Newsmax’s Trump Election Stenography, Part 3
Fawning over Donald Trump's rallies and TV appearances continued at Newsmax as the presidential campaign wore on -- as did its censorship of the false or petty remarks he made.
Newsmax’s servile stenography of Donald Trump’s campaign rallies and TV appearances continued during the final month of the presidential campaign:
Rally in Prairie du Chien, Wis., Sept. 28
Rally in Erie, Pa., Sept. 29
Rally in Juneau, Wis., Oct. 6
Trump: 200 Percent Tariff on Vehicles Imported From Mexico (wire article)
Rally in Coachella, Calif., Oct. 12
Newsmax interview, Oct. 8
Trump to Newsmax: Harris Gave ‘Dumbest Answer’ on ‘The View’
Trump to Newsmax: Biden Doles Out FEMA Billions to Migrants (unmentioned: Trump did too)
Rally in Coachella, Calif., Oct. 12
Newsmax interview, Oct. 12
Rally in Detroit, Oct. 18
Trump: Not Tired but Exhilarated; Killing Harris in Polls (at the airport prior to the rally)
(There was no mention of Trump’s odd behavior during the mic outage, or his demand that women should “Get your fat husband off the couch” and vote.)
Rally in Latrobe, Pa., Oct. 19
Rally in Las Vegas, Oct. 24
Rally at Penn State University, Oct. 26
Rally in Novi, MIch., Oct. 26
In addition, Newsmax squeezed a few articles out of a town hall on its TV channel on Oct. 29:
JD Vance at Newsmax Town Hall: Harris Has No ‘Closing Message’
JD Vance at Newsmax Town Hall: ‘American Homes for Americans’
There were no fact-checks of anything Trump or Vance said.
Rally trifecta
Among all the servile stenography Newsmax has done to boost Donald Trump’s election prospects, there was a trifecta of sorts: an Oct. 5 rally at Butler, Pa. — where Trump was shot at in July — that also included J.D. Vance and Elon Musk. Jim Thomas dutifully wrote about a Republican congressman offering gushing praise of Trump on Newsmax TV before the rally:
Former President Donald Trump is set to return to Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, rallying supporters at the very spot where he survived an assassination attempt in July.
Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., called the visit a testament to Trump’s “strong leadership.”
“This is a different person. This is a strong leader,” Kelly, who was present at the rally and is chairman of the congressional investigation into the incident, told Newsmax’s “American Agenda.”
“I think he wants to make a statement to the American people: Look, I’m not worried about me. I’m worried about you.”
That was followed the day of the rally by a Trump campaign toady declaring (as penned by James Morley III): “President Trump is resilient. President Trump is someone who really meets the moment. So, I encourage everyone to tune in.” Another pre-rally article by Jim Morley (is that the same person as James Morley III?) claimed that the Secret Service “is nearing its ‘breaking point'” upon Trump’s return.
At the rally itself, Sandy Fitzgerald got stenography duties for Trump’s speech:
Former President Donald Trump, in his return to Butler, Pennsylvania, to finish the speech he was giving in July when he was stopped by a would-be assassin, opened his emotional speech Saturday by telling the crowd: “As I was saying.”
When the bullets rang out at the July 13 rally, Trump was pointing out immigration numbers on a chart, and told the crowd Saturday, “I love that chart. I love that graph,” while finishing the point he was making before his speech was stopped.
Then he turned to remember the day this summer when Thomas Matthew Crooks was perched on a nearby rooftop and opened fire, including holding a moment of silence, with the sound of “Ave Maria” being sung at the rally by noted opera tenor Christopher Macchio to remember Corey Comperatore, the firefighter who was shot and killed while trying to shield his wife and daughters.
“Tonight I returned to Butler in the aftermath of tragedy and heartache to deliver a simple message to the people of Pennsylvania and to the people of America,” Trump said at the rally. “Our movement to make America great again stands stronger, prouder, more united, more determined, and nearer to victory than ever before,” he said, promising that his MAGA movement belongs to everyone no matter which party.
Eric Mack did the rally stenography for Vance, while also touting that Newsmax aired it:
About an hour before Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump took the stage in his highly anticipated return to Butler, Pennsylvania, Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, praised the Americans who witnessed the attempted assassination for their bravery to come back Saturday.
“Now my friends, I know you’ll join me in saying we’re going to remember July 13, 2024 forever: Many of you were here and it is a testament to your courage and your patriotism that you’re here again today,” Vance told the crowd in a pre-Trump speech that aired in part on Newsmax and in its entirety on the free Newsmax2 streaming platform.
“Now, you heard the shots. You saw the blood. We all feared the worst, but you knew everything would be OK when President Trump raised his fist high in the air and shouted: ‘Fight, fight!'”
Vance shared Trump’s long-repeated sentiment that dodging the fatality of a would-be assassin’s bullet could only be described as divine influence.
Fitzgerald returned to parrot Musk’s fearmongering remarks:
Tech billionaire Elon Musk, speaking at former President Donald Trump’s return rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Saturday night, told the crowd that he believes this year’s election to be the “most important election of our lifetime.”
“This is no ordinary election,” Musk said. ‘The other side wants to take away your freedom of speech. They want to take away your right to bear arms. They want to take away your right to vote effectively.”
He also pointed out that 14 states do not require identification to vote, and asked, “How are you supposed to have a good, proper election if there’s no ID?”
Musk also insisted that Trump must win in November to “preserve the Constitution” and to preserve democracy.
“This is a must-win situation,” he said, telling everyone watching the speech, in person or in their homes, to vote and get everyone they know to register to vote.
“If they don’t, this will be the last election,” Musk said. “That’s my prediction. Nothing’s more important … for people out there who are watching the video or watching the live stream, you need to get everyone you know, everyone at work, your friends, family, text groups, your social media, everything.”
After the rally, Newsmax called on a longtime friend (and convicted felon) to serve up more Trump propaganda:
The bolstered security at Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s return to Butler, Pennsylvania, should have been in place during his first visit on July 13, but Saturday’s return is a defiant message to those who hate the former president, according to former New York City Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik.
“I think every American would want to be here today, because it sends a message to the left; it sends a message to anybody that despises Donald Trump, or all these celebrities that have, you know, they make these comments: He should have been hit. He should have been dead,” said Kerik, speaking from the rally about an hour before Trump was to take the stage.
“This is a signal: America loves Donald Trump.
“All you have to do is take a look around. He’s going to be the next president. We’re going to get him through this election. And this is a clear demonstration of what the people want.”
As is typical for Newsmax’s coverage of Trump’s rallies, nobody was allowed to critique what the participants said.
What Newsmax ignored
Newsmax’s stenography falls apart — exposing it as little more than a Trump toady — when those speeches draw attention from non-Newsmax outlets would have the temerity to report what actually happened. In an Oct. 14 forum at the Economic Club of Chicago headed by the editor of Bloomberg, Sandy Fitzgerald lovingly wrote this:
Former President Donald Trump, in an interview with members of the Economic Club of Chicago on Tuesday, argued that his plans for higher tariffs for foreign manufacturers, combined with other plans including tax cuts, will return the United States to prosperity, despite claims from a bipartisan group that said his proposals would add $7.5 trillion to the U.S. debt.
“To me, the most beautiful word in the dictionary is tariff,” Trump told his interviewer, Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait. “It’s my favorite word.”
But Newsmax didn’t tell readers all that Micklethwait said about Trump’s tariffs. Fortunately, Mediaite did:
Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday was pressed by Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait for his support of tariffs in his proposed economic policy.
Throughout his campaigns, Trump has repeatedly stated that should he win the presidency in November, his solution to decrease the national debt will be by imposing larger tariffs. That plan has been challenged by many; a recent report from The Wall Street Journal revealed that nearly 70% of surveyed economists believe another Trump term would be more inflationary than a Kamala Harris one.
During a forum in Chicago, Trump was given the chance to explain how it would be beneficial to impose such tariffs on his allies. In the middle of one of Trump’s patented “weaves” about his presidency being free of wars, Micklethwait brought the conversation back to the economy.
That’s because stiff tariffs on foreign manufacturers wanting to sell goods in the U.S. will boost U.S. manufacturing, Trump said.
“We will bring the companies back,” he said. “We will lower taxes further for companies that will make their product in the USA. We will protect those companies with strong tariffs because I am a believer in tariffs. I am not sure you are. I don’t think you are.”
Jim Thomas served up this gushing account of Trump talking about his economic policies:
During a Tuesday interview at the Economic Club of Chicago, former President Donald Trump boasted about accomplishments in his first term and presented bold plans to revitalize American prosperity, confidently discussing tariffs, job creation, and foreign policy.
An interview with Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait covered various topics, including trade policy, the Federal Reserve, and foreign relations, and Trump used the platform to defend his aggressive tariff plans and reaffirm his stance as the candidate voters trust most on economic issues.
He made a strong case for his America First agenda, promising to impose tariffs on companies that outsource manufacturing. He said he believes this policy would protect American jobs and bolster the domestic economy.
Although Micklethwait questioned the potential fallout of such tariffs, especially regarding U.S. relations with allies, Trump was undeterred, arguing that his approach would strengthen the country.
Meanwhile, Mediaite offered a more realistic account that showed Trump’s testiness and arrogance:
John Micklethwait, the editor in chief of Bloomberg News, grilled former President Donald Trump over the national debt on Tuesday during an in-depth sit-down interview focused on Trump’s economic agenda.
“You’ve actually, you talked about it at the New York Economic Club. You said that if you lost the dollar as a reserve currency, it would be like America losing a war,” Micklethwait said at one point turning the conversation.
[…]
Micklethwait tried to move back to talking about debt, “President Trump– the markets are looking at the fact you are making all these promises. Latest one was car loans. You’re flooding the thing with giving giveaways. But I was also I was actually quite kind to you. I used 7 trillion. The upper estimate is 15 trillion. People like the Wall Street Journal, which is hardly a communist organization, they have criticized you on this as well. You are running up enormous debt.”
“What is [sic] The Wall Street Journal know? I’m meeting with them tomorrow. What is The Wall Street Journal that they’ve been wrong about everything. So have you, by the way,” Trump shot back.
“You’ve been wrong,” Trump added as the crowd roared.
“You’re trying to turn this. You’re trying to turn–” hit back Micklethwait.
“You’ve been wrong,” Trump repeated.
“I know you’re trying, you’re trying to turn this into debate. There are business people. There are business people–” Micklethwait replied.
“You’re wrong. You’ve been wrong. You’ve been wrong all your life on this stuff. You know, let me tell you about currency. You kind of you know, you go and jump in a lot of a lot of different subjects,” Trump added.
Newsmax cranked out more Trump stenography:
The Putin piece is actually a wire article that Mediaite concurred with. Meanwhile, Mediaite reported what Newsmax didn’t on how Trump gave an utterly irrelevant answer to a question he was asked.
In another example, here’s what Newsmax wrote about Trump’s speech at the Al Smith dinner in New York City on Oct. 17:
But Newsmax won’t tell you when a Trump joke bombs. Mediaite, no the other hand, did that job:
Guests at the annual Al Smith Dinner on Thursday were left unimpressed with former President Donald Trump’s jokes, which included taunting former President Barack Obama by using his full name, “Barack Hussein Obama,” and claiming President Joe Biden had the “mental faculties of a child.”
Speaking at the dinner next to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Archbishop of New York Timothy M. Dolan, Trump remarked, “It was announced this morning that at a funeral yesterday, in a rare moment of clarity, Joe told Barack Hussein Obama that–”
As a lone laugh could be heard from the audience, Trump responded, “Heh. Only a few people got that. Or, as Rush Limbaugh used to say, Barack Husseeeiiin Obama. Remember? He was a piece of work. We miss him.”
Trump’s fellow guests looked uncomfortable and sat stone-faced as Schumer could be seen shaking his head.
Mediaite also reported more Trump failures at the Al Smith dinner that Newsmax ignored:
Trump Slams ‘Terrible Mayor’ at Posh Dinner: ‘I Don’t Give a Sh*t If This Is Comedy or Not’
Trump Roasts Eric Adams Over Indictment: ‘You’re Peanuts Compared to What They’ve Done to Me’
Newsmax was completely silent about one more aspect: Trump said that Fox News personnel helped write his jokes for the dinner. Fox News rushed to deny it, of course, but it’s unlikely anyone believes that.
(Image from Trump’s interview with Newsmax host Chris Salcedo)