Pro-Trump network Newsmax just aired a 2-minute video admitting that it has ‘no evidence’ of outlandish fraud claims against two voting machine companies
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The right-wing news outlet Newsmax broadcasted a lengthy statement “clarifying” false and baseless claims made on its platform about two vote processing companies, Smartmatic and Dominion Voting Systems, and the 2020 election.
“Newsmax would like to clarify its news coverage and note that it has not reported as true certain claims made about these companies,” Newsmax guest host John Tabacco said during his program on Monday.
The network also posted a statement to its website.
Digital security firm Smartmatic has threatened to sue Newsmax, the Fox News Channel, and One America Network for promoting false and defamatory claims made in the weeks since the election that the company engaged in or covered up voter fraud.
Dominion Voting Systems has also threatened to sue the Trump campaign and Sidney Powell, a lawyer who worked for the Trump campaign and has aggressively spread lies and disinformation about the election results and the voting companies.
President Donald Trump and his allies, including Powell and attorney Rudy Giuliani, have aggressively promoted baseless claims that the companies were part of a global cabal to steal the race.
Various theories about nefarious players involved in voting machines and mail-in voting systems became central to Newsmax’s coverage in the weeks following the election, with the network finally saying it would call Joe Biden “president-elect” on Dec. 15.
Powell and Giuliani found a receptive audience on Newsmax in some of their most outlandish claims, such as how the late Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez managed to orchestrate the conspiracy ahead of his death in 2013, with other actors such as the Clinton Foundation and the CIA carrying it out from beyond his grave.
At one point in the segment, Tabacco – who was filling in for host John Bachman – rattled off a series of political figures and entities the network had wrongly implicated.
“Dominion has stated the company has no ownership relationship with the Pelosi family, the Feinstein family, the Clinton family, Hugo Chavez, or the government of Venezuela,” he said.
“Smartmatic is a US company and not owned by the Venezuelan government, Hugo Chavez, or any foreign official or entity,” he continued. “Smartmatic states that it has no operations in Venezuela … It was never founded by Hugo Chavez, nor did it have a corrupt relationship with him, or the Venezuelan government.”
Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy released a statement later on Monday saying the clarification segment will air across its shows.