Newsmax, a news network that amplified the falsehood that the 2020 presidential election had been rigged against Donald J. Trump, reached a deal to continue to be distributed by Verizon’s Fios network just days after the telecom company said it was dropping another right-wing broadcaster.
A spokeswoman for Verizon confirmed the renewal, which Newsmax described as a “multiyear” deal in a statement posted to its website on Wednesday.
The deal comes shortly after Verizon said it was no longer going to carry One America News after this week. Both networks are known for their loyalty to Mr. Trump, the former president, and for serving as platforms for his debunked claims of rampant voter fraud in the 2020 election.
Along with the much larger Fox News, they face defamation lawsuits over some of those claims. Dominion Voting Systems, the election technology company that became a target of pro-Trump conspiracy theories after the 2020 election, is seeking $1.6 billion from each network.
Last year, facing a lawsuit from a Dominion employee, Newsmax issued a formal apology for spreading allegations that the worker had rigged voting machines against Mr. Trump. In a statement at the time, Newsmax acknowledged that it had “no evidence” for the claims.
But the network has also argued with the merits of Dominion’s case, saying it was reporting on allegations made by Trump supporters.
“Dominion is claiming because we had Trump and his supporters on air that we defamed them,” Bill Daddi, a representative for the company, wrote in an email on Thursday.
Verizon said its decision to drop OAN was the result of their inability to agree on the terms of a new distribution deal.
Verizon’s Fios service will stop carrying OAN starting on Saturday.
Source: Elections - nytimes.com
