WTF? <em>With</em> Matt Lewis

Before beginning this installment of our regular "WTF? with Matt Lewis" feature, our look at the sometimes unusual topics raised by Lewis, we need to introduce members of the cast. Matthew Lewis: The moderate conservative who often publicly calls out fellow conservatives and Republicans for the sake of remaking the party in his image. He writes at The Daily Caller and The Week. Ron Meyer: Self-identified conservative activist, self-promoter and press secretary for American Majority Action (AMA), a right wing nonprofit which aims to reduce the size of the federal government. Celia Bigelow: Youth engagement director at AMA. Also, Meyer's main squeeze (girlfriend). Matthew Boyle: Journalist/activist of Breitbart News and noted ankle-biter. Lewis published an "open letter" Sunday in The Daily Caller to take Meyer to task for making false predictions on FNC. Previously, Meyer told the network's vastly Republican viewing audience two things: There was a coalition of House Republicans essentially staging a coup to remove John Boehner as speaker. More importantly, he said Boehner knew of the plan and would resign. His second false statement was a prediction Boyle bolstered by reporting on it at Breitbart. As we now know, Boehner was reelected by all but a handful of his fellow Republicans. Boyle responded to a request for comment but did not address the matter at hand. Lewis posted his open letter after Meyer declined to appear on Lewis's podcast. (We're told Meyer initially said he'd like to do the show, but his boss refused to let him.) "I was hoping to casually drop some advice," wrote Lewis in the letter. "But despite the fact that your bosses at American Majority Action had no problem allowing you to go on TV and talk shit about Boehner, talking with me on the record was somehow deemed too risky." So, Lewis shared his advice in the letter... Lewis told FishbowlDC his advice was "sincere" and that "it's applicable to a generation of entitled young people who want to instantly be famous and influential -- without first putting in the work and earning respect." Among the words of wisdom Lewis wrote to Meyer: 1. "STFU" 2. "Fix your Twitter avatar." Lewis doesn't like that Meyer's Twitter profile compiles screen shots of Meyer's TV hits, something he says, "wont get you laid at the Clarendon Grill.") and 3."Lose the shit-eating grin." WTF? What happened to the mild-mannered Lewis? The one we've come to know and love year in and year out? The one who compares journalists to angels? Offering advice in an open letter is a bitchy thing to do, but from Lewis? It's refreshingly unexpected. Lewis said he was fueled by larger concerns. "This is actually a larger societal issue," Lewis told us. "There are all sorts of institutional reasons for this, but the bottom line is that conservatives are often defined by the stupidest bomb-thrower who can get on cable TV." Townhall.com's Derek Hunter also bashed Meyer on Sunday: "[H]e suffers from a tragic case of what afflicts nearly everyone at that age – an inability or unwillingness to simply admit you screwed up, that you aren’t as smart or important as you think you are." Meyers is 23. Bigelow, Myer's girlfriend, jumped into the fray via Twitter yesterday. She told Lewis that his letter "quite frankly makes you look unintelligent and jealous." She also said "there is a reason why you don't have much credibility in D.C." We reached out to Bigelow to ask her to elaborate on Lewis not having "much credibility D.C." She'll get back to us if and when her boss gives her the green light. Lewis shot back at Bigelow: "Haven't you two hurt your reps enough this week?" He followed up by defining the word "pussy" (an apparent shot at Meyer): "1. Won't talk to me on the record, 2. Contacts people I work with to try to kill a story, 3. Has girlfriend attack me." In regards to part two of that definition, a look at Lewis's Twitter feed suggests Meyer reached out to Lewis's coworkers in an effort to put a hamper on his "open letter" story. Meyer, who was not permitted to speak to FishbowlDC on the record, defended himself on Twitter, saying he was merely "reporting a rumor" when he said Boehner would resign. In the end, it's unclear whether Meyer gleaned anything from Lewis's unsolicited intervention. But he did take one piece of the advice: He changed his Twitter profile. The background is now an image of "Matt Lewis Band," also seen on Lewis' profile. Update: Meyer writes in: "My predictions were actually made on MSNBC, CNBC, and Fox... And: I said 'it is rumored' Boehner will resign--not he will resign... IDK why people keep saying I said he'd resign!"

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WTF? With Matt Lewis

Eddie Scarry

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Eddie Scarry