Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy said Newsmax’s decision to settle its longstanding litigation with Dominion Voting Systems is a major step forward for the company.
Ruddy told host Rob Schmitt on his show Monday night that Newsmax was not happy paying a $67 million settlement to Dominion for its lawsuit filed in 2021, but the cost was small compared to the $1.6 billion the plaintiff sought.
The Newsmax CEO also noted that payments for the settlement will be made over three years, and the company made no admission of guilt nor offered any retraction for its reporting.
“We have no retraction,” Ruddy said in an interview Monday on Newsmax’s “Rob Schmitt Tonight.” “We give no apology. It just puts the matter behind us, because the cost of the legal continuance of this case would be onerous.”
In a statement, Newsmax said the company believes it was “critically important for the American people to hear both sides of the election disputes that arose in 2020,” and asserted that its reporting was “fair, balanced, and conducted within professional standards of journalism.”
In his appearance, Ruddy said Newsmax’s coverage following the 2020 election adhered to accepted journalistic practices and reflected the network’s role in reporting on a major national story.
“We played it by the book,” he said. “We gave both sides. We sought out the opinion of Dominion many times. At the end of the day, we had no problem with Dominion. Newsmax, as a network, accused Dominion of nothing.”
Ruddy also criticized the way the case was handled in Delaware, pointing to Judge Eric Davis, who oversaw Dominion’s lawsuits against Newsmax and Fox News.
“[Judge Davis] effectively enforced a confiscation of almost $800 million from Fox,” Ruddy said. “He was seizing our property because he did not like us politically. He is an activist Democrat. He had decided this case before we even sort of filed things.”
Ruddy further argued that the court blocked Newsmax from presenting evidence that would have shown the network’s reporting was consistent with journalistic standards and was not an effort to defame Dominion.
Ruddy stressed that the settlement will not disrupt Newsmax’s future but aid the company’s growth plan.
“In fact, without having this litigation, now we are going to be able to refocus the company and do a lot more than we were even expecting to,” he said.
Ruddy also underlined Newsmax’s editorial stance on the 2020 election, saying that while the network accepted the official outcome, irregularities involving mail-in COVID ballots gave the win to Biden.
The settlement concludes all litigation brought against the company as a result of its coverage of the 2020 election.
The stock market appeared to react positively to the news of the settlement with Newsmax (NMAX) shares rising on the New York Stock Exchange by 15% by the end of the day Monday.
“For us, it is a very positive story,” he said. “We are glad it is behind us.”
Read Newsmax’s full statement on the settlement and share info at NewsmaxInvest.com.
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