Newsmax readers were furious on Tuesday when they saw a link on X, the former Twitter, shared by the far-right channel. The link led to an article discussing Donald Trump’s “degrading rhetoric” during a campaign stop.
The network, a strong supporter of Trump, featured a Reuters wire story on its website discussing Trump’s recent remarks in Grand Rapids, Michigan. However, the article was presented as if it were authored by Newsmax, with the exception of a small copyright line at the bottom indicating it was a Reuters story.
In a recent speech in Michigan, Donald Trump resorted to degrading rhetoric, referring to immigrants illegally in the United States as “animals” and stating that they are “not human.” This language mirrors his previous campaign trail statements and was reported by Reuters. Newsmax also tweeted a nearly identical statement, quoting the Reuters article.
The tweet drew strong criticism from right-wing readers. One person urged others to block Newsmax, while another referred to the outlet as “fake news trash.”
Newsmax eventually deleted the tweet.
The tweet from Newsmax that caused a commotion has now been removed.
The headline on Newsmax’s website read “Trump Calls Migrants ‘Animals’ in Michigan Stop.” The article featured several fact-checks that exposed Trump’s fear-mongering tactics regarding the border crisis. The authors of the article pointed out that researchers have found no evidence to support the claim that individuals living in the U.S. illegally commit violent crimes at a higher rate than native-born citizens.
According to the story, it was mentioned that President Trump often makes the claim, without any evidence, that migrants are responsible for an increase in violent crime in American cities. On Tuesday, he reiterated an unsubstantiated allegation that Latin American countries are deliberately sending their criminals to the United States.
Newsmax made edits to the article, specifically altering the first sentence by removing the mention of “degrading rhetoric.” Additionally, certain fact-checking language was omitted from Newsmax’s version of the article.
HuffPost has contacted Newsmax for a comment.
Some readers seemed angry on X because they didn’t realize that the article was from Reuters and not an original piece from Newsmax. They also may not have considered that the initial tweet from Newsmax could have been automatically generated.
The backlash on social media was swift and intense as Newsmax quickly deleted its tweet and made revisions to its version of the Reuters story.
