What is going on at Newsmax? That's the question a lot of viewers and media watchers are asking amid a shakeup that's come with the news that White House Correspondent Emerald Robinson's contract isn't being renewed for 2022. There's been buzz that Robinson and Newsmax are splitting ways due to Robinson's tweets that got her banned from the social network, but according to an exclusive report from our sister site, RedState, there's a lot more going on at Newsmax.
EXCLUSIVE: Vaccine Tweets Aren't the Reason Newsmax Is Parting Ways With Emerald Robinson https://t.co/sasVJISZX1
— RedState (@RedState) December 14, 2021
As Jen Van Laar writes, "network insiders" told RedState that Robinson's tweets were not "at all" the reason for the split but that "Robinson was out because she refused to obey Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy's June 2021 directive to 'go easy on the Biden administration, particularly Jen Psaki.'"
Woof. If the Newsmax insiders are correct that the network's CEO warned reporters to "go easy" on the Biden administration, it's no wonder Robinson's contract wasn't renewed. Robinson was known for taking members of the Biden administration — Press Secretary Jen Psaki especially — to task.
As RedState reminds, "Robinson's skirmishes with Psaki have made news throughout the year, and while both lefty and mainstream news sites have reported on them ad nauseam, insiders say that Newsmax often didn't air them and that Ruddy and other executives became increasingly frustrated at Robinson's insolence."
The fact that Newsmax, a network that marketed itself as a further-right alternative to Fox News, quietly told their reporters and talent to go easy on Joe Biden is not entirely surprising in light of CEO Ruddy's past praise for Joe Biden. A July 2021 op-ed said Biden "should be applauded for making a huge dent in the COVID pandemic" and that "Biden's success as president is all about COVID – not only with the vaccine, but also his push for ample and popular stimulus packages." How'd all of that work out?
Ruddy's op-ed also lauded the fact that a "recent Real Clear Politics average has him with a 52 percent job approval, against a disapproval of 43 percent – a nine-point positive spread," an advantage that has completely evaporated as Biden failed to follow through on his promise to "shut down the virus" and wrecked America's economy in the meantime.
Even more prematurely, Ruddy noted of Biden that "rightfully, his White House has pushed back against calls for mandatory vaccinations." We all know how that turned out. Not only did Biden break his promise not to mandate vaccines, Ruddy also pivoted and more or less botched a mandate for Newsmax employees.
An email to Newsmax staff obtained by Mediaite in early November notified employees that they would have to be vaccinated by January 4, 2022, and those who chose not to get vaccinated would have to get weekly testing and remain masked while in Newsmax offices. "To ensure that we are in compliance, we require that all vaccinated employees submit a copy of their vaccination card," the all-staff email added.
These incidents, along with many other detailed by RedState here, brought Van Laar to an easy conclusion: "Obviously, Ruddy isn't the 'true conservative' many of his viewers believe he is." And that's a shame.
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