Criticism of Hegseth reportedly banned on Newsmax after Trump whines

Newsmax, the conservative news channel, has reportedly ordered staffers to refrain from criticizing Pete Hegseth, Trump’s nominee to be secretary of defense.

The directive comes after Newsmax host Greg Kelly argued on-air a week ago that disclosures about Hegseth had doomed his nomination.

Discussing a letter in which Hegseth’s mother said her son had abused women, Kelly said, “this secretary of defense thing is not going to happen.” Kelly also chided Hegseth for reportedly not informing Trump ahead of time about allegations of assault and public drunkenness.

Mediaite now reports that multiple sources inside Newsmax told them that network CEO, Trump ally, and longtime conservative activist Chris Ruddy was contacted by Trump’s team and told that Trump was unhappy with the commentary.