Former Trump Adviser Steve Cortes Out at Newsmax
Former Trump campaign adviser Steve Cortes is out at Newsmax and will host his last primetime broadcast for the right-wing cable channel early next week, if not sooner, five sources familiar with the matter told The Daily Beast.
Tensions between Cortes and the MAGA cable network had long been simmering, sources suggested, but it was the Trump loyalist’s vehement disagreement—which he wasn’t shy about publicly voicing—with Newsmax’s company-wide vaccine rules that was the final straw.
Newsmax did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Earlier this month, Newsmax instituted a rule that all employees must either be vaccinated or submit to weekly COVID testing. The news of such a policy, which was in compliance with the Biden administration’s policy for businesses with more than 100 employees, pushed Cortes to unequivocally declare on Twitter that he wouldn’t have any part of it.
“I will not comply w/ any organization’s attempt to enforce Biden’s capricious & unscientific Medical Apartheid mandate,” he blared in one tweet. “I will not be forced into the injection, nor will I disclose my vaccination status. No one should be pressured to choose between medical privacy & their job.”
Trump’s New Adviser Steve Cortes Thinks He Hasn’t Been ‘Fascist’ Enough
Cortes publicly bashing his employer’s decision may have been the final straw, but insiders said the former Trump campaign strategist and ex-CNN contributor has long conflicted with Newsmax.
“It’s been ongoing for a while,” one current Newsmax staffer told The Daily Beast, adding that Cortes is “a constant risk” due to his penchant for making controversial and inflammatory comments.
“He’s on a delay. Can’t trust him,” the staffer further noted, claiming Cortes’ nightly program utilizes a broadcast delay to give the network an opportunity to censor potentially inappropriate content.
Another Newsmax insider suggested threats of litigation have loomed between Cortes and the network, while another current network employee said his exit was most likely “because the ratings for [the Cortes] show suck” and Newsmax is just looking to make a change.
“He still insists the election was stolen,” the staffer continued, pointing out that such claims are verboten on Newsmax airwaves as the network faces billion-dollar lawsuits for amplifying baseless voter-fraud conspiracy theories. Voting technology companies Smartmatic and Dominion have both filed defamation cases against Newsmax for “knowingly and continuously” selling a “false story of election fraud” following Trump electoral loss.
Cortes’ departure from the upstart Trumpist network comes only six months after Newsmax announced he would co-host a weeknight 9 p.m. ET show with former One America News correspondent Jenn Pellegrino. Cortes & Pellegrino appeared to be part of a continuing effort by Newsmax to peel away…