Newsmax Host Ends Interview After Guest Destroys Newsmax For False Election Claims: ‘Are You Still Telling that Lie?’
A guest on Newsmax called out the network on its own air for recently retracted false claims about Dominion voting systems and the 2020 presidential election.
In a wild, abrupt segment on Newsmax’s Wake Up America Monday, David Litt — who served as a speechwriter for former President Barack Obama — repeatedly trashed the network on which he was speaking over the retracted claims, reported to have been settled out of court. Litt made the comments to Newsmax host Rob Finnerty — who invited Litt on to discuss Elon Musk’s Saturday Night Live appearance this past weekend.
“What happened on SNL this weekend was that people made stuff up, and then said it on television like it’s true,” Litt said. “And that actually happens pretty frequently on American TV. For example, in 2020, Dominion voting system sued Newsmax over its false claims about election fraud. Newsmax was lying to its own viewers, and Newsmax had to settle that lawsuit. So actually, I just need to check-in: Are you still telling that lie or are you telling new lies?”
A taken-aback Finnerty tried to steer the conversation back to Musk.
“Do you want to talk about something completely non-related, and try to catch me on a Monday morning totally off-topic?” Finnerty said. “Or do you want to talk about Elon Musk?”
“Well, I could see why you don’t want to talk about Dominion voting systems. Because if you do, Newsmax could get sued and lose billions of dollars because these are lies.”
Finnerty then threatened to pull the plug on the interview if Litt continued his Newsmax callouts.
“That’s fine, David,” the host said. “I know this is a very funny moment for you. I’m sure you didn’t sleep last night as you prepared to try and sort of get the morning anchor on Newsmax. I’d be happy to talk with you about whatever you want to talk about. Obviously, it’s not the topic that we have set up for right now. So if you’d like to talk about Saturday Night Live, I will do that with you. But obviously, I’m not gonna talk about anything else right now. So you decide right now, in this moment on live television, go ahead.”
Litt made his decision without hesitating.
“Did Dominion voting systems have any impact on the 2020 election?” Litt said.
The Newsmax feed immediately cut to an isolated shot of Finnerty, who had been sharing the screen with Litt.
“Oh, that’s unfortunate,” Finnerty calmly said — announcing that the interview was over. He added, sarcastically, “we look forward to having him back on very soon again. That was a stellar interview.”
In a statement on its website, Newsmax acknowledged the false claims about Dominion by posting a statement to its website:
Since Election Day, various guests, attorneys, and hosts on Newsmax have offered opinions and claims about Dr. Eric Coomer, the Director of Product Strategy and Security at Dominion Voting Systems.
Newsmax would like to clarify its coverage of Dr. Coomer and note that while Newsmax initially covered claims by President Trump’s lawyers, supporters and others that Dr. Coomer played a role in manipulating Dominion voting machines, Dominion voting software, and the final vote counts in the 2020 presidential election, Newsmax subsequently found no evidence that such allegations were true.
