After Donald Trump won the Iowa caucuses (with a little help from Newsmax’s pro-Trump coverage), it was time for Newsmax to look askance at the non-Trump competition — for instance, a Jan. 18 article touted a Newsmax TV appearance by Donald Trump Jr., who claimed that Nikki Haley was being “funded by Democrats.” Josh Hammer was ready to declare the Republican primary process over in his Jan. 19 column:
Donald J. Trump is going to be the Republican nominee for president.
Some rival campaigns may yet persist, and it’s of course true that the overwhelming majority of the delegates for this summer’s Republican National Convention have yet to be allotted.
But after this week’s Iowa caucuses, in which the 45th president delivered a crushing blow to both runner-up Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., and third-place finisher former Gov. and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, R-S.C., there can be no serious doubt: The GOP is still Donald Trump’s party.
He will be the party’s nominee for the third straight presidential election.
I do not arrive at that conclusion lightly.
That was followed by an attempt to clear the field for Trump by taking a shot at Ron DeSantis, despite claiming that he had exhibited “exceptional leadership and statesmanship” as Florida governor:
There is no shame in losing a primary to a former president who remains highly popular within his party. And there is also no dignity in needlessly prolonging the inevitable when there is no viable path to victory.
That’s now the case for DeSantis; following Iowa, there is simply no path to victory.
And the longer DeSantis stays in, especially given the polls showing him in a distant third in both New Hampshire and South Carolina, the more damage he does to his already weakened standing in Tallahassee — and the less likely he is to lead Florida through another dynamic legislative session.
It’s time for Ron to come home.
Doing so swiftly is not merely in the best interest of the Republican Party, as it revs up for an expensive general election matchup against an incumbent president; it’s also in the best interest of Ron DeSantis himself.
Hammer’s column drew an “editor’s note” disclaimer that “The following opinion column does not constitute an endorsement of any political party or candidate on the part of Newsmax” — even though we all know Newsmax has been an aggressive backer of Trump for years and will continue to be one. Newsmax was taking other shots as DeSantis as well:
- N.H. Strategist: DeSantis ‘Dead Man Walking’ in GOP Race
- DeSantis PAC Begins Layoffs, Pares Down
- DeSantis Pulls Out of Sunday Shows Ahead of N.H. Primary
There were a couple of pro-DeSantis articles as well:
- DeSantis Vows to Be ‘Live Free or Die’ President
- N.H. State Sen. Birdsell to Newsmax: DeSantis Knows Primary Is Important
Speaking of Newsmax’s loyalty to Trump, it devoted numerous articles (as is its style) to a Trump rally in New Hampshire before the primary there, which it made sure to point out “aired live and in its entirety on Newsmax and the Newsmax2 streaming platform”:
- Trump to Be Joined by S.C. Leaders at N.H. Rally (wire article)
- Trump: Nikki Haley in ‘Unholy Alliance’ in Quest to Win
- Trump: Haley, DeSantis Back Policies Harmful to US
- Gov. Henry McMaster: N.H., S. Carolina for Trump
- Trump: Biden ‘Threat to Democracy, Grossly Incompetent’
- Trump: My Mind Is Stronger Than It Was 25 Years Ago
There was also an article by Eric Mack — who had done most of this stenography — noting that the rally “took a turn when a protester ran from police and charged toward the stage as former President Donald Trump called out President Joe Biden as a ‘threat to democracy.'”
When DeSantis dropped out of the race a couple days before the primary, Newsmax left it to a wire article, then added the usual pro-Trump flourishes:
- Trump Declares End to ‘DeSanctimonious’ Nickname
- CNN Poll: DeSantis Backers More Likely to Vote Trump
- Trump: ‘Highly Unlikely’ DeSantis Gets Cabinet Post
Attention then turned to Trump’s remaining challenger, Nikki Haley:
- N.H. Newspaper Endorses Haley
- Trump to Newsmax: I Won’t Call Nikki to Quit, but She Should
- Chris Ager to Newsmax: Haley Must Perform in N.H. or Reassess
There was also a Jan. 18 article on how Haley “left the campaign trail briefly this week after her father Ajit Singh Randhawa, who is being treated for cancer, was hospitalized in South Carolina.”
Meanwhile, John Gizzi fretted over another former candidate, complaining in a Jan. 21 column that “Chris Christie has made it clear he won’t yet endorse Donald Trump — even if the former president is given a third nomination by his party” and citing other Republican activists attacking him over this.