O’Toole’s Conservatives just can’t quit The Rebel

“Exclusive interview,” the headline blared. The Rebel was letting us know that Conservative leaders were talking to it again, officially. Erin O’Toole had done an interview with the far-right media website.

Or maybe he hadn’t. Or maybe he had. Both, actually.

And in that little riddle lies the sticky little problem that Mr. O’Toole and his Conservative Party have with The Rebel and its ilk: They can’t quit it. And they can’t not quit it.

You will recall that Mr. O’Toole’s predecessor, Andrew Scheer, declared he would do no more interviews with The Rebel after the site sent the now-fired Faith Goldy to cover white supremacists rallying in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017. Her coverage amounted to cheering it on, and she also…