Topic: Newsmax
Here's what's happening on the Gingrich hype machine front at Newsmax.
Newsmax is piling up the defenses of Gingrich's conservative-ness and Reagan-ness:
- O'Reilly 'Surprised' by Right Wing Attacks on Gingrich
- Sarah Palin: Newt 'Crucified' By Romney Allies, GOP Establishment
- McFarlane, Shirley: Gingrich a 'Very Enthusiastic Supporter” of Reagan
- Mark Levin: Gingrich Is Strong Conservative
- American Family's Rev. Wildmon: Gingrich Can 'Fix' America
- Reagan Aide: Criticism of Newt 'Laughably Untrue'
There's also the requisite Gingrich-as-victim piece in the form of a Jan. 27 article by Henry J. Reske headlined "Conservative Establishment Gunning for Newt." Also in the victimhood vein is "Rush: Romney Camp Behind Anti-Gingrich Stories."
Newsmax is also hammering away at Mitt Romney. A Jan. 27 article by Andrew Henry is a misleading attack on Romney by trying to link him to Goldman Sachs, which "received over $10 billion in emergency lending and bailouts from the Federal Reserve after the 2008 financial meltdown."
Henry wrote that Goldman Sachs is the "top donor" to the campaign, then states: "Goldman doesn’t contribute directly to candidates like Romney, but does so through its employees." Henry offers no evidence that Goldman contributes to Romney or any other candidate "throughs it employees." That used to be illegal, and it may still be. So Henry is accusing Goldman of behavior that may be illegal.
There are other anti-Romney potshots as well:
- Romney Attacked Ted Kennedy Over ‘Blind Trust’
- Mike Reagan, Rush Limbaugh Blast Romney
- Gingrich Ad: Romney Dishonest
Late on Jan. 27, Newsmax posted an article by Dave Eberhart headlined "Romney Was Manager and Board Member of Corp Guilty of Medicare Fraud," noting that Romney's Bain Capital "purchased and ran the Damon Corporation, which pled guilty to Federal conspiracy charges -- as a result of tens of millions of dollars in systemic Medicare fraud."
This is a disingenuous attack by Newsmax, considering its own hypocritical record. As we detailed, in the 2010 Republican primary for Florida governor, Newsmax supported Bill McCallum against Rick Scott, about whom Newsmax raised the subject of Medicare fraud conducted while Scott headed the hospital firm Columbia/HCA. But when Scott defeated McCallum, Newsmax flip-flopped and endorsed Scott in the general election and was silent about the Medicare fraud stuff.
