Newsmax Issues Statement Denying Report on Pete Hegseth Coverage
Aaron M. Sprecher via AP
In December, Mediaite reported that Newsmax instructed staff to refrain from criticizing Pete Hegseth, who at the time was President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as secretary of defense. Mediaite reported that the instruction came after a segment criticizing Hegseth sparked the ire of Trump, and that the incoming president called Newsmax chief Chris Ruddy to complain.
Mediaite reached out for comment at the time and received a statement denying the story. In a new and more extensive statement, Newsmax forcefully denied that it received a call from Trump or that it banned negative coverage of Hegseth. This statement has also been added to the original story. Read it in full below:
Newsmax categorically denies almost the entire factual basis of this story as it relates to the network’s response to the Hegseth nomination.
Newsmax never “instructed staff to lay off Pete Hegseth” or to refrain from criticism of him.
While Mr. Kelly did criticize the nomination, Mr. Ruddy never received a phone call from President Trump on the matter, nor did he have any conversation about the Hegseth nomination, on the phone or in person, with the President. The President never expressed any displeasure to Newsmax or Mr. Ruddy about Newsmax’s Hegseth coverage, including Mr. Kelly’s commentaries.
Mr. Ruddy was never upset by Mr. Kelly’s editorial point of view, as the article claimed. Before Newsmax was ever contacted by Mediaite about the alleged claims, Mr. Ruddy contacted Mr. Kelly and assured him we believe in expression of all points of view at the network.
The Mediaite article claims Mr. Jacobson convened a staff meeting to discuss Mr. Kelly’s position. This never happened. Mr. Jacobson never convened any meeting, small or large, on this matter nor was he ever ‘panicked’ about Mr. Kelly’s remarks. Mr. Kelly never received any criticism for his position opposing Mr. Hegseth by any executive or senior management person at Newsmax.
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