Newsmax Denies Report Alleging They Tried to Shake Down Vivek Ramaswamy By Offering Coverage for Cash
AP Photo/Paul Sancya
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy reportedly told close “associates” that Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy made clear he should pay to appear more on the network. Newsmax has since directly denied Ruddy made those comments.
Semafor’s Max Tani and Shelby Talcott summarized Ruddy’s message to Ramaswamy in a devastating article on Sunday. Semafor reported that on a private phone call Ramaswamy “had complained that the right-leaning network was sticking him in little-watched midday slots or ignoring him outright.”
Ruddy’s response to Ramaswamy was to make clear that if he “wants to appear on Newsmax, he should pay to do it,” reported the article, citing two “ two people to whom the candidate described the conversation.”
Newsmax vehemently denied the report and added that soliciting political advertisements is commonplace.
Newsmax spokesperson Bill Daddi replied to Semafor in a statement declaring the notion “that Newsmax is asking candidates to advertise in order to ensure coverage as some quid pro quo … is categorically untrue and incorrect. Newsmax would take an assertion such as that very seriously. There is no correlation between advertising and editorial visibility for any candidate on Newsmax.”
“If candidates want to reach our audience outside of our programming, then, of course, advertising would be a good way for them to do this. That is the basis of all political advertising,” Daddi continued, adding:
As is true for all networks, if candidates want to reach our audience outside of our programming, then, of course, advertising would be a good way for them to do this. That is the basis of all political advertising, whether it be on Newsmax, FNC, CNN or MSNBC.
Daddi released a second statement on Tuesday, directly denying the reporting surrounding Ruddy, “Mr. Ruddy categorically denies he ever said what the leftwing outlet Semafor claims. In fact, Newsmax has given Ramaswamy extensive on air time, as well as several other presidential candidates who have not bought ads on the network. Since the phone call, Newsmax has invited Ramaswamy on six times. He declined or canceled on four occasions, and has appeared twice on air with the network.”
Semafor’s editor in chief Ben Smith shared the story online and wrote, “This is actually a very serious allegation against Newsmax, which is under huge financial pressure right now from Dominion and Smartmatic.”
The Semafor story published Newsmax’s lengthy denial, but also made clear that Ramaswamy’s accusation is apparently indicative of a pattern at the network that also allows sitting members of Congress to host opinion shows.
“Ramaswamy’s account of his conversation comes with a persuasive data point. Ruddy’s comments, as reported by the candidate, raise the question of why else Newsmax would be devoting so much attention to [Perry] Johnson, who is more closely tied to the network than anyone except Trump,” noted the report.
Perry Johnson, a businessman and longshot GOP candidate who runs paid ads on Newsmax, has not only appeared regularly on Newsmax as a candidate, but has both hosted a prime time show on Sunday and is “the focus of multiple recurring documentary-style shows on the cable channel about his campaign.”
