In 2023, two Newsmax hosts got busted airing a photo of who they claimed was the perpetrator of a gun massacre at a Texas outlet mall — but was actually a different person with the same name. Newsmax did fairly quickly issue an on-air correction, as it should have — but as we noted, that wasn’t enough, because the falsely identified man sued Newsmax and other right-wing outlets who pushed the photo. That case has been winding its way through the court system, and HuffPost has the latest details.
Internal emails showed that Newsmax VP of programming Chris Knowles questioned initial reports of the white supremacist leanings of the shooter — a skepticism that made its way onto Greg Kelly’s show that night, with the (false) photo added. An internal investigation at Newsmax found that the photo apparently originated on a conspiracy-laden feed on X calling itself “ULTRA-MAGA Business Owner,” and it still remains posted there without a Community Note debunking the false identity. It was put on Newsmax’s internal photo drive without apparent verification, and it appeared on five other Newsmax shows with a dozen producers failing to question it. It didn’t become an issue at Newsmax until writer Justin Baragona wrote Newsmax inquiring about the use of the false image.
It appears there were enough internal mistakes that allowed the false image to get on the air — meaning that Newsmax will likely have to pay a settlement to the wronged man, who is seeking more than $1 million in damages. Far-right commentators Tim Pool and Steven Crowder have already settled with Garcia, while a lawsuit against Fox News was dropped. It’s another hit for Newsmax after paying a confidential (but presumably large) settlement to Smartmatic last year over baseless claims of election fraud it aired after the 2020 election. IT still faces a lawsuit from Dominion over those same bogus election-fraud claims.