'Done with this guy': Trump's Capitol riot set off a war among Breitbart staffers over support for president

According to a report from the Daily Beast's Will Sommer, support for Donald Trump at conservative Breitbart.com plummeted as right-wing extremists stormed the Capitol and threatened lawmakers at the president's urging on January 6th.

According to Slack chats, one editor -- while arguing with other staffers -- reached her limit and wrote, "Destroy Trump."

As Sommer explained, the internal messages at Breitbart revealed many who were extremely angry at the scenes of the rioters tearing up the building and battling with Capitol police -- believing it undermined every achievement of the Trump administration -- while others tried to make excuses that the president was not to blame even though he suggested they march on the lawmakers as they certified the Electoral College votes.

On the morning after the assault, international news editor Frances Martel wrote to her colleagues, "I am just not feeling charitable AT ALL. Destroy Trump."

Martel then added, "He set us back like 10 years. We have worked so hard to promote our values, values that made him president when he hawked them, and now he does this, leaving everything in shambles? Nah, destroy him. Let it be a lesson to every other 'populist.'"

Breitbart columnist John Nolte attempted to make the case that the president wasn't to blame, writing, "Trump explicitly asked people to be peaceful and respectful yesterday, and then almost immediately called for the violence to stop," but Martel wasn't having it.

"Dude told rioters 'We love you, you're special,'" Martel messaged back. "Done with this guy, get him outta there with the stage cane."

Senior editor-at-large Rebecca Mansour also chimed in and referenced the death of Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt, by writing, "I do blame Trump for all of this. Her death is on him as far I'm concerned."

According to Sommer, the break with Trump was stunning.

"Breitbart, like other outlets closely tied to Trump, has shied away from ever directly criticizing him, especially for his election-fraud lies and heated rhetoric leading up to the deadly riot. But the internal chat messages demonstrate that anger over the outgoing president's role in inciting the MAGA mob has reached even the Trumpiest strongholds of right-wing media," he wrote.

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