Newsmax CEO: Hillary Would Make ‘Great Presidential Candidate’

Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Newsmax, the conservative media company that routinely hypes politicians like Donald Trump, reportedly pledged $1 million to the Clinton Foundation last year, and its CEO said Hillary Clinton would be “a great presidential candidate.”

A spokesman for Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy told the Wall Street Journal for an article published on Wednesday that the organization had pledged the money over a five-year period.

It wasn’t necessarily an endorsement of a Clinton run for 2016, the spokesman told WSJ, but he added that Ruddy thought Clinton would “make a great presidential candidate.”

The pledge may surprise those who remember the conservative Ruddy as a vociferous critic of the Clintons throughout the 1990s, raising questions about the suicide of Vince Foster at a time when conservatives suspected the couple had a hand in his death.

Despite this history, Ruddy has been friends with the Clintons for several years, according to the Journal.

The conservative website often reflects different preferences for 2016, having encouraged a possible run by Trump, also lending frequent coverage to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R).

h/t Andrew Kaczynski

Latest Livewire
8
Show Comments

Notable Replies

  1. A Hillary candidacy would be great news for Newsmax’s bottom line.

    Think of all the clicks from HillaryGhazi -headlined stories.

    Not to mention all the Russian Reset buttons and pantsuit wearing Hillary bobbleheads they could sell on their website.

  2. Yep. It’a all about the bottom line for Republicans. Show me the money!

  3. Disingenuous praise. This fellow and his cronies are counting on her being the nominee and are investing millions in opposition research. There is an article about this industry in The Atlantic today.

  4. Though they may want to retire the Hillary nutcrackers if they want to boost their female vote share; but I doubt they’ll be able to stop themselves…

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

2 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for rob_beatty_walters Avatar for feathered_head Avatar for arrrrrj Avatar for randyabraham Avatar for whatithink

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: