Another 'Non-Clinician' Newsmax Columnist Weighs In With COVID Misinformation Topic: Newsmax
Newsmax probably should know better. Given how some columnists it publishes stuff their work so filled with COVID misinformation, it shouldn't publish them at all; instead, it simply tags the column with the statement that it has been written by a "non-clinician." The latest to get that tag is an Oct. 12 coumn by Nicholas Chamberas, which is a mix of grudging concession that COVID vaccines work and rage at the very idea of vaccine mandates:
When did the United States of America become a country led by pseudo-scientists and phony rage-peddlers?
When did tumid bureaucrats decide that they could modify the Hippocratic Oath on their own in one fell swoop?
This happened when the most failed politicians in America decided that instead of saving lives by fighting criminals, they could scapegoat all law abiding citizens making medical decisions based on what their doctors advise them instead of blindly following a narrative peddled by these same failed politicians.
To be clear, COVID-19 vaccines have saved many lives globally.
Yet, the undisputable truth is also that not everyone can or should take a COVID vaccine.
The health and well-being of these individuals should not be discarded because they disrupt a cute sounding slogan like "Let’s all get vaccinated."
The real goal and slogan should sound something like "Let’s Make Sure That We Are All Safe From COVID Without Needlessly Sacrificing The Lives Of Others As If We’re Some Cult."
Welcome to the cult-like world of vaccine mandates.
Chamberas then cited the case of a woman who died from blood clots after receiving the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine -- but omitting the fact that it was a extremely rare conmplication. He huffed that the woman "had strong reserevations about taking a COVID vaccine, she finally succumbed to taking the vaccine because of the pressure from her employer," then ranted:
The obvious truth is that Jessica died as a sacrifice to the insanely irresponsible dictates based on the capricious, facile diktats of bureaucrats more akin to health policy derived from mad scientists than respected physicians.
[...]
The long cherished medical principal of "do no harm" has been replaced by government technocrats proclaiming that everyone must do exactly as they say or their life will be permanently disconnected.
Not only will their non-compliance will be publicly castigated but they will be marked as "impure" and a perfect illustration of all that is wrong with our society.
Jessica Berg Wilson never should have died from taking an injection she didn’t need and didn’t want.
Everyone who is serious about ending the pandemic must rise up and reject the pseudo-science one size fits all social matra-driven edicts that harm and divide our nation.
It's time to really follow the actual science — the medical science.
Chamberas will not admit that one big reason there are vaccine mandates is to protect those who cannot due to health reasons. By portraying the woman as a victim instead of an outlier, he's being very dishonest. Many more people will die from COVID because of people putting their purported "personal freedom" first than ever have, or will, from getting a COVID vaccine. That's following "the actual science — the medical science," not whatever he's peddling.
Newsmax Sensitive About Its Far-Right, Pro-Trump Sycophancy Being Linked To 'Domestic Terrorism' Topic: Newsmax
As much as Newsmax tries to cater to the far-right, election-fraud-conspiracy-theory crowd, it's weirdly sensitive about that inconvenient fact being called out. A Sept. 29 article by Eric Mack is devoted to highlighting how Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Mark Milley being questioned about a revelation in Bob Woodward's book that he had linked Newsmax and fellow right-wing Trump-sycophant outlet the Epoch Times to "domestic terrorism":
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley denied listing Newsmax in his personal notes after Jan. 6 as among those he claimed were a part of a "big threat: domestic terrorism," as claimed in Bob Woodward's book "Peril."
"It says that you told Bob Woodward that you wrote in a list in your notebook of groups that you personally believe were responsible for the attack and that you associated with it: Quote and you called these groups, quote, 'domestic terrorists' or domestic terrorism," Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., said in grilling Milley during his testimony before the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday.
"That list included, in your notebook – according to Bob Woodward and your conversations with him – Nazis and Oath Keepers, but it also included two conservative media outlets that you listed in your notebook, including The Epoch Times – which by the way is a news outlet that was founded by critics of the Chinese Communist Party – and Newsmax, which is the second most-watched conservative media outlet in the country today.
"Do your notes about Jan. 6 reference both Epoch Times and Newsmax on a list of domestic terrorists?" Banks asked Milley bluntly in an exchange that wrapped the lawmaker's five minutes of questioning. That questioning had begun with Banks pressing Milley on his alleged belief the military should not be politicized.
"I'm not recalling this conversation at all," Milley said of Woodward's book alleging notes labeling Newsmax among domestic terrorists.
"It's in the book," Banks shot back.
"It may be in the book," Milley responded. "I'm not recalling a conversation about Newsmax, Epoch Times, or . . ."
Mack didn't mention that Newsmax's enthusiastic support for Trump's bogus claims of election fraud -- which not only helped sparkthe Jan. 6 Capitol riot but numerouslawsuits against Newsmax for spreading said bogus claims -- might make a reasonable observer think such a link exists.
Just to cover its bases, Mack also made sure to attack Woodward as well, claiming that "Woodward has been dogged by allegations of fabrication in the past,"but citing an alleghed incidenct from more than 30 years ago. You ight recall that that its fellow ConWeb denizens at the Media Research Center did the same thing in bashing Woodward while also hyping his reporting about Milley.
Mediaite reported on Nov. 5 that Newsmax would institute a vaccine mandate for its employees -- either ger vaccinated or submit to weekly testing. That apparently didn't go over well there, where rage against vaccine mandates -- as mandated by right-wing narratives -- is a staple of Newsmax programming and content. Host Steve Cortes declared he would never comply with such "medical apartheid," and host Eric Bolling denied any such mandate was taking place.
In an effort to tamp down the controversy, Newsmax published an unsigned editorial on Nov. 7, a Sunday morning, in which it insisted that "Newsmax has no vaccine mandate nor do we require it for employment," but noted that it would follow federal law, which includes opt-outs for weekly testing, though they are "not good and probably illegal" as well as "a dangerous overreach of federal power." The editorial tried to find a place to stand on both sides of the issue, straddling a line between being reasonable while not abandoning the anti-vaxxers who make up a notable portion of its audience:
Even with no business mandate in effect today, both COVID cases and deaths are falling dramatically.
The vaccine, which has been demonstrated to be safe and effective, is clearly playing a role.
Newsmax has encouraged citizens, especially those at risk, to get immunized.
As a company we have seen first-hand how those at risk have suffered without the vaccine. In 2020, Newsmax lost its contributor Herman Cain due to the coronavirus.
And radio hosts like Dick Farrel, Phil Valentine, and Marc Bernier have all died as a result of not having taken the vaccine.
While the vaccine works, so does natural immunity.
Several studies show natural immunity provides even more protection than the vaccine.
The major media has berated us to "follow the science," but they ignore the science on natural immunity. Why?
And why are employees, for example, not given an exemption if they have strong antibodies?
At Newsmax we do not ignore the science nor the facts.
President Donald Trump provided the funding for the vaccine and cut through the red tape to see it implemented.
And Trump himself has been vaccinated. Publicly, he has encouraged others to receive the vaccine.
[...]
Government provides an opportunity, but an informed citizenry in a free nation should make its own health decisions.
That might sound reasonable if Newsmax hadn't given a platform to various and sundry COVID conspiracy theorists spouting misinformation. Newsmax knew it was playing with fire by publishing them but labeling the writer as a "non-clinician," but that doesn't fully absolve them from responsibility.
The editorial remained on Newsmax's front page for several days afterward, and according to the Washington Post, its TV hosts repeated the same party line on its shows, ultimately morphing the story into a "fake news" attack in which outslde forces were going after the channel.
Meanwhile, Newsmax may be getting around to solving its Emerald Robinson issue. Newsmax had at least temporarily taken her off the air after her COVID misinformation blew up; meanwhile, she continued to push misinformation on Twitter, which earned her a permanent ban from the platform. Mediaite is now reporting that Newsmax is not returning Robinson to her job but may retain her as an independent contractor.
Newsmax Columnist Won't Apologize For Being A Right-Wing Anti-Vaxxer Jerk Topic: Newsmax
In his Oct. 4 Newsmax column, Judd Dunning serves up some curious definitions of when it's a good thing to be "unapologetic." Like being like a right-wing anti-vaxxer:
The solution to apology-obsessed leftist rage is to be unapologetic.
So what does it mean to be unapologetic?
Being unapologetic does not mean callousness for its own sake. We all make mistakes.
Apologies are righteous when appropriate. Being unapologetic means rejecting any need to make inappropriate apologies.
Guilty people should apologize. The innocent should remain unapologetic.
Being unapologetic means owing no apology to cancel or consequence culture for merely existing. Unabashedly free Americans with rock-solid conservative values rarely have to apologize.
Being unapologetic means not joining the cult.
Cultists wear “I’m vaccinated” necklaces as an apostle of vaccine messiahs and crazed leftists. Cultist New York Governor Kathy Hochul said "God is telling you to get vaccinated."
[...]
Unapologetic authentic Americans won’t shut up, comply, or be silenced when government comes with their needles, for your guns, at your children, or to shut down your businesses and take your money and rights. Being unapologetic means supporting innovative drug makers like Merck, who just developed a COVID pill that could render all vaccines irrelevant.
Being unapologetic means forcefully rejecting the twin liberal narratives that any speech a liberal disagrees with is hate speech, and therefore not free speech.
Just as Christ flipped a few tables in the temple (John 2:13-16), a healthy rebuke to having your rights violated is more than only OK. It's an obligation to reject violations thrust upon our American way of life by the cultural Marxists of our day.
Hate speech is the very speech deserving of the most protection. Liberals declared opposition to COVID vaccines, voting for Donald Trump and questioning climate activism as hate speech. When that fails, the inevitable race card is played, since nothing is more truly hateful than real racism.
Or, apparently, believing that right-wing violence like the Jan. 6 Capitol riot deserve to be "unapologetic" when non-right-wing violence is not:
Hate, the necessary shadow side of love, is at the heart of free speech. Nobody is allowed under the Constitution to instigate violence or riots. This includes BLM and Antifa.
Note, again, that Dunning does not explicitly call out the Jan. 6 rioters.
And you should especially be "unapologetic," Dunning claims, for staying in your right-wing bubble and being resistant to the change happening around you:
The revolution always eats its own, just as all empires fall. When everyone has been conquered, turning inward is inevitable. Until that inevitable conclusion, we must know there is no safe space. We must accept an imperfect world with bad people saying bad things. “Toughen up, buttercup.”
The far worse alternative is a world where even one innocent person is wrongly shunned, jailed or killed over misunderstood innocent free speech.
Undocumented workers? I say illegal aliens. Workplace violence? I label it radical Islam. Handi-capable? I say handicapped. African-Americans? I call them blacks, just as Rev. Jesse Jackson agrees. You call them LGBTQIASANDEVERYOTHER ACRONYMINTHEBOOK.
I call them Dave or Bill or Janice or whatever first name they claim.
Actually, Dunning is the one who's retreating to his safe space by declaring he shouldn't have to apologize for being a jerk.
Smartmatic Sues Newsmax Over Bogus Election Fraud Claims Topic: Newsmax
Last December, Newsmax made an attempt to walk back the bogus conspiracy-mongering about voting-tech companies Dominion and Smartmatic it did in support of Donald Trump's even more bogus claims of election fraud. It didn't work: Not only has Dominion sued Newsmax for defamation over those claims, Smartmatic has joined the lawsuit parade. CNN reported last week:
Smartmatic filed suit against Newsmax Media in Superior Court of the State of Delaware. The lawsuit charged that Newsmax "published dozens of reports indicating that Smartmatic participated in a criminal conspiracy to rig and steal the 2020 U.S. election and that its technology and software were used to switch votes from former President Trump to now President Biden."
The suit alleged that Newsmax promoted lies about the election "as a tool in its competition against Fox News."
Newsmax's ratings spiked when Fox identified Joe Biden as the president-elect. Newsmax sought to appeal to Trump fans by refusing to acknowledge Biden's win for weeks -- and, the lawsuit alleged, by defaming Smartmatic.
"What Newsmax said about Smartmatic was fake but the damage it caused to Smartmatic is real," Wednesday's filing said.
Smartmatic also sued Newsmax's right-wing competitor, One America News, for making similar claims. CNN also noted that Newsmax tried to play victim in its response to the lawsuit:
"While Newsmax has yet to receive or review the Smartmatic filing, Newsmax reported accurately on allegations made by well-known public figures, including the President, his advisors and members of Congress, as well as reporting on Smartmatic's claims in its defense," Newsmax said in a statement to CNN Business Wednesday. "Smartmatic's action against Newsmax today is a clear attempt to squelch the rights of a free press."
Newsmax itself has yet to run a story about the lawsuit, perhaps because it's been consumed with a reporter spreading goofy conspiracy theories about COVID vaccines.
Newsmax's White House Reporter Busted For Spewing Another COVID Conspiracy Theory Topic: Newsmax
Last year, we caught Newsmax TV White House correspondent Emerald Robinson -- whose scant resume before joining Newsmax as dominated by work at the even-further-right One American News Network -- spouting coronavirus conspiracy theories on Twitter, for which she apparently faced no discipline. Now, she's gotten busted for pushing a conspiracy about COViD vaccines. Tell us all about it, Washington Post media writer Erik Wemple:
Right-wing media outlet Newsmax had no choice on Tuesday but to issue two statements. One came from Elliot Jacobson, Newsmax’s executive vice president and chief content officer:
Newsmax is a strong proponent that Covid 19 vaccines are overarchingly safe and effective. while at the same time raising concerns that mandates infringe on personal liberty and privacy. We have seen no evidence to suggest LUCIFERASE or LUCIFERIN are present in any vaccines or that they are used as any sort bioluminescent marker.
And here’s the other, from parent company Newsmax Media:
Newsmax strongly believes and has reported that the Covid 19 vaccines are safe and effective. We do not believe the vaccines contain any toxic materials or tracking markers, and such false claims have never been reported on Newsmax. The many medical experts appearing on Newsmax have supported the use of the vaccine.
What on earth could have prompted these bizarre statements? A tweet from Emerald Robinson, Newsmax’s White House correspondent:
And that statement was: "Dear Christians: the vaccines contain a bioluminescent marker called LUCIFERASE so you can be tracked. Read the last book of the New Testament to see how this ends."
In fact, the vaccines do not contain luciferase (though it was used in some vaccine trials because it is an enzyme that can produce light and helped to analyze how the vaccines work, working in a similar way to what make fireflies glow). Wemple added: "Which is to say, the two-thirds of Americans who’ve taken at least one vaccine dose needn’t worry about acquiring a subcutaneous glow."
Wemple added that Robinson has been placed on a tepid kind of quasi-suspension, according to a Newsmax statement: “Newsmax is currently reviewing the posts and during that period Ms. Robinson will not be on air but continue with duties for the network.”
Having a vocal anti-vaxxer as your White House correspondent is not the way a "news" organization builds credibility -- and neither does having to make public statements distancing yourself from those anti-vaxxer sentiments. Newsmax doesn't seem to have figured that out yet.
Newsmax Concerned Fox News Has Stopped Being Right-Wing Shills Topic: Newsmax
Newsmax has grown concerned that Fox News seems to not be as interested in being full-time right-wing shills. A Sept. 24 article by Eric Mack complained:
Rudy Giuliani has been banned from appearing on Fox News for several months, and only learned of the "from the top" order on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Son Andrew Giuliani, a New York gubernatorial candidate, has also been banned.
And former NYPD Commsissioner Bernie Kerik, a close adviser to Giuliani, is rarely booked on Fox News, Politico Playbook reports.
Rudy Giuliani and Kerik were prominent New York City leaders on 9/11 as mayor and NYPD commissioner.
Mack didn't mention that Kerik is a closefriend of Newsmax -- its Humanix division even published a novel by him -- and that the reason he's no longer a "prominent New York City leader" is because he got busted for corruption, which earned him a prison sentence. Mack then tried to make his employer look good by comparison:
Fox began distancing itself from Giuliani shortly after Trump left office and in the wake of Dominion Voting Systems’ lawsuit against the network. The suit cited Giuliani’s appearances and statements made on Fox in its $1.6 billion defamation case.
Newsmax was also sued by Dominion over its election coverage, but the network continues to have Giuliani, his son, and Kerik on as guests.
Actually, that's not a good look -- but that's the crowd Newsmax is playing to.
Mack also claimed that "A source close to Giuliani tells Newsmax that the former mayor and his circle view their banishment from Fox as part of the network’s strategy to reduce and restrict Trump’s influence in the Republican party." One has to wonder if that's Kerik as well.
Mack tried to generate outrage over another Fox News move in an Oct. 8 article:
The orchestrator of Fox News' early call of Arizona in the last presidential election is coming back to run the network’s decision desk for the 2022 midterms and 2024 elections.
Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott told The Hollywood Reporter that Decision Desk Director Arnon Mishkin will be rehired to be in charge of upcoming election coverage.
Fox stirred outrage from its viewers when it called Arizona just minutes after polls closed on election night 2020, while still failing to call Florida for then-President Donald Trump, even though voting had closed almost two hours earlier.
Mishkin, a longtime Democrat operative who backed Hillary Clinton in 2016 and donated to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, quickly drew the ire of the Trump campaign for his Arizona decision.
What Mack doesn't do, however, is admit that Fox News' election night call on Arizona was correct and has been repeatedly proven so. Instead, he whined that the channel was trying to distance itself from Trump and conservatives, even citing the notoriously wrong Dick Morris as proof:
Political experts such as Dick Morris said Fox’s early call for Arizona was an attempt to squelch the view Trump could still win if recounts in states like Wisconsin and Georgia were successful.
Trump has long pointed to Fox News' Arizona call for Biden as a watershed moment on election night.
Mishkin’s re-hiring appears to fit Fox’s new approach to distance itself from its more conservative base.
[...]
While Fox has kept its conservative, highly-rated show hosts like Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, pro-Trump hosts like Lou Dobbs and Trish Regan were given the boot after the election, while news coverage remains led by moderates like anchor Chris Wallace.
Fox News has also sought to keep in the good graces of the Biden administration, with the network’s chief Washington lobbyist, Danny O’Brien, having served previously as Biden’s Senate chief of staff.
Biden publicly acknowledged that his controversial mandatory employee vaccination program is modeled on one Fox News implemented for its staff.
This is all performative, of course. Newsmax is a direct competitor of Fox News, and it stands to gain views if it can portray Fox News as not right-wing enough -- a space that Newsmax has been staking out. Needless to say, Mack didn't disclose that ulterior motive to his readers.
Over the last month, the United States has witnessed two shocking actions raken by President Joe Biden. Not only did Biden leave behind hundreds of Americans in Afghanistan, but he's now acting like a tyrant by recently signing an executive order imposing a vaccine mandate for millions of Americans.
In the EO, if a business with 100 employees or more does not force their employees to get weekly COVID-19 testing or a COVID vaccine, the federal government will fine them up to $14,000.00 per violation.
While congressional Democrats impeached President Donald Trump for a phone call and words spoken at a rally, Republicans have been mostly silent in terms of bringing some action against the 46th president.
Neither the Senate or House GOP leadership has called for the impeachment or removal of the president beyond tweeting ambiguous messages. A question arises, especially before the 2022 midterms, why neither of the Republican conferences is attempting to fight harder against a foreign policy disaster and an authoritarian executive order.
The Senate and the House GOP leadership need to learn from how Reps. Diana Harshbarger of Tennessee, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and Lauren Boebert of Colorado approached these atrocities.
The congresswomen worked on calling for the impeachment of the president, as well as worked on actual articles to send to the House floor. These women, freshman members of the GOP congressional delegation, set the tone for how the GOP needs to stand up against the Biden administration.
Tone-setting is the name of the game when it comes to politics.
Yes, it is a definite statement to let Greene and Boebert -- twowomen obsessed with bogus far-right conspiracy theories -- set the "tone" for your party, though probably not in the way Cody intended. And when a president's "words spoken at a rally" helps to incite a riot that heavily damages the seat of democracy in the United States, he can and should be impeached for it. Or is Cody trying to downplay the Capitol riot like other Republicans?
Cody had previously called for Biden to be impeached over the Afghanistan withdrawal, which may explain why he's so eager to align hismelf with two of the most extreme members of Congress to try and make it happen.
Newsmax Repeats Lie About Biden's Video Feed Topic: Newsmax
Jeremy Frankel repeated a right-wing conspiracy theory in a Sept. 13 Newsmax article:
During a trip to Boise, Idaho, on Monday for a briefing on wildfires with federal and state officials, President Joe Biden's feed was abruptly cut by the White House.
Biden said during the briefing he wanted to hear more from George Geissler of the National Association of State Foresters. Biden asked Geissler if he could ask him a question, and Geissler replied "of course."
Biden then said, "One of the things that I've been working on with some others is —," before his feed was cut. It was then replaced by a full-screen graphic saying, "Thank you for watching."
Biden's feed has been cut by the White House before. Last month, it happened when Biden was about to respond to a reporter's question concerning the military's withdrawal deadline from Afghanistan. It also occurred in March, during a virtual event, when Biden said, "I'm happy to take questions if that's what I'm supposed to do."
Politico reported last week, when Biden speaks in public, some White House staffers might "mute him or turn off his remarks," because they are "filled with anxiety that he's going to take questions from the press and veer off the West Wing's carefully orchestrated messaging."
But as we documented when the Media Research Center pushed this same Republican-hyped claim,this claim isn't true -- the feed was always planned to be cut off, which journalists covering the event knew because it was described beforehand as a "pool spray," in which the feed would end when Biden turned to questions.
But Newsmax never did a follow-up article to tell the truth, so Frankel's lie remains live and uncorrected.
Newsmax Censors Most Criticism of Ariz. Election Audit Topic: Newsmax
Brian Truesdell wrote in a Sept. 24 Newsmax article:
Auditors who reviewed voting results cast in Maricopa County, Arizona, in last November's election said Joe Biden's vote total was 99 more than officially certified — and Donald Trump's was 261 fewer.
But at the same time, they maintained they'd found multiple election anomalies, among them more than 17,000 duplicate ballots.
The findings of the audit, commissioned by Arizona Senate Republicans and conducted by Florida-based Cyber Ninjas, were both hailed and decried by Trump critics. At once, they said the review debunked the former president's claim of fraud, but also disputed other assertions of irregularities at the polls.
That was the only reference to "critics" or any other viewpoint Truesdell would make in the article. The rest of his article largely consisted of repeating claims about the audit by those who conducted it and by Donald Trump, who hyped its results. He wrote at one point:
Among others who testified was Shiva Ayyadurai, who identified himself as an expert in pattern recognition with more than 40 years of experience. He raised several issues with the county's signature verification system — particularly the mail-in ballots, including voters receiving more than one voter ID number.
Truesdell didn't tell his readers that, as we've noted, Ayyadurai mislead in his stated finding and appeared to have no knowledge of Maricopa County policies and procedures regarding the early ballot envelopes and signature verification.
Truesdell touted Trump's comments about the audit results but didn't mention that, as even a Newsmax article earlier in the day by Jeffrey Rodack admitted, a newspaper found the results misleading and factually dubious. The closest Truesdell got to noting that the audit would have no impact onthe 2020 election was an admmission that "The after-the-fact audit is not expected to change the election results retroactively" -- though he then promoted how "Trump supporters" have embraced the audit.
Newsmax Touts Noem -- But Censored Affair Accusation Topic: Newsmax
On Sept. 28, Newsmax partnered with the conservative Young America's Foundation at the Reagan Ranch in California, and the star speaker was Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem. Needless to say, it cranked out the coverage of her spinning right-wing talking points and self-promotion:
That was followed with an article the next day from a interview Noem did with Newsmax at the event, under the headline "Gov. Kristi Noem to Newsmax: COVID Shows 'Leadership Has Consequences'." The article didn't mention the most recent direct consequence of her "leadership" -- a surge in COVID cases in the state following the big motorcycle rally in Sturgis, S.D., the previous month. Noem even got a Sept. 29 article from Charlie McCarthy on how her administration "has applied for a special-use permit to hold fireworks at Mount Rushmore on the Fourth of July next year," though "The Biden administration denied Noem's permit request for fireworks in 2021."
One thing you won't read about at Newsmax, though: accusations of an extramarital affair she had with former Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski, for whome he had been an adviser. INteresting, the accusation came from a conservative website. Noem has denied the accusation, and she more definitively broke ties with Lewandowski a couple days after that accusation surfaced, when it was revealed he made sleazy sexual advances to the wife of a prominent Republican donor.
But you will read nothing at all about this at Newsmax.
It, did, however, note another burgeoning Noem scandal that erupted around the same time. Another excerpt from Newsmax's Noem interview with host Rob Schmitt, written by Eric Mack, allowed her to frame the scandal as a political attack by a "disgruntled" ex-employee:
Striking back at a report by The Associated Press claiming the daughter of South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem received special treatment in receiving a real estate appraiser license, Noem dismissed the claim as baseless and a "political attack."
"The real story is that my daughter received no special treatment," Noem told Newsmax on Tuesday in an exclusive interview from the Ronald Reagan ranch outside Santa Barbara, California, which aired Wednesday on "Rob Schmitt Tonight."
"She did exactly what every other person did, applying and receiving an appraisers license in the state of South Dakota.
"This is another political attack."
[...]
"While they completely ignore Hunter Biden, they're going after my daughter," she lamented. President Joe Biden's son has been accused of influence peddling and questionable dealings with foreign governments.
This is the only mention of this scandal on the Newsmax website, which means it has censored later deveopments such as hiding mention of a meeting with a state employee in charge of issuing appraiser licenses in a video defending herself, the employee's subsequent claim she was forced to retire over the controversy and receiving a $200,000 payout to drop further action against the state, and blocking the release of documents regarding Noem's daughter's license.
Newsmax seems to be doing a fine job of covering for a potential 2024 Republican presidential candidate.
Newsmax Columnist Is Sore Loser About Calif. Recall Topic: Newsmax
The Media Research Center is not the only ConWeb entity to be a sore loser over the California recall atempt. Judd Dunning ranted in a Sept. 16 Newsmax column:
It’s a perfect day to fly California state flags at half-mast for lost liberty. America’s backwards national trendsetter, and my home the last 24 years, has spoken.
By a roughly 63.9% to 36.1% majority (*with 70% voting in at the time of this column), Californians support more vaccine mandates, free market business repression, and individual liberty infringements.
“Rules for me and not for thee” elites are, once again, accepted as our new normal.
Gavin Newsom raised $80,000,000 from local entertainment and eco-socialists. Newsom desperately called in mentally crisp Joe “Jimmy Carter” Biden fresh off his Afghanistan “victory lap.”
[...]
Gavin successfully spread fear. Many Newsom supporters are over-emotional, dreamy, often well-tanned, socialist-tolerant sheep.
There is little resistance amongst this well wooled ilk. And why should there be, for those who worship “The State”?
California is a nanny state still high on PPP, EDD, and THC. Little excitement exists for leaving beaches and couches to return to work.
A true majority of Californians love and trust big government.
Our populace obediently watches gobs of leftist news and social media propaganda. It’s a spectator sport here.
Despite all that, Dunning couldn't even be that excited about the Republicans' leading candidate. "Larry Elder has boldly ripped the heads off stupid locals since 1993; as result he is loved by many and hated by more. It was just a fact," adding, "Trump caught elites off guard. Elder is great, but he’s not Trump."
Dunning then played the bogus election-fraud card:
It is a sad state that in the background many still do not trust our elections. Even Tuesday night, on CNN 351,000 “Yes” votes disappeared in an instant during live coverage of the Newsom Recall Election in California.
It remains an unsolved issue and one not to be determined on the federal level. Just as in 2020 our exact recall numbers seem they too, may never be properly known.
Dunning's source for this claim was the notoriously unreliable Gateway Pundit. And, no, it's not true: the exra votes were mistakenly entered then deleted when the mistake was discovered.
Dunning concluded by serving up a familiar turn of phrase:
Here in California behind it all, our greatest issue is our pre-existing hard leftist Foucault-like social capital contracts where people feel a pressure to conform to wokeness, or face getting cancelled or lose freedom for thinking a certain way.
Many have become programmed forgetful robots – and that in essence is … the Newsom problem.
We remember when a Newsmax columnist referred to the "Obama problem," the solution for which, he believed, was a military coup.
Thursday afternoon, White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced that President Joe Biden will not deliver a live speech on September 11.
"You will hear from him in the form of a video in advance — or that will be available that day, I should say," she said.
However, earlier Biden wormed his way into appearing at all three memorial services scheduled for Saturday, the 20-year anniversary of 9/11.
He has no business attending any of the events.
His actions in Afghanistan and at the U.S.-Mexican border have made the United States more vulnerable to terrorism today — than we were 20 years ago.
[...]
When it comes to future terror attacks against the U.S., terrorists only have to be successful once; the U.S. has to be successful every time in stopping those terrorists.
So far, Biden’s scorecard on COVID, the economy, border control, foreign policy, national security, crime, energy policy, and bringing America together, reads zero-for-eight.
Given that record, odds are good that his administration could also fail to avert a serious terror attack.
If he wants to start doing things right, he can begin by staying home on 9/11.
Shocker: Newsmax Columnists Raise Concerns Over Texas Abortion Law Topic: Newsmax
The ConWeb has been unsurprisingly enthusiastic about Texas' new, highly restrictive law that effectively bans abortion in the state. But surprisingly, a couple of Newsmax columnists have raised questions about law, particularly its "bounty hunter" legal mechanism of letting civilians enforce it and its possible effects on Republicans in future elections.
Dick Morris fretted oer the latter in his Sept. 2 column:
Last night’s Supreme Court decision to let Texas abortion law stand effectively undermines Republican chances in the coming elections of 2022 and 2024.
The Biden ratings crash caused by the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan is now over. The page has been turned. Now, it's going to be all about abortion.
The gender gap in American politics began in 1974 after the Roe V Wade decision. This new Texas law, that effectively reverses the decision, will bring the abortion issue back to center stage. Recent polling suggests that 74% of the American voters support keeping abortion legal.
[...]
With Biden reeling and, on the ropes, this Texas law and the Court decision, comes as a welcome reprieve for Democrats nervous about the ’22 elections.
In the hands of a hysterical media, it might even encourage court packing and facilitate election-altering changes like those in HR 1.
This decision changes everything.
Paul F. deLespinasse spent his Sept. 7 column concerned that the law's enforcement mechanism could have severe implications on things like gun rights if it was upheld by the Supreme Court:
The Texas abortion ban cleverly obstructs legal challengers. The cleverness was needed because the statute is clearly unconstitutional given the precedent of Roe v. Wade.
The legislation denies Texas officials power to enforce it but authorizes private citizens to bring civil suits against anyone performing or contributing to an abortion. This blocks the way legislation is usually challenged before anyone is convicted for violating it. .
Challengers usually sue the official who could enforce the law, but here there is no such official. Since any private citizen could enforce this law, it is unclear who challengers could sue.
[...]
The more cautious abortion opponents have avoided putting the issue squarely before the Supreme Court, fearing that some justices personally opposed to abortion might uphold Roe on grounds of stare decisis — the importance of stable rules people can rely on.
Instead, they have enacted increasingly severe procedural limits on abortion, seeking to nibble Roe to death. But Texas has chosen to be "in your face" about it.
The Supreme Court therefore may not be able to evade the basic issue forever. It might either have to overrule Roe or strike down the Texas statute. I predict the latter.
Texas is playing with constitutional fire. Its approach is one that conservatives could never support as a general rule. It could also be used to protect other legislation violating the Constitution, including laws prohibiting ownership or possession of all guns.
We've not seen these issues discussed elsewhere in the ConWeb.
Trump-Fluffer Kessler Laughably Inisists That Biden Is The Real Narcissist Topic: Newsmax
Ronald Kessler has found a narcissist in the White House and it is ... Joe Biden? He wrote in a Sept. 1 Newsmax article:
From running for president as a moderate who is actually governing from the left, to projecting himself as empathetic and caring, Biden has done a good job of fooling the American people.
But the whispery voice he adopts to project compassion is yet another act.
The truth is that Biden exhibits all the signs of a narcissist.
According to the Mayo Clinic, narcissistic personality disorder is a mental condition in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for excessive attention and admiration, and a lack of empathy for others.
These individuals take advantage of others to get what they want and have an inability or unwillingness to recognize the needs and feelings of others.
Biden’s character flaws are magnified by what insiders call White House-itus, a malady of arrogance that is common to U.S. presidents.
Of course, the idea that Biden is a raging narcissist is ridiculous on its face -- perhaps Kessler could identify some of those supposed "insiders" he invoked to make his case. What makes this even more ridiculous is that Kessler has spent the past couple decades in thrall to a genuine narcissist and former Whjite House resident, Donald Trump.
We've documented how Kessler has been fluffing Trump since the late 1990s, when he featured Trump in a book he wrote on rich people in Palm Beach. Kessler was aggressively feeding Trump's ego by publicizing Trump's presidential ambitions as far back as 2011.
Before the 2020 election, Kessler worked with Newsmax to put together a long campaign ad masquerading as a "documentary" called "Trump and Me: A Conversation with Ron Kessler," which purported to tell "the true story of how Donald Trump became leader of the world’s most powerful nation — and how he made it great again."The gushing continued:
In "Trump and Me," Kessler describes how Trump worked his way up the ladder of success, graduating from the prestigious Wharton School to help run his father's real estate business, eventually turning it into a multibillion-dollar enterprise.
Kessler looks at Trump's uphill battle in Washington to reform the bureaucracies of the FBI, CIA, VA, and other agencies that are in desperate need of fresh blood and renewed ethics.
And he discusses Trump's efforts boost the economy, reign in trade agreements, end poverty, and fight bigotry.
"He was very prepared for becoming president because he had a grasp on a lot of world issues and a grasp of conservative approaches to the government — and he simply implemented them," Kessler says in "Trump and Me."
He adds, "Trump really cares about his country. He is a patriot."
Kessler also reveals Trump's most personal side, including his relationship with his wife Melania, family, and his staff.
That was followed by this laughable claim: "It's an unvarnished, unbiased look at Trump that you will not find anywhere else." Oh, please -- if this was really "unvarnished" and "unbiased," Trump would not have permitted it, Kessler would not be taking part, and Newsmax would not be airing it.
Given that Kessler has spent the past couple decades enabling a narcissist, Kessler has no credibility in dubiously accusing Biden of being one.
(Photo: Ronald Kessler and his wife, Pamela, with Donald Trump, from Kessler's 1999 book "The Season.")
Newsmax probably should know better. Given how some columnists it publishes stuff their work so filled with COVID misinformation, it shouldn't publish them at all; instead, it simply tags the column with the statement that it has been written by a "non-clinician." The latest to get that tag is an Oct. 12 coumn by Nicholas Chamberas, which is a mix of grudging concession that COVID vaccines work and rage at the very idea of vaccine mandates:
Emerald Robinson spouting bizarre, bogus conspiracy theories
In his Oct. 4 Newsmax 
Last year, 
On Sept. 28, Newsmax partnered with the conservative Young America's Foundation at the Reagan Ranch in California, and the star speaker was Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem. Needless to say, it cranked out the coverage of her spinning right-wing talking points and self-promotion:
Thursday afternoon, White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced that President Joe Biden will not deliver a live speech on September 11.
Ronald Kessler has found a narcissist in the White House and it is ... Joe Biden? He wrote in a Sept. 1 Newsmax 
