Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee accused Newsmax of cutting off a segment of his Tuesday interview related to the Ukraine aid vote.
Lee took to Twitter calling out the outlet for cutting “an entire segment” of his interview with Newsmax host Eric Bolling from his show Monday night. Lee said his shock regarding the move was because “part of the interview focused specifically on the supplemental” legislation for Ukraine. (RELATED: Republicans Vying To Replace GOP Sen. Mitt Romney Reveal Position On Foreign Aid Package Ahead Of Key Vote)
“Newsmax cut an entire segment of my interview last night. No mention of Ukraine—even though part of the interview focused specifically on the supplemental. I’ve never had this happen with any news network, not like this,” Lee posted to Twitter.
Newsmax cut an entire segment of my interview last night. No mention of Ukraine—even though part of the interview focused specifically on the supplemental.
I’ve never had this happen with any news network, not like this. @ChrisRuddyNMX, what happened?https://t.co/Qb3BQ1Rpdx
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) April 23, 2024
The Republican senator then tagged Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy in the post, asking what happened to the piece, along with linking the interview that was aired on the show.
Newsmax representative Bill Daddi stated in an email to the Caller that the cut was based purely on time with no “intention for censorship.”
“Sen. Lee was invited on the Eric Bolling show to discuss Pres. Trump’s legal issues. Our recorded interview went for 11 minutes when typically such interviews last no longer than five minutes. We edited the last part of the segment for program timing reasons and there was never an intention for censorship,” Daddi stated.
However, multiple sources who spoke with the Caller told a different story.
“There has been a top-down policy at Newsmax to censor opposition to Ukraine aid or skepticism about America’s interests in prolonging the war,” one source familiar with the cutting of Lee’s segment told the Caller.
Another source with knowledge of the situation suggested editorial decisions of this nature come from the very top of the organization.
The Caller reached out to Ruddy for comment but did not receive a response.
“Earlier this week, Senator Lee agreed to be interviewed on Newsmax to discuss his opposition to the $95 billion foreign aid bill. For some reason, Newsmax chose to cut this exact segment, while airing the rest of the interview,” Lee’s communications director Billy Gribbon told the Caller.” While we do not think that Eric Bolling was responsible for that decision, the prospect of others in Newsmax management censoring opposition to this disastrous bill is very concerning.”
“Newsmax has aired and will continue to air criticism of Ukraine aid, though the network strongly supports Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s unprovoked attack on it,” Daddi said in an additional statement.
Over the weekend, representatives of the House approved Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson’s foreign aid package, which is set to give $95.3 billion in aid to Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan and other American allies. The legislation, which was once four separate bills, is seeking to allocate $60.8 billion in aid for Ukraine, $15 billion in military aid for Israel, another $9 billion for humanitarian aid for Israel and $8 billion for Taiwan.
However, Johnson received pushback for the legislation from Republicans in both the House and Senate as the House Speaker initially stated last year he would not push for additional foreign aid until the southern border crisis was addressed. While Lee has been vocal online about his opposition to the package, the Senate took a procedural vote Tuesday landing 80-19, with 31 Republicans voting to advance the package, according to The Hill.
Henry Rodgers contributed to this report.
Editor’s note: This post has been updated to include additional reporting on Newsmax’s editorial process for the segment, along with comment from Lee’s office.