now all we’ll hear is gloat.”
This is when Wilkinson went on the attack.
He posted a picture of a donkey and wrote, “I have been crying all day. My emotional support midget donkey hasn’t help me today at all (and she was expensive). I am going to move to a country where the law matters…good by America..Hello Venezuela. Anybody want my ass?”
Bardella, who has worked a variety of PR jobs around Washington, including for Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif,) and The Daily Caller, now writes a country music newsletter called The Morning Hangover Tipsheet. You can read all about it and Bardella in a 2017 New York Times profile of Bardella.
Bardella, who appears well-showered, has never seemed stinky.
Wilkinson likely dislikes him for the following reasons: Bardella voted for Hillary Clinton and is pointedly anti-Trump. He quit Breitbart News in a heated exodus in 2016 after then Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields accused then-Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski of violently shoving her to the ground. Breitbart backed Fields, but ultimately went against her. She, too, walked. (RELATED: Ex-Breitbart Reporter Says The Site Needs To Clean House)
“When you reach a point where you can’t give 100% to people you represent, it’s not tenable to continue representing them,” Bardella said in a statement to The Hill at the time.
He added, “My own personal observation is that there is a cycle of behavior that is escalating and it’s happening exclusively at Donald Trump events. It is wrong, disgusting and indicative of an ugliness that is contaminating the public and political discourse in our country. Life is too short to invest your time in things you don’t believe and aren’t passionate about. That is why I made the decision to resign from representing Breitbart.”
Looks like these two ex-Breitbartians won’t be lunching anytime soon.