Like One American News Network, the far right news network Newsmax became a big deal during the Trump administration, basically by being even more fanatically pro-Trump than Fox News. But neither has Murdoch money keeping it afloat, so when they spent months spreading baseless allegations about nonexistent voter fraud (though even they had a sense to cut off the MyPillow Guy), it was only a matter of time before they got sued. And so, some three-and-a-half months after their favorite president left office, the network was forced to issue a formal apology for spreading bull.
On Friday, the network issued a formal apology to one Eric Coomer, a Dominion Voting Systems employee who brought a large defamation suit that went after not only Newsmax but also lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, columnist Michelle Malkin, Colorado activist Joseph Oltmann, the website Gateway Pundit, as well as OANN. They had all claimed, without evidence, that Coomer had manipulated voting machines, switching votes away from Trump. As a result, Coomer received death threats.
The apology was carefully worded. It read that the network wanted to “clarify its coverage” and that, after airing segments about Coomer’s nonexistent malfeasance, they “subsequently found no evidence that such allegations were true.” They went further than that, writing that “Many of the states whose results were contested by the Trump campaign after the November 2020 election have conducted extensive recounts and audits, and each of these states certified the results as legal and final.”
Of course, the damage is done. A large number of Republicans continue to believe, without merit, that there was significant fraud in the 2020 election, claiming that Trump won. The former president himself now spends his days in a resort, living among strangers, to whom he robotically rants about a “rigged” election that wasn’t. And after reading Newsmax’s apology, a lot of people weren’t having it.
Some translated what the statement really said.
Newsmax said “We’re sorry we tried to overthrow an election by spreading blatant lies” only after being sued by Dominion.
It’s amazing how quick these idiots find their morals when you hit their money. Fuck your apology & your weird ass viewers too.
— Kyla In The Burgh
(@KylaInTheBurgh) May 1, 2021
Others thought it came too late.
Newsmax lied about Dominion and formally admits it.
It doesn’t matter.
The damage is baked in.Fuck them, bigly
— Jake Lobin (@JakeLobin) May 1, 2021
Happy for the accountability, but the damage NewsMax and the other right wing outlets caused is irreversible.
Unfortunately, viewers hear the lie, not the correction. https://t.co/54YA5pP3my
— Heather Gardner (@heathergtv) May 1, 2021
Or that an apology wasn’t enough.
Newsmax settled out of court with Dominion and admitted that their stories about voter fraud is propaganda. This is not good enough. They need to be shut down and put in prison.
— Secret Agent Number Six (@DesignationSix) May 1, 2021
And some felt that, despite this, they still lack credibility.
Newsmax is still a propaganda dumpster fire.
— Amy Lynn
(@AmyAThatcher) May 1, 2021
(Via AP News)