Devin Nunes to Newsmax: Groups Threaten Conservative Media Advertising

Devin Nunes, CEO of Trump Media and Technology Group, said Tuesday while commenting on a report claiming that left-wing groups are pushing to defund conservative media outlets such as Newsmax that the efforts also threaten advertising that could keep alive conservative media companies.

The report, appearing as an exclusive in the Washington Examiner, said the groups are granting millions of dollars to a disinformation tracking group that is working through a "secret blacklist" to attack conservative media.

Nunes told Newsmax's "National Report" that it is ironic the Examiner also is being targeted after being in existence for years in the nation's capital.

"It's not just Newsmax and OAN that woke companies like AT&T have canceled," Nunes said. "It's also this whole movement on so-called fact checkers. Essentially what they do is there that they'll ship money overseas, dark money, and in some cases, I believe there have been reports that this is actually money that not just comes from the U.S. government but also comes from Big Tech corporations.

DirecTV customers call toll free at 877-763-9762 to complain, demand Newsmax is returned! Oppose censorship – sign The Petition – Click Here

"The nonprofits then deem companies like Newsmax and Truth Social 'as places for disinformation.'"

And after that, the advertisers are targeted, Nunes said.

"So once you get labeled and once you're on a black list, then companies like Newsmax and Truth Social, we're going to get something like maybe 20 cents, 30 cents, 40 cents on the dollar compared to one of the mainstream networks, like a CNN, and it's a big problem," he said. "They get the woke corporations to suppress the ad spending on sites like ours and channels like yours."

Meanwhile, Nunes said Truth Social and Rumble are working "to give the American people their voice back," but at the end of the day, "we're all suffering from the same fate … the U.S. government has never stepped in. They've been on the opposite side many times."

Advertisers could become fearful of placing spots "because they don't want to get attacked by the left and in Congress," Nunes added. "This is kind of the next frontier and we're in uncharted territory. Millions of people have been banned by the Facebooks of the world and the other tech tyrants of the world and the other tech tyrant platforms."

Nunes said that Truth Social is also trying to create new platforms in hopes of working with regional advertisers so that it's not so reliant on the "big woke" corporations.

But with Republicans in control of the House, Nunes said they will continue to put pressure on the executive branch and raise awareness.

"In the meantime, the best that we can do is continue to raise awareness and to stay up there and to stay out there so that people do have a voice and you know that's why we're so supportive of Newsmax," Nunes said.

DirecTV has claimed both Newsmax and OAN were removed as "cost-cutting" measures at the same time the company reported profits last year of $2.7 billion. DirecTV claimed Newsmax was demanding "excessive fees" that would cost them in the "tens of millions" of dollars.

Newsmax has denied these claims, saying it was seeking a fee of about $1 per cable subscriber per year, among the lowest fees asked for in cable, and that the total amount of the deal was a fraction of "tens of millions."

Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy sees AT&T/DirecTV's unwillingness to budge as an act of "political discrimination."

"This was never about the fees being excessive," Ruddy said. "DirecTV's position has always been that Newsmax of all cable news channels should never get any cable fee whatsoever, not one penny."

DirecTV continues to carry 22 left-leaning news channels, many with much lower ratings than Newsmax, and those channels get license fees.

Actions to Take Now

1. DirecTV customers call toll free at 877-763-9762 to cancel/complain.

2. AT&T customers call toll free at 888-855-2338 to cancel/complain for U-verse, cellular and wireless services.

3. Call your congressman or senator at 202-224-3121 and demand they stop AT&T/DirecTV's censorship of NEWSMAX — ask them to give you a date on the hearings!

4. Go to our online petition and get more info: iWantNewsmax.com.