Newsmax spent the day of the Florida primary doing — what else? — more blatant promotion of Newt Gingrich and hatred of Mitt Romney.
There’s the usual pro-Newt puffery:
- Economist Laffer: Gingrich Tax Plan Beats Romney’s
- Gingrich, Santorum Surging in Midwest
- Gingrich Raises Nearly $10M in Just 3 Months
On top of that, David Patten hunts down “prominent Ronald Reagan expert” Paul Kengor to claim that Gingrich “is only the third GOP presidential candidate since the Barry Goldwater era who truly understands conservatism.”
There’s even an Associated Press article mixed in with the headline “Experts Say Gingrich Moon Base Dreams Not Lunacy,” as well as a link to an Irish newspaper’s story about “Newt’s Confidante: Gay Gaines.”
On the Romney-bashing front, there are things like “Head of Senate Military Panel Says Romney Clueless” and “NBC Poll: Romney Losing Independents After Fla.” Paul Scicchitano declares in another article: “It’s official. Former Gov. Mitt Romney has edged out former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in a contest of who ran the most negative campaign in a record year for negativity in Florida.”
Newsmax also links to a Los Angeles Times article under the tease “Cuban-Americans Have Grave Doubts About Romney.” The word “grave” appears nowhere in the Times article.
Newsmax columnists did their part for their employer’s pro-Gingrich agenda:
- Chris Friend criticized Romney for bashing Gingrich’s plan to establish a manned base on the moon: “Is that the kind of leadership America needs? Think big, and you’re out the door?”
- Michael Reagan asserted that “Newt fights. Real Republicans need fighters, not mealy-mouthed compromisers who shrink away from any form of combat.”
Meanwhile, Newsmax’s longtime champion of Romney, Ronald Kessler, has not written anything about Romney since Jan. 13. Has he been barred from doing so, or is he still pining away for a Donald Trump candidacy?