Heck, there were even threads on FR about BOR smearing FR back then.
A simple Google search should pull a few up.
Bottom line is, nobody should she’d a tear for the dude.
The conservative movement is bigger and making political change is more complex than narrowing approval of somebody down to one observation they made about one political web site. A lot of these conservative guys put down and butt heads with each other all the time. But it helps to have people on the right with different points-of-view. They appeal to different segments of the audience which all have to come together in a coalition to win elections. Trump has more in common with O’Reilly and Savage then he does with Limbaugh, Hannity or Levin, so the people who they brought into the conservative movement through their shows were instrumental in helping him win.