Things are getting worse for German firm Alex Springer, who decided to make enemies on both sides of the river and got punched in the face. The firm owns both Politico and Business Insider. Business Insider launched a shoddy and laughable fake news attack on Donald Trump Jr., trying to paint the president’s son as the GOP’s Hunter Biden.
That story imploded faster than the Oceangate submersible, but Springer also hired a Trump-aligned lobbying firm to help Politico engage with the Trump administration. Ties to Springer were disclosed for Politico but not Insider. It’s a swampy mess. And because Business Insider peddled fake news again, Vice President JD Vance, who was supposed to meet with Springer’s CEO, opted to cancel the meeting. Ballard Partners, the lobbying firm with Trump ties, also dropped Springer as a client. Breitbart has more:
Vice President JD Vance is refusing to meet with German media conglomerate Axel Springer’s CEO Mathias Dopfner after that company’s publication Business Insider ran an inherently fake hit piece on Donald Trump Jr., Breitbart News has learned exclusively.
Two sources close to the vice president confirmed to Breitbart News that in recent weeks Vance was scheduled to meet with Dopfner but had to call off the meeting due to a scheduling conflict. The meeting was set to be rescheduled to a later date, and until this week the vice president absolutely intended to hold the meeting. But now, after Business Insider ran a fake attack on Trump Jr. falsely comparing him to Hunter Biden, the vice president has directed staff that he does not intend to reschedule the meeting.
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A source close to Ballard Partners confirmed earlier on Wednesday that on Tuesday evening Ballard Partners dropped Axel Springer like a bad habit. Since then, documents have surfaced showing Ballard Partners formally severing the ties.
These deep issues also come amid reports that Axel Springer’s other major U.S. media property, Politico, has been facing major internal issues regarding staff retention and leadership challenges. A report late Tuesday revealed that Dopfner and his deputy in Axel Springer’s Berlin headquarters have been personally monitoring and engaging the leadership of Politico given deep concerns among current and former Politico staff with the editorial leadership of editor Alex Burns.
Bad behavior shouldn’t be rewarded. Fake news about the president and his family now comes with consequences, as it should. The premise of that Business Insider piece was facially untrue. And it’s not the first time this outlet has run shoddy pieces, which would’ve been shut down if they had picked up a phone and called the principals for comment. They didn’t for obvious reasons.
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