Controversies
On May 26, 2000, Newsmax published an article claiming Hillary Clinton refused to meet with the Gold Star Mothers, a group that supports mothers whose children have died during military service. According to the Gold Star Mothers organization, this was false and "Senator Clinton greeted us graciously on Gold Star Mothers Sunday, 2005." This story was also debunked at other websites and eventually led to a retraction by NewsMax.
A 2005 NewsMax.com report about Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, claiming he was "teaming up" with rock band U2 for a fund-raiser, gained considerable attention. Santorum had actually purchased 66 tickets to a sold-out show and was reselling these to campaign supporters at $1,000 per seat. The band issued a statement denying it was involved in the practice, saying, "U2 concerts are categorically not fund-raisers for any politician; they are rock concerts for U2 fans."
On August 9, 2007, Newsmax freelance reporter Jim Davis reported that Barack Obama was in attendance on July 22, 2007, during a controversial sermon given by Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. at Trinity United Church of Christ in South Chicago, Obama's place of worship. The claim that Obama was in attendance for this particular sermon was repeated by Newsmax as fact again on March 16, 2008. A July 22, 2007, speaking schedule for the National Council for La Raza in Miami, Florida, shows Obama as a scheduled speaker for 1:30 pm. Video confirms he attended the conference and spoke during his allotted time. However, Davis later explained that Obama had attended the early morning service at Trinity United at 7:30 a.m., leaving sufficient time for him to travel by private jet to Miami; and the La Raza website confirms that Obama did not arrive until 1:50 p.m. Eastern time. Newsmax reports receiving confirmation from the Obama campaign that the candidate's private jet did not leave Chicago until 8:50 a.m. A Washington Post fact checker has reported that the issue has not been resolved to his satisfaction one way or the other.
Newsmax claimed that Obama's Vatican ambassador had been rejected several times for being "insufficiently pro-life". The Catholic News Service and Time magazine confirmed on April 9, 2009, that Newsmax's story was false.
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