Newsmax Anchor Cuts Off Mike Lindell As Network Braces For Lawsuit From Dominion - Forbes

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Topline

An anchor for right-wing cable outlet Newsmax tried to fact-check MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell’s unfounded voter fraud allegations during a live interview Tuesday, eventually storming off camera after Lindell refused to stop talking about Dominion Voting Systems, which has threatened to sue both Newsmax and Lindell — marking Newsmax’s latest attempt to shy away from a set of baseless vote-rigging theories that were once allowed on its airwaves.

Key Facts

Lindell appeared on Newsmax to discuss Twitter’s abrupt decision Monday to suspend his company’s account, but he almost immediately pivoted to ranting about Dominion and falsely insisting he has “100% proof” the company committed mass voter fraud (there is no evidence Dominion or any other company rigged votes).

Anchor Bob Sellers interrupted Lindell to read a statement noting his allegations of fraud are unverified and Newsmax accepts the outcome of the election, talking over Lindell for almost a full minute as the MyPillow founder continued to rant about vote-rigging.

Despite Sellers’ attempts to steer the conversation back to Twitter, Lindell once again promised to reveal evidence of voter fraud, prompting Sellers to stand up and walk away from the camera while co-anchor Heather Childers attempted to continue the interview.

Newsmax, Lindell and Dominion did not respond to requests for comment.

Crucial Quote

“I don’t want to have to keep going over this,” Sellers said. “We at Newsmax have not been able to verify any of those allegations.”

Surprising Fact

This isn’t the first time Newsmax has chided Lindell for his unverified vote-rigging theories. In late December, Lindell tried to bring up Dominion during an interview on the network, leading fill-in host and onetime Trump administration advisor Sebastian Gorka to interrupt him and say, “we’re not going to get into the minutiae of the details.”

Key Background

In the weeks following last year’s presidential election, Newsmax turned into a hub for the false theory that the election was overrun by vote-rigging and former President Donald Trump was the rightful winner. This strategy drew scores of viewers who felt spurned by Fox News’ acknowledgement that President Joe Biden won. But after election technology companies Dominion and Smartmatic both threatened defamation lawsuits against Newsmax, alleging the network was a safe haven for Lindell and other Trump allies’ conspiracy theories about the companies, Newsmax quickly changed course and distanced itself from specific fraud claims. In December, anchors read on-air statements clarifying that there’s no evidence of rigged voting machines (Newsmax has denied it promoted unfounded allegations).

What To Watch For

Dominion filed lawsuits against former Trump campaign attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell last month. The company indicated it might also sue Newsmax, Fox News, Lindell and a range of other right-wing figures — including Trump himself. Dominion left this option open in a December letter to Newsmax executives, demanding the network immediately retract any false claims instead of simply airing a clarification.