Fed up with the supposed liberal bias of mainstream media and even the conservative Fox News network, recent years have seen conservatives leap to create alternative media platforms supposedly rooted in fairness and truth.
Of course, in execution, that's rarely the case.
Far-right disinformation outlets like Newsmax and One America News exist solely to defend former President Donald Trump and the conservatives he supports. The networks eagerly embraced Trump's fantasy that the 2020 election was "stolen" from him by Democrats engaging in widespread election fraud. They repeatedly promoted the right's disinformation regarding the pandemic that's killed over 650 thousand Americans.
And if that weren't enough, even a mild critique of Trump is enough to get guests booted off the air, judging by a recent segment from Newsmax's Grant Stinchfield.
Stinchfield was interviewing Iraq war veteran Joe Saboe, who's currently working to help evacuate Americans from Afghanistan after the widely-criticized withdrawal of troops from the region last month.
When Saboe accurately noted that President Joe Biden alone wasn't to blame, but also Trump—who originally worked with the Taliban to broker the withdrawal deal—Stinchfield exploded.
Watch below
Watch Newsmax host cut the feed and scream at a veteran guest for offering a mild critique of Trumppic.twitter.com/xozk1f5kzH— Jason Campbell (@Jason Campbell) 1631800934
After acknowledging flaws in Biden's execution of the withdrawal, Saboe added:
"We followed this closely for multiple administrations, and we know that the Trump's administration's efforts here were fairly weak, that they were trying to limit the number of people that would get out."
Stinchfield shouted:
"Cut him off please, cut him off now! Cut him off now! You're not gonna blame this on President Trump on my show! It's not happening. Now, I appreciate the work that you're doing. God bless you for being a veteran. God bless you for trying to get Americans out, but don't come on this program, and take the talking points of the left and blame President Trump. That's not helping anybody."
The host's tantrum, for many, reflected an unhealthy devotion to Trump that bordered on religious.
I've seen this kind of media dynamic before.\n\nIt was when I was watching state TV propaganda in countries that were dictatorships.https://twitter.com/JasonSCampbell/status/1438503498690154497\u00a0\u2026— Brian Klaas (@Brian Klaas) 1631804710
That\u2019s what state tv looks like.https://twitter.com/jasonscampbell/status/1438503498690154497\u00a0\u2026— Andrew Hammond (@Andrew Hammond) 1631803624
Tell me you\u2019re in a cult without telling me you\u2019re in a cultpic.twitter.com/KK5uoe7FyR— Gabe Sanchez (@Gabe Sanchez) 1631806906
This is unhinged.https://twitter.com/JasonSCampbell/status/1438503498690154497\u00a0\u2026— Devin Duke (@Devin Duke) 1631807146
As you can see, they didn't want him on there to say anything bad about Trump..That's why I don't believe in nothing these people do..They do it for political points and to hurt Democrats..They believe we are the enemy..https://twitter.com/JasonSCampbell/status/1438503498690154497\u00a0\u2026— Sailor Michael\u2693\u2708 (@Sailor Michael\u2693\u2708) 1631801268
A good example of how partisanship poisons the brain. Look how angry he gets. He can't even process the fact that both Trump and Biden made bad decisions.https://twitter.com/JasonSCampbell/status/1438503498690154497\u00a0\u2026— Napp Nazworth (@Napp Nazworth) 1631804804
The same conservatives who claim to respect the military, who call others "snowflakes," praised Stinchfield's hysterical outburst.
BOOM! " You're not going to come on my show and blame President Trump" BRAVO GRANT\n#SaveAmerica \n#AmericaFirst https://twitter.com/stinchfield1776/status/1438343808673009667\u00a0\u2026— John Sandor (@John Sandor) 1631807419
Love you Grant!! Keep up the fight!!https://twitter.com/stinchfield1776/status/1438343808673009667\u00a0\u2026— Love America \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\u2764\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\u2764\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\u2764\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@Love America \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\u2764\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\u2764\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\u2764\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1631802209
Love it!! It's time to get fired up!! Whewww!!https://twitter.com/stinchfield1776/status/1438343808673009667\u00a0\u2026— Jacob Bingham (@Jacob Bingham) 1631800430
Totally normal.
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