With election denialism becoming more and more of a sore subject on the right following the GOP’s lackluster midterm results, it looks like even Newsmax is trying to get MAGA conservatives to turn the page and move on.
During his Newsmax appearance on Wednesday night, D-list actor turned far-right pundit Kevin Sorbo was asked to react to The View’s Joy Behar mocking former President Donald Trump’s recent 2024 presidential campaign announcement. Behar, a vocal Trump critic, said Trump looked “defeated” while comparing him to Mussolini.
“I was there last night. I was at Mar-a-Lago,” Sorbo replied. “I was fourth-row center and I tell you what—that was the most presidential speech he’s given. I mean, seriously. I thought that this was awesome. I’m not surprised he’s coming back.”
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While the former Hercules star had nothing but gushing praise for the speech, some of Trump’s own family didn’t even bother to show up at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday night. Many in attendance tried to head for the exits before the ex-president even wrapped up his remarks.
Additionally, only one GOP lawmaker was in attendance—and that congressman will soon be out of office. Trump’s announcement was also met with resistance from a number of Republican officials and right-wing media outlets. Heck, even one-time White House shadow chief of staff Sean Hannity cut away from Trump’s speech.
Sorbo, echoing the twice-impeached former president, then asserted that both the 2020 presidential election and this year’s midterm results were fraudulent.
“I am a voter denial. There was definitely fraud in this election, as there was two years ago,” Sorbo flatly stated.
Newsmax fill-in host Lidia Curanaj, however, interjected and quickly changed the subject. “Well, we don’t have any proof of that,” she exclaimed. “And we’re going to look forward. We’re going to look forward and focus on the policies and the positivity of America.”
Newsmax, along with Fox News and One America News, is currently being sued for defamation by voting software firms Dominion and Smartmatic for airing lies that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” via widespread election fraud.
Though the struggling right-wing cable network continues to play footsie with election denialism, including kowtowing to Trump’s demands that they air his baseless voter fraud claims, some Newsmax hosts have gone out of their way at times to push back whenever guests have directly said the 2020 election was stolen.
Famously, anchor Bob Sellers stood up and ran off set when MAGA pillow mogul Mike Lindell wouldn’t stop peddling baseless allegations about Dominion voting machines.
