Prospective 2024 Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy alleged during an interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that he was misquoted by The Atlantic while discussing “the truth” about 9/11. The publication is now pushing back.
Ramaswamy told Semafor that a quote published by The Atlantic wasn’t what he said, before telling Collins “I’m telling you the quote is wrong, actually” when asked about his statements about 9/11 and the January 6th Insurrection.
“I think it is legitimate to say, ‘How many police, how many federal agents were on the planes that hit the Twin Towers?’ Like, I think we want—maybe the answer is zero, probably is zero for all I know, right? I have no reason to think it was anything other than zero,” The Atlantic quoted Ramaswamy as saying. “But if we’re doing a comprehensive assessment of what happened on 9/11, we have a 9/11 commission, absolutely that should be an answer the public knows the answer to.”
During The Source on CNN Monday, Collins asked Ramaswamy what he meant by that statement.
“This is really it’s funny. I mean, The Atlantic is playing the same game as CNN. It’s funny,” Vivek Ramaswamy responded. “What I said is on January 6, I do believe that there were many federal agents in the field and we deserve to know who they are on 9/11.”
When asked by Collins if the quote was wrong, Ramaswamy concurred.
“I’m telling you the quote is wrong, actually,” the candidate replied. “I’ll actually just lift the curtain on how media works. Again, I asked that reporter to send the recording because it was on the record. He refused to do it.”
On Tuesday, The Atlantic’s John Hendrickson released the portion of the interview Ramaswamy was claiming he was misquoted in. The candidate did, in fact, say exactly what he was quoted as saying in the recording published to the website.
The controversy comes one day after a report that Newsmax asked Ramaswamy’s campaign to spend more on political advertising with the network before it would cover him more frequently. The cable channel has strongly denied those allegations.
OutKick’s Tomi Lahren weighed in on Washington Post reporter Emily Heil’s report regarding the news outlet’s piece on Barstool Sport’s Dave Portnoy’s One Bite Pizza Festival that occurs on Sept. 23 at Maimonides Park in Brooklyn, NY.
The Post wrote a detailed story about Portnoy’s impact on some of these Pizzierias through his reviews. Furthermore, businesses participating in the festival were accused of supporting a man with a history of sexual misconduct and offensive language that he defended as jokes.
Nonetheless, before the piece ran, Portnoy got ahead of the story, to which Lahren applauded his actions. Additionally, Lahren believes that Heil wrote the story as a hit piece and noted that journalism is dead because of stories like these.
“This isn’t your grandfather’s Woodward and Bernstein era Washington Post,” Lahren wrote for OutKick. “These are activists with MacBooks and it couldn’t be more obvious. But Dave was smart and savvy enough to not only play their game but body them in the process.
“This Emily gal deserves the inevitable and lasting internet and social media embarrassment that will forever be associated with her byline. Play stupid games and win stupid prizes. Those are my Final Thoughts.”
Eduardo Razo is a news media writer for BNM, focusing on coverage of news/talk radio and news television. He can be found on Twitter @eddierazo_ or you can reach him by email at [email protected].
Geraldo Rivera departed Fox News under less-than-ideal circumstances earlier this year. That doesn’t mean he can’t share admiration for departing Fox Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch.
During an appearance on CNN Tonight with Laura Coates after Murdoch announced he would exit his long-held role with the company, Rivera had good things to say about the media titan.
“He has always been nice to me, kind to me, (and) generous. When they cut my salary in half — when they had the big cutback before the pandemic — I went up and I said, ‘Hey boss, this is not right. I went in to combat for you and this and that,’ and he called downstairs and he said, ‘Okay, restore part of that cut.’ So, I see him as a good boss,” Rivera said. “A vibrant, charismatic guy, still full of verb and energy at 92 years old.”
Rivera went on to defend Murdoch from accusations that the salacious and partisan news coverage provided by his outlets was a ploy to advance conservative causes.
“I think it does a disservice to think that it was all sleazy kind of opportunism because I don’t believe that he believed that. I believe that he was sincerely motivated,” said Geraldo Rivera. “He could have, for example, when Fox News was being created, gone the way of other Fox syndicated programs like A Current Affair and gone tabloid and celebrities and all that TMZ kind of stuff.
“Instead, he went to serve a conservative audience, and while I disagree with almost everything in all of their positions — the majority of talent at Fox News — I appreciate the fact that half the people believe — for example — that abortion is a moral wrong, or that gun rights are absolute, or that immigration is bad, or that the climate is not changing. They’re very skeptical about that. Those are people who deserve to have their media.”
Yesterday’s surprise announcement that Fox Corp. and News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch would exit his role with the companies continues to create shockwaves throughout the industry. The news made Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy become retrospective on what Murdoch has meant to the media landscape.
“Over many decades no other individual has had such a tremendous impact on the media landscape as Rupert Murdoch. His contributions to the news industry across several continents have been enormous, helping to ensure a balanced and truly free media,” Ruddy said.
“Newsmax has benefited from his contributions and we will continue his efforts to promote a free press, a cornerstone to a free society.”
Ruddy launched Newsmax in 1998, positioning the network as a competitor to Fox News. The network has seen expansive growth in recent months, coinciding with the decision by Fox News to remove popular primetime host Tucker Carlson from its lineup.
While Murdoch announced his departure, he remained adamant that he would stay involved in both companies.
“I can guarantee you that I will be involved every day in the contest of ideas. Our companies are communities, and I will be an active member of our community,” Murdoch wrote in his memo to employees announcing his departure.
