As electors cast their votes for president on Monday, Newsmax’s John Bachman twice referred to Joe Biden as the “president-elect,” despite his employer’s earlier vow to do no such thing.
“The Electoral College votes are being cast today. Here’s video of four states — New York, New Hampshire, Arizona and Illinois — all certifying the election for President-elect Joe Biden,” Bachman said during “John Bachman Now.”
On Nov. 7, when every other major news outlet declared Biden the winner after four days of ballot-counting, Newsmax released a statement saying the conservative commentary network would not call Biden the winner or president-elect. That decision was in keeping with President Donald Trump’s refusal to concede on the baseless grounds that he believes widespread voter fraud led to Biden’s victory.
A spokesperson for Newsmax pointed TheWrap to a piece published Sunday that outlines its strategy going forward.
“Newsmax and many other critics of the election results will accept the declaration of the Electoral College of the new president-elect,” the piece read. “Still, Newsmax plans to continue its coverage of Trump’s challenges to the results and any new evidence of voting irregularities.”
Newsmax’s Nov. 7 statement read, “At this time, Newsmax is not calling Joe Biden the winner. The election remains very close and Pres. Trump continues to contest results in several states. … All votes should be counted. The media should not make the determination of the winner under these circumstances.”
See a clip from Bachman’s Monday show below.
Newsmax anchor John Bachman finally bursts the bubble to the network's die-hard MAGA viewers and twice refers to Joe Biden as the "president-elect" pic.twitter.com/Uk04yV8xAs
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) December 14, 2020