Conservative network Newsmax appeared to pre-empt Donald Trump’s possible repetition of his baseless 2020 election fraud claims during the former president’s live telephone interview on Tuesday.
“Please Note: Newsmax accepts the 2020 election results as legal and final,” read a chyron that appeared on screen during the presumptive GOP presidential nominee’s conversation with guest host Corey Lewandowski, his 2016 campaign manager.
The message popped up as the talk turned from Trump’s Middle East strategy to his fear-mongering that “we won’t have a country left” if he doesn’t win the 2024 election.
“We are laughed at,” Trump said shortly after the note aired. “They think we’re fools. They can’t believe that Biden is the president. And we’re gonna turn that around. We’re gonna turn it around very fast.”
The interview then ended.
Trump has for years falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen from him by President Joe Biden. Voting software companies Smartmatic and Dominion Voting Systems have both brought defamation lawsuits against Newsmax for promoting baseless claims, in the aftermath of the vote, that the companies had somehow been responsible for rigging the election in favor of Biden.
People on X-formerly-Twitter translated the chyron:
That chyron! Newsmax is still terrified of being sued again. They are on thin ice. The network’s lawyers are in a panic and the executives have caught fright. https://t.co/dr1BXGYIqC
— Russell Drew (@RussOnPolitics) June 26, 2024
Translation: “Don’t sue us”
— Tommy Avery (@TomRAvery) June 26, 2024
“Please don’t sue us, we don’t know what he’s going to say.”
— Howell Ellerman (@howellsacto) June 26, 2024
when outside counsel is running yr chyron
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) June 26, 2024
Newsmax knows Donald Trump is a liar. Look at the chyron they have to display when interviewing Trump. pic.twitter.com/nDzfcEnl8p
— AmbientHeat🇺🇸🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ (@ambientheat) June 26, 2024
That’s the most valuable chyron text in all of media. It’s worth at least half a billion dollars.
— Franklin (@franklinisbored) June 26, 2024
